Jamisen Ogg | ohwellian
October 27 ‒ December 2, 2016
ohwellian /õ•wél•leean / adj. 1 a state of society in which warnings of a social consciousness and self reflection are disregarded in place of narcissistic endeavors related to personal leisure and entertainment; allowing gratification to rule and being overwhelmed by objects. 2 cultural attitude concerning the possibility of self-destruction.
For his second show at Planthouse Gallery, artist Jamisen Ogg (b. 1980) refocuses subjects as disparate as paper towels, trusses, fluted columns, teepees, cardboard, and rugs, and subverts assumed hierarchies by representing these objects in ways not necessarily commensurate with their accepted significance. At the entrance to the gallery the viewer is confronted with a truss built in the shape of a teepee, which alludes to ideas of the attic, the suburban and the appropriated. Similarly, a fluted column made of drywall stands imposingly, as if to symbolize the kinds of objects our society builds with a mentality that is equal parts impervious and imperious.
The show’s centerpiece is the continuation of a series of works focused on the paper towel. In a collection of paintings, Ogg meticulously reproduces the repeating perforated patterns, rang- ing from hearts to complex geometric patterns, found on paper towels, thereby recasting these disposable objects as ones worthy of fine art iconography via the traditions of trompe l’oeil, minimalism, and craftsmanship. Adding tension, a painting of a Persian rug hangs alongside the paper towel works and creates a clash of ideologies: one that values time and skill against one that values only the efficiency of production.
Ogg juxtaposes his works on canvas with a series of colored pencil drawings on cardboard, which the artist selectively carves in order to expose patterns of corrugation that interact with the drawn surface. The use of cardboard as a substrate for drawings cross-references the use of building materials in the sculptural works.
Together, Ogg’s latest body of work distills patterns from found objects that litter the domes- tic landscape. His pieces prompt the viewer to examine the extent to which the aesthetics of the objects, forms, and textures occupy space in our collective awareness. The artist lays bare the visual vocabulary of popular product design: mass-produced abstractions that are quickly overlooked yet also immediately recognizable.
Jamisen Ogg was born in Westminster, Maryland and grew up in rural Pennsylvania. He received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been shown in New York, London and Chicago.
