For New England artist Jesse Stern, the act of drawing and painting has always put him at ease, providing an escape from the world around him. Growing up, art felt like a way to continue to play with his interest in comics and tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons. As Stern entered high school, he began painting from life, and in his late 20s, started approaching painting more seriously. Today, he’s an accomplished artist with an MFA from the New York Academy of Art.
Decoherence, oil on panel, 40 x 30 in.
The Defect, oil on panel, 12 x 9 in. This fall, Stern will be showing a new body of work titled Guardians and Exiles with New York City-based gallery Arcadia Contemporary. Paintings in the upcoming exhibition depict various figures in winter coats, hoods drawn tightly, obscuring their faces and casting deep shadows. “I love seeking out granular details and textures,” says the artist. “I love the complexity of drapery and the layering of different weights and chroma, and I love combining these elements into figures that might seem a little mysterious or compelling.”
Recurrence Theory, oil on panel, 20 x 16 in.
That sense of mysteriousness (even eeriness) is particularly evident in Recurrence Theory, in which a man in dramatic low light stares intently into the eyes of the viewer. The piece is intensified by the fact that his hood is pulled so tightly around his face that nearly all of his features are covered except his eyes. In Guest of Honor, the figure’s face is hidden in total darkness. Every individual in this series of paintings wear dark, desaturated tones, suggesting the type of palette you might find in the gritty underbelly of city life.
Guest of Honor, oil on panel, 21 x 18 in.
Glimmer, oil on panel, 12 x 9 in.
“I think it’s definitely connected to my sense of interiority. It made me feel a certain way in composing and then painting it, but I prefer to leave to the viewer whatever they may take from it,” says Stern. “For me there’s nothing as satisfying as watching a painting I’m toiling over slowly come to life, day after day, after day.”
Guardians and Exiles will hang at Arcadia Contemporary from September 25 to October 29. Stern currently lives and works in New York. —
Arcadia Contemporary 421 W. Broadway • New York, NY 10012 (646) 861-3941 • www.arcadiacontemporary.com
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