On View: Jacolby Satterwhite’s Neon Bible
by Zoya Brumberg (MA 2015)
In Jacolby Satterwhite’s sculpture Black Luncheon (2020), neon figures float above the installation platform. Two adult men are clothed, the woman beside them is naked, and above the scene, another woman’s Kanekalon ponytail bursts into a dramatic “boom,” evoking comic book aesthetics. The placement of these figures is a reference to Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe (the Luncheon on the Grass)—often cited as Modernism’s point of origin. But although Satterwhite is playing with this painting, he makes it completely his own.
Black Luncheon is quintessentially Satterwhite in its use of mixed vernacular media—animated neon next to 3D-printed resin. Though it draws aesthetically from classical forms, it also engages with contemporary and personal themes of Black identity, family, and alienation. It is one of many pieces on display at SAIC Galleries in Jacolby Satterwhite: Spirits Roaming on the Earth, the first major survey of Satterwhite’s work. This exhibition, which is open through December 2, gives visitors the opportunity to interact with the artist’s work over time, as he moves between painting and more experimental media and explores universal and personal themes.
Jacolby Satterwhite. Photo: Xavier Scott Marshall
Jacolby Satterwhite. Photo: Xavier Scott Marshall
“SAIC is committed to supporting visionary, provocative, and multidisciplinary artists in our academic curriculum as well as our public programming,” said Director of Exhibitions Staci Boris. “This fall, SAIC Galleries is proud to present the work of Jacolby Satterwhite, whose videos, paintings, and sculptures explore identity, memory, and desire; challenge traditional narratives and boundaries; and offer a vision of the world that is expansive, experimental, and inclusive.”
Satterwhite is a multidisciplinary artist who uses 3D animation, sound, sculpture, painting, 3D-printing, photography, and performance to explore questions of the human condition and identity under capitalism and modernity. He often includes avatars and portraits of himself in his work, an artificial representation of his identity as a queer Black man navigating virtual, artistic, and performative spaces. He draws from the aesthetics of “cold” media like 3D animation and video game art and integrates human warmth, desire, and art historical influences into these everyday materials.
“Jacolby Satterwhite has a singular ability to masterfully synthesize personal, theoretical, and pop-cultural influences across a wide range of materials and genres with unmatched skill and dexterity.”
Jacolby Satterwhite, Room for Cleansing, 2019, in Spirits Roaming on the Earth, curated by Elizabeth Chodos, Director, Miller Institute for Contemporary Art at Carnegie Mellon University. Photo: Tom Little, 2021.
Jacolby Satterwhite, Room for Cleansing, 2019, in Spirits Roaming on the Earth, curated by Elizabeth Chodos, Director, Miller Institute for Contemporary Art at Carnegie Mellon University. Photo: Tom Little, 2021.
Jacolby Satterwhite, Avenue B, 2018-19, HD digital video. Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York.
Jacolby Satterwhite, Avenue B, 2018-19, HD digital video. Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York.
Jacolby Satterwhite, We Are In Hell When We Hurt Each Other, 2020, HD digital video. Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York.
Jacolby Satterwhite, We Are In Hell When We Hurt Each Other, 2020, HD digital video. Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York.
The exhibition, which was organized by the Miller Institute for Contemporary Art at Carnegie Mellon University, is curated by Elizabeth Chodos (Dual MA 2008), director at the institute. First staged at the Miller, the exhibition traveled to the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis before making its way to SAIC Galleries. This iteration features several pieces by Satterwhite not included in the previous exhibitions.
“Jacolby Satterwhite has a singular ability to masterfully synthesize personal, theoretical, and pop-cultural influences across a wide range of materials and genres with unmatched skill and dexterity,” said Chodos, “affirming his position as one of the preeminent makers and thinkers of our time.” ■
Jacolby Satterwhite: Spirits Roaming on the Earth will be on view at SAIC Galleries through December 2. Click here for information on how to visit the exhibition.
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