NEW YORK, NY.- Jack Shainman Gallery has announced its representation of the multidisciplinary artist Jesse Krimes. Based between New York and Philadelphia, Krimes’ practice is expansive, empathic, and textured—works celebrated for their social context and aesthetic beauty. Whether communicating through drawing, sculpture, quilting, installation, or found photography, ubiquitous to his practice are materials that have been cherished, collected, smuggled, transferred, and touched by the human experience. Krimes’ practice began before, endured through, and continues after a six-year prison sentence—an experience which shaped his philosophy of making. His individual and collaborative acts of creation are forms of resistance against the dehumanization and institutionalized racial division perpetuated by prisons. Krimes’ artwork is evidence of what it means to commit to making, despite systems that stifle self-expression, and to discover unlikely methods of fabrication, even while in solitary confinement.
Through works like Purgatory (2009), Apokaluptein:16389067 (2010-2013), Strange Roots (2018), and the ongoing Incarceration Quilt Series, he questions how to leverage art world systems into the advocacy space, shifting paradigms and language to recognize currently and formerly incarcerated individuals for their unique humanity. He works at the intersection of micro and macrocosm, comprehending prison as a space in which social disparity is refracted and perpetuated.
For gallery founder Jack Shainman, “It is truly such a pleasure to now be working with Jesse, to say I could not be more excited would be an understatement. I have followed his work for quite some time, and am especially captivated by the particular way he utilizes materials and mediums. His methods caught my attention many years ago, and so I am especially thrilled to have the opportunity to support and be a part of his ever-evolving practice.”
In addition to his studio practice, Krimes is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Art and Advocacy. The Center is the first national artist-led organization dedicated to supporting and mentoring justice-impacted creatives. This spring, The Center announced receipt of a major grant from the Art for Justice Fund, a non-profit founded by Agnes Gund dedicated to disrupting mass incarceration by funding artists and advocates working to reform the criminal justice system. With support from A4J and the Mellon Foundation, The Center will expand their programming to include The Right of Return Fellowship, The Academy, and The Residency, with a gallery space in Brooklyn and a residency space in upstate Pennsylvania. This ambitious approach will continue to garner resources and recognition for justice-impacted artists in the United States who are at risk of being under-funded, under-mentored, under-resourced, and under-connected within traditional institutions and arts communities.
Krimes shares, “I am humbled to join the incredible roster of artists at Jack Shainman Gallery who are engaging directly and clearly with the urgent (and enduring) political, philosophical, and social crises of our time. My work explores social mechanisms of power and control, informed by more than eight years I spent in state and federal prisons; an experience that radically altered my perception of society. I am particularly interested in employing latent material language and critically recontextualizing idealized beauty to draw viewers into an intimate examination of more visceral or challenging content, interrogate value systems, and sensitize people to the cruelty of mass criminalization and incarceration.”
Jesse Krimes
Jesse Krimes is a Philadelphia-based artist, curator, and advocate whose work explores how contemporary media shapes and reinforces societal mechanisms of power and control, with a particular focus on criminal and racial justice. Shortly after graduating from Millersville University, he was indicted by the U.S. government on drug charges. While serving a six-year prison sentence he produced and smuggled out numerous bodies of work, established prison art programs, and co-created multi-racial artist collectives. After his release, he founded and currently serves as Executive Director of the Center for Art & Advocacy, the first and only national fellowship dedicated to supporting formerly incarcerated artists.
Krimes’ work has been exhibited at MoMA PS1, Palais de Tokyo, Philadelphia Museum of Art, International Red Cross Museum, Zimmerli Museum, Newport Art Museum, and Aperture Gallery, among others. His curatorial practice is focused on elevating other system-impacted artists, and he also successfully led a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for charging formerly incarcerated people predatory fees after their release from federal prison. Krimes was awarded fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Creative Capital, Art for Justice Fund, Independence Foundation, and Vermont Studio Center. His work is in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, Newport Art Museum, OZ Art NWA, Kadist Art Foundation, The Bunker Artspace, and the Agnes Gund Collection.
Jack Shainman Gallery
Jack Shainman Gallery has been dedicated from its inception to championing artists who have achieved mastery of their creative disciplines and are among the most compelling and influential contributors to culture today. For nearly four decades, the Gallery has earned a reputation for introducing international artists to American audiences, and for developing young and mid-career artists, who have gone on to gain worldwide acclaim. The gallery has presented the first New York exhibitions of artists Nick Cave, Hayv Kahraman, Meleko Mokgosi, Richard Mosse, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Hank Willis Thomas, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, among many others. Today, Jack Shainman Gallery is celebrated for its multicultural roster of emerging and established artists and estates who engage in the social and cultural issues of their time.
The Gallery was founded in 1984 in Washington, D.C. by Jack Shainman and Claude Simard (1956-2014). Soon after opening, the Gallery relocated to New York City, first in the East Village before moving to Soho and finally, in 1997, to its current location at 513 West 20th Street in Chelsea. In 2013, the Gallery opened two additional exhibition spaces, one in Chelsea at 524 West 24th Street, and another in a converted 30,000 square foot building in Kinderhook, NY known as The School. In 2022, the gallery announced its newest flagship location in Tribeca at 46 Lafayette Street, slated to open in 2024.
