This October at Sadie Coles HQ Jordan Wolfson presents a new large-scale sculptural animation that signals the artist’s ability to blend the childlike with the obscene.
With a sense of playfulness and horror, Wolfson’s singular work induces an active encounter of the uncanny; a mirror is situated within an ornamented bear’s enigmatic expression and surrounded by animated text to create a recurring visual paradox.
Employing animation, digital imaging and animatronic sculpture, Wolfson’s recent work has centred on ideas of literal and virtual reality, and the distinction between the real and the imagined – especially the projection of inner impulses (desire, optimism, violence or guilt) into constructed selves or scenarios. The subject-matter addressed within his practice is often confronted with a strong sense of urgency – demanding the viewer enter into the unfiltered dialogue and examination of the state of the world. In this way, Wolfson’s work also functions as a social critique, interrogating the discomforts and deeply held flaws within the societal structures and social practices embedded within Western culture.
Jordan Wolfson (b. 1980, New York) received his BFA in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has exhibited internationally with recent solo exhibitions including Body Sculpture, National Gallery of Australia (2023); Female Figure, The Brant Foundation, New York (2022); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2022); ARTISTS FRIENDS RACISTS, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2020); Riverboat song, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2019); (Female figure), The Broad, Los Angeles (2018); 360: Jordan Wolfson, Zabludowicz Collection, London (2018); Colored sculpture, The Tanks, Tate Modern, London (2018); Riverboat song, Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2018); TRUTH / LOVE and MANIC / LOVE, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2016 and 2017); Jordan Wolfson: Colored sculpture, LUMA Foundation, Arles (2016); Jordan Wolfson: Two Early Works, Cleveland Museum of Art (2015); Jordan Wolfson: Ecce Homo/le Poseur, organised by the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent (2013); and Raspberry Poser, Chisenhale Gallery, London (2013). Wolfson has participated in numerous group exhibitions, most recently including angel’s on horseback, Lobe Block, Berlin (2022); REPEATER, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2022); Expressioni. The Proposition, Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2021); 58th October Salon | Belgrade Biennale 2020: THE DREAMERS, Belgrade (2021); The Paradox of Stillness, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis (2021); Me, Family, MUDAM Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (2020); Highlights for a Future: De Collectie (1), S.M.A.K., Ghent (2019); Trouble in Paradise: Collection Rattan Chadha, Kunsthal Rotterdam (2019); Virtual Insanity, Kunsthalle Mainz (2018); States of Play: Roleplay Reality, FACT, Liverpool (2018); 2017 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; World As Cartoon, Tate Britain, London (2017); Manifesta 10, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (2014); 6th Glasgow International (2014); and 14 Rooms, curated by Klaus Biesenbach and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Art Basel (2014). In 2009 he received the Cartier Award from the Frieze Foundation.