It’s been three years since Jack Pierson’s last exhibition at Cheim & Read in New York. However, this month the gallery presents ‘Melancholia Passing Into Madness’, a show named after a 19th century medical photo of a mad woman, assumedly doing exactly what the title suggests. This kind of frank awareness is typical of Pierson. His work is both candid and sombre with images hitting that transient spot where disillusion meets some sort of shady glamour. In the past, Pierson has presented work from diverse sources. Brash, cheeky and stark photographs of male nudes and ‘sign letter sculptures’ have been an unadulterated success. In fact, to the horror of the Pierson camp, the sculptures have even been copied by the mainstream (Barneys' window dressers to be precise...). This time round, Pierson has shunned the masculine muse, turning instead to females and their ‘suffering’. Well, as any woman knows, the subject matter here is never ending. No doubt Pierson was spoilt for choice. Indeed, this show offers up all sorts of works including a selection of silkscreen paintings that represent the subject’s emotional disposition, be it anxious or pensive. Then there’s his ‘First Page Drawings’ as well as his current sign sculpture ‘Melancholia’. No. It’s not exactly the kind of stuff you’d pick up in, say, Barneys, is it?
Jack Pierson’s ‘Melancholia Passing Into Madness’ takes place at Cheim & Read, 547 W Street, New York, from the 30th March – 6th May.
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