Jerkface - Quiet As Kept

9 DECEMBER - 29 JANUARY MADDOX GALLERY, LOS ANGELES

Quiet as Kept, the hotly anticipated exhibition of new paintings by the US artist, Jerkface, opens at Maddox Los Angeles on December 9th. Each work features an iconic cartoon character, boldly reworked and recontextualised; capturing nostalgia for both the artist and the collector.

Born in Queens, New York, in 1982, Jerkface developed an early passion for street art, spray-painting several murals around his neighbourhood. He continues to create murals to this day – in New York and other world cities such as Hong Kong – but devotes equal attention to painting on canvas.

A cult following in his initial years has since evolved into a vast and loyal, global fanbase.

What unites all the artist’s work is the way he appropriates subject matter from cartoons and makes it his own. In Quiet as Kept, the subjects include Elmo from Sesame Street being sucked down a whirlpool; Tom pitted against a score of identical Jerry’s; and Papa Smurf flying a plane at night, above a sea of other Smurfs.

“My aim”, Jerkface says, “is to capture nostalgia both for myself and for those who grew up appreciating the same things as I did… My source material may be unoriginal, but the originality – and the challenge – comes in how I adapt it.”

With the artist’s appropriations from popular culture, the obvious comparison is with Pop art. However, other influences on him include Surrealism; the repetition and patterning of geometric abstraction; and the brightly clashing colours and shapes of the Memphis Group.

In Quiet as Kept, Jerkface’s canvases are more breathtaking than ever. These are world-famous cartoon characters, but not as we know them. Often, they’re left without facial features, as is the case in Tinman. This painting depicts Tintin in outer space, wearing an orange spacesuit. He appears to be in motion, something suggested by half a dozen silhouettes of the character receding into the distance behind him.

Quiet as Kept is Jerkface’s second exhibition with Maddox – following the sell-out show Villainy, held in Mayfair in 2021. Demand for Jerkface’s work is greater than ever, making Quiet as Kept a must-see. The title alludes to the artist’s career-long desire for anonymity. He has never revealed his real name and eschews media attention, preferring to let his work speak for itself.