Jasmine Gregory’s iconoclastic canvases

The Zurich-based American artist Jasmine Gregory recently faced what she calls an ‘existential crisis of painting.’ Why paint? What is a painting if not an object covered in colored stains? Why is it so valuable? In response, she pushes the medium beyond its limits to bring it back to its essence. On canvas, pigments are mixed with materials as varied as rhinestones, plastic, and puzzle pieces. Her paintings often break free from the frame to invade the floor or become installations.

Gregory frustrates viewers’ expectations by concealing her paintings fully or partially in her scenography. She questions the way we look; our gaze conditioned by centuries of essentially white and male Western art history. The violence emanating from her works, whether in the treatment of materials or in the way she prevents us from seeing them, is a response to this history and the invisibilization it has engendered.

Gregory makes references to both art history and popular culture: from Carol Rama, Jackson Pollock and Rosemarie Trockel to Oscar Wilde, Ariana Grande, and Patek Philippe. Like a collagist, she assembles them on her canvases, shifting their meaning to draw our attention to the contradictions of our society.

Jasmine Gregory is represented by Karma International (Zurich) and Sophie Tappeiner (Vienna). Her solo show ‘Si je ne peux pas l’avoir, toi non plus’ will be on view at the Capc – Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France, from November 17, 2023, to May 5, 2024.

Zoé Isle de Beauchaine is an art historian and writer based in Paris.

Translation: Art Basel.

Published on November 15, 2023.

Caption for full-bleed images, from top to bottom: Artworks by Jasmine Gregory. Courtesy of the artist and Karma International, Zurich. 1. Flibbertigibbet, 2022. 2. Estate Sale no 4, 2023.