Jake Lamagno “The Right Way to Do Wrong”

Castle Fitzjohns Gallery

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Jake Lamagno is the most famous artist you’ve never heard of. His works have sold for six figures and he’s collected by some of the most influential people on the planet, as well as some of the most legendary rock stars, actors and fashion moguls. He refuses to name drop, which fits in with the Lamagno understated style that is legendary

Lamagno’s start in life is tough to imagine, he grew up in the projects of Boston’s North End, his father committed suicide at home when Lamagno was just eight years old. This loss and tough life led to a laser focus on creativity as cathartic escape. Still in his childhood, he mastered ceramics and sandstone sculpture, to the point he was actually selling pieces at 12 yrs old. At 18yrs old, he landed in Manhattan as a pro skater and artist, and was soon accepted and revered by the downtown art and nightlife scene. The Legend of Lamagno grew when he opened “The Hunt” with Steven Ditchkus and Dylan Rieder (RIP 10/12/16), a unique upscale antique emporium, that is a reflection of Lamagno and co’s unique style and taste, now an iconic lifestyle brand.

Lamagno’s first NY solo show consists of a body of work that demonstrates a wide variety of styles and techniques that encompasses skills gained over a lifetime of creating, from painting, sculpture to photography and even taxidermy. Lamagno’s show has themes that bind, one being death and its aftershocks, but he transforms the macabre into something fascinating—even beautiful—not an endpoint to be feared. Another recurring subject matter is commentary on organized religion, cleverly demonstrated through his unique found object installations. From a technical perspective, attention to detail and craftsmanship are prominent. Many of the sculptural pieces have hundreds of hours of laborious work into them, often concentrated on detail so well executed that you don’t realize until Lamgano points it out, usually with an accompanying story of some sort of injury related to the effort. According to Lamagno, if blood sweat and tears aren’t part of the creative process, you’re not doing it right.

“The Right Way to Do Wrong” is a window into the life of an artist you want to know, on one hand a gifted artist both technically and conceptually, on the other hand, the key holder of the oft-closed to the rest of the world downtown New York lifestyle, inhabited by the notoriously iconic and the incognito celebrity set.