Jadé Fadojutimi: Jesture is a publication produced by Pippy
Houldsworth Gallery to accompany the second solo exhibition at the
gallery of new paintings by London-based artist Jadé Fadojutimi,
presented in Fall 2020.
The word "Jesture" in the title of the exhibition and publication evokes
a sense of the absurd, responding to the disruption of daily rhythms
arising from forced isolation during lockdown. Central to Fadojutimi's
practice is a repeated questioning of identity, its fluid nature, and
how the understanding of notions of pleasure, desire, and choice are
integral to a sense of self. Addressing the exchange between an
individual and their environment, the vivid choices of color and form
derive from the associative qualities of the special items that capture
her attention and the memories they invoke.
Fadojutimi's studio is filled with objects, drawings, and writings that
evoke nostalgic pleasure. Powerful memories, experienced while listening
to film, animation, and video game soundtracks, transport Fadojutimi to
the first time she encountered them, eliciting a response that is
experienced through intense color. The synthesis of these various
influences, through which Fadojutimi understands her sense of self, is
transformed into large-scale gestural paintings charged with energy and
emotion.
Described by Fadojutimi as "environments," these complex compositions,
neither wholly abstract nor figurative, are built up with layers of oil
paint, interrupted by the more linear mark-making made possible by her
recent adoption of oil pastels. The introduction of new materials into
her painting has enabled Fadojutimi to think more broadly about palette,
composition, and depth, while translating the spontaneity of her drawing
onto the canvas.
In her essay for the publication, From Life - Thoughts on the paintings
of Jadé Fadojutimi, writer, critic, and editor-at-large of frieze
magazine Jennifer Higgie writes, "In these paintings, the world, in all
of its chaotic glory, exists as an intimation. Art is not an
explanation: it's a shot of energy, a flash of colour; a shimmer, a
reaction, a line thrown out to see who might pick it up. Pictures are
made by people and, like people, their tone can switch direction in the
blink of an eye. A painting is a very human thing: they're allowed to be
messy. Jadé tells me that her aim is for 'deep emotion, not deep
description'."
This, the artist's first published book, designed by A Practice for
Everyday Life and printed by PUSH, London, has been co-published by
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, and Anomie Publishing, London.
