Zurich

The works capture several mythologies about heroism and innovation in the 20th-century, as the compositions recall Abstract Expressionism in their gestural application of paint. Upon closer examination, their surfaces also reveal the topography of the far side of the Moon. The spills diverge from an expressionistic reading and take on a meaning closer to Robert Smithson’s ‘Asphalt Rundown’.

The frames have intricate narratives, hand-carved in an Art Nouveau style in reference to Alphonse Mucha and opiate use that subvert traditional ideas of foreground and background. Jackson shares Art Nouveau’s interest in the representation of nature in art and design, but as in all of his work, there is an underlying critique: Art Nouveau was known for its appropriation of ‘exotic’ styles and techniques from Asia and Africa. As in all Western art and culture, colonisation and escapism remains an irrefutable undercurrent.

Shown in tandem to these works are new still life paintings which incorporate Jan Brueghel the Elder’s and Younger’s series of flower paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries. Jackson’s flower paintings, in contrast, are entirely composed of synthetic and manufactured materials such as Formica, plywood, fiberglass and epoxy.

While the era of Dutch Still Life was one of burgeoning scientific knowledge, Jackson signals the simultaneous history of ceaseless misuse and abuse of the natural world and of people. Many of the flowers that make up these intricate compositions would not grow in proximity in nature, proving that what was once the fantasy of the Dutch painters, is now made possible through globalised production – at a great cost.

Throughout Jackson’s oeuvre, process and materiality as a conduit for meaning has been a recurrent theme. The backdrop of these new floral works has been created by casting plastic in moulds that replicate the surface of the far side of the Moon, merging the art historical genres of landscape and still life painting. Pigments and paints are first splashed into the moulds allowing the material to intermingle outside of the artist’s control. Once left to set, the sheets of colorful plastic are then carved out to create the mosaic-like pieces that make up these complex still life compositions. The use of manufactured substances is a meditation on natural beauty versus pleasing artificiality, humanity’s mastery over nature and that beauty can be found in what is ostensibly a mess.

Jackson has also made a new series of thistle drawings during the self-isolation of the pandemic. Drawn on letterheads from various companies that were vital in shaping the US into a global powerhouse of the 20th Century, Jackson returns to themes of conflating the artificial and the organic, industrialisation and nature. The repeated motif of the thistle – considered in North America as a stubborn and invasive plant – holds symbolic meaning: as in much of Jackson’s work, the consequences of technological advancement come to the forefront. The drawings fuse historical references and popular culture in the same light.

Matthew Day Jackson is an American artist whose multifaceted practice encompasses sculpture, painting, collage, photography, drawing, video, performance and installation. Born in Panorama City, California, in 1974 and currently living and working on the East Coast, his art grapples with big ideas such as the evolution of human thought, the fatal attraction of the frontier and the faith that man places in technological advancement. In particular, his work addresses the myth of the American Dream, exploring the forces of creation, growth, transcendence, and death through visions of its failed utopia.

‘Matthew Day Jackson. Flowers, Windows and Thistles’ is on view now at Hauser & Wirth Zürich, Tue – Fri, 11 am – 6 pm, Sat, 11 am – 5 pm