Jay Stuckey “It’s Messy Business”

Anna Zorina

[Image: Jay Stuckey "The Party" oil, collage on canvas (2019) 60 x 88 in.]

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Anna Zorina Gallery presents It’s Messy Business, the debut New York solo exhibition of Los Angeles-based artist, Jay Stuckey. The show features paintings that reveal the wild world of the artist’s dreams and visions. In this series, Stuckey provides an intimate view into his personal psyche in order to tap into a universal understanding.

Stuckey delves into the volatile depths of his unconscious to let loose the shameless debauchery and acute vulnerability that is often suppressed or denied. We witness chaotic, bewildering, jumbled scenes unfold. Stuckey explores the liminal space between the conscious and unconscious worlds within a familiar yet cartoonish dimension. Space is flattened and stacked to show an overview of humanity at its most primal. At once, the characters driven solely by impulse are throwing fits of rage, crying, urinating or having sex. In this dreamlike realm, actions are instinctual and have no regard for societal standards.

The artist’s work features a wide range of recurring characters such as the cactus girl, the sad executioner, the homeless man, the cheerleader. Their oddball personalities highlighted through their unexpected interaction with each other. Their coexistence captures the range of notions and identities that comprise the facets of one’s psyche. This visceral nature inherent to Stuckey’s imagery intends to spark a sense of recognition and empathy in the viewer resulting in work that is rich with originality and humor.

Jay Stuckey (b. 1968, Washington, D.C.) lives and works in Los Angeles. Stuckey received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute Chicago, and BFA from Brown University. He is represented by Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles and has exhibited internationally at The Cedars, Texas; Abel Raum für Neue Kunst, Berlin; Institut Franco-American, Rennes; Eric Firestone Gallery, New York; Palmetto Center for the Arts, San Antonio; Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco; Deutscher Kunstlerbund, Berlin; Blank Projects, Cape Town; Goethe Institute, Johannesburg; Green Papaya Art Projects, Manila; Pøst Gallery, LA, 16:1 Gallery, Santa Monica and Axis Gallery, Sacramento. His work is included in the public collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA and Collection Majudia, Montreal.