Jonathan Lyndon Chase. “56nd street” (2018). Acrylic, spray paint, rhinestone, oil stick, glitter on canvas 60h x 72w in. Courtesy of the artist and Company Gallery
Imagine the love child of Missy Elliott and Romare Bearden, raised by Ren & Stimpy, and embracing the intimacies of James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room … and you can begin to grasp the intricate complexities and exquisite nuances of African-American artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase.
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Hailing from Philadelphia, Chase creates powerful images of queer black men that transform the very nature of representation. Disassembling the construction of gender, race, and sexuality by re-imagining the picture plane as a body unto itself, Chase creates a new visual language to experience the raw, visceral energy of life itself.
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In Quiet Storm, a new exhibition of work currently on view at Company Gallery, New York, through May 6, Chase strikes like lightning, dazzling us with a series of works that break down all barriers in the name of freedom and self-actualisation. His interdisciplinary practice, combining painting, drawing, sculpture, and collage, remind us that the medium is the message – and it is within our power to shape the narrative to reflect the extraordinary possibilities that exist inside of our truth.
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Here, Chase speaks with us about the ways in which art can become a space for healing, expression, and self-actualisation.
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Jonathan Lyndon Chase. “combing my hair” (2017). Acrylic, oil stick, rhinestone, glitter, canon printer collage, marker, graphite on cotton sheet 30h x 30w in. Courtesy of the artist and Company Gallery.