Maddox Gallery is proud to present "Dreamstate," the first solo exhibition in the UK of American artist, Jessica Brilli.
Fuelled by a deep feeling of nostalgia, Jessica Brilli’s practice is a glossy coating on the American dream. Populated by swimming pools, modernist buildings, nondescript characters and mighty Cadillacs, this series of 24 works follows a melancholic journey through the seasons of American retro life from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.
Rooted in the artist's personal journey from a childhood immersed in the idealised image of America in the North East, to a mature understanding of its complexities, the works offer a poignant meditation on themes of aspiration, disillusionment, and the enduring power of personal and collective memory. Dreamstate is made of recurring dreams from past lives, evocative of early 20th century American Realism. Deeply influenced by Edward Hopper, Brilli’s work shares a haunting sense of beautiful loneliness.
“There's a certain mystery there, to let someone ask questions - what's going on there?
Is it really as polished and beautiful as it looks to be, or is that just a facade?”, Brilli comments about her own work. In Dairy Corner and Holiday Inn at Night, Brilli juxtaposes a technicolour aesthetic with the introspective nature of her subjects, in this case, buildings, inviting the viewer to contemplate the gap between outward appearance and inner experience. In the artist’s work, colour drives memory, Slow Mornings encapsulates this notion through its faded palette, redolent of a summer dawn just beginning to break.
Brilli works mainly from photographs, going through thousands of photographic slides, found in antique shops and yard sales, until one sparks a feeling. This intuitiveness creates a strong bond between creation and creator, permeating the everyday scenes with personal motivation, a characteristic approach and brushstroke despite the hard edges of the cinematic shots. The paintings, like windows into the heart of another time, feel summer drenched, not only through subject but through form, Brilli’s colour palette mimics the natural degradation of film through the years, masking the pictures in a yellow hue. Reminiscent of a warm summer day sitting on the porch, eyes fixated on the pavement that keeps trembling from the heat.
"Jessica Brilli has a deep understanding of the nuances of colour, light, and shadow to create an ambience of nostalgia"
- Maeve Doyle, Artistic Director at Maddox.
