Jade 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 Jade Fadojutimi, presented in autumn 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 colour 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 whilst 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 colour. 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 on to the canvas.
In her essay for the publication, From Life - Thoughts on the paintings of Jade 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. Jade 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.
