The gallery is proud to present its first exhibition, INNOCENCE, a solo show of paintings by Jake Fagundo.
INNOCENCE is defined by a distinct split in imagery. Photographic and video-based images from Fagundo’s childhood are gesturally re-represented and posed in seemingly direct opposition to paintings of state and federal investigative documents. Both serve as proofs to us as well as to Fagundo: proof of a past innocence, as well as proof of his incarceration and the then-impending court case. Leaving all of us, including him, wondering what happened and if federal indictment makes him any less of the boy who once paraded around dressed as Dracula?
Nevertheless, there we were wondering not only what happened, but more importantly, what was going to happen? While meditating on twenty years ago, Fagundo was simultaneously meditating on a potential twenty year prison sentence. Appropriating images that indicate a future and past to process this duality oddly places the work in the here and now. Just as much as they are reflections of an endearing childhood gone by and the anticipation of a not so hopeful future, in combination, the paintings serve as snapshots of the purgatory Fagundo found himself in right then, and right there, as he painted them. That is to say, INNOCENCE is not only about the reality of what has passed and what was to come, but about the present reality of looking both ways.
Regardless of the legal case, there is a universal sadness about the work that lies in the inevitable loss of innocence that accompanies growing up, a sadness in the necessarily ambiguous nature of the future, and a sadness in the present recognition of each. And while the paintings are certainly evidence of Fagundo wondering if he had thrown it all away, they are also proof to him, and to us, that he didn’t.
Text by Max Capus
Jake Fagundo (b. 1997) lives and works in Chicago. Fagundo completed his BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. Recent solo exhibitions of his work include Exile on Main Street at Martha’s Contemporary, Austin (2021) and All Set at Okay Gallery, Chicago (2019). Recent group exhibitions include Decenter at Latent Space, Chicago (2022), Circuition at Mu Gallery, Chicago, and Collage Show at Hans Gallery, Chicago (2020).
INNOCENCE is on view starting September 10 through October 31, 2021. Please contact us to schedule an appointment.
Features and Press:
Aoyama Design Forum (ADF): The Innocence of Jake Fagundo by Riley Yaxley
Munchies Art Club: Jake Fagundo at Sulk Chicago
525 South Dearborn | Chicago, IL 60605