Jack Shainman Gallery is honored to announce representation of the multidisciplinary artist Jesse Krimes. Based between New York and Philadelphia, Krimes’ practice is expansive, empathic, and textured—works celebrated for their social context and aesthetic beauty. Whether communicating through drawing, sculpture, quilting, installation, or found photography, ubiquitous to his practice are materials that have been cherished, collected, smuggled, transferred, and touched by the human experience. Krimes’ practice began before, endured through, and continues after a six-year prison sentence—an experience which shaped his philosophy of making. His individual and collaborative acts of creation are forms of resistance against the dehumanization and institutionalized racial division perpetuated by prisons. Krimes’ artwork is evidence of what it means to commit to making, despite systems that stifle self-expression, and to discover unlikely methods of fabrication, even while in solitary confinement.
Through works like Purgatory (2009), Apokaluptein:16389067 (2010-2013), Strange Roots (2018), and the ongoing Incarceration Quilt Series, he questions how to leverage art world systems into the advocacy space, shifting paradigms and language to recognize currently and formerly incarcerated individuals for their unique humanity. He works at the intersection of micro and macrocosm, comprehending prison as a space in which social disparity is refracted and perpetuated.
For gallery founder Jack Shainman, “It is truly such a pleasure to now be working with Jesse, to say I could not be more excited would be an understatement. I have followed his work for quite some time, and am especially captivated by the particular way he utilizes materials and mediums. His methods caught my attention many years ago, and so I am especially thrilled to have the opportunity to support and be a part of his ever-evolving practice.”
In addition to his studio practice, Krimes is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Art and Advocacy. The Center is the first national artist-led organization dedicated to supporting and mentoring justice-impacted creatives. This spring, The Center announced receipt of a major grant from the Art for Justice Fund, a non-profit founded by Agnes Gund dedicated to disrupting mass incarceration by funding artists and advocates working to reform the criminal justice system. With support from A4J and the Mellon Foundation, The Center will expand their programming to include The Right of Return Fellowship, The Academy, and The Residency, with a gallery space in Brooklyn and a residency space in upstate Pennsylvania. This ambitious approach will continue to garner resources and recognition for justice-impacted artists in the United States who are at risk of being under-funded, under-mentored, under-resourced, and under-connected within traditional institutions and arts communities.
Krimes shares, “I am humbled to join the incredible roster of artists at Jack Shainman Gallery who are engaging directly and clearly with the urgent (and enduring) political, philosophical, and social crises of our time. My work explores social mechanisms of power and control, informed by more than eight years I spent in state and federal prisons; an experience that radically altered my perception of society. I am particularly interested in employing latent material language and critically recontextualizing idealized beauty to draw viewers into an intimate examination of more visceral or challenging content, interrogate value systems, and sensitize people to the cruelty of mass criminalization and incarceration.”
