Under The Microscope: Jake Wood-Evans

The group show Paintguide was one of the first times Jake’s work adorned the Unit London walls. Although he had exhibited as far back as 2013, in our group show Looking for U, by the time Paintguide launched the gallery was beginning to gain a substantial following. Jake’s Study of an Author hung just one painting away from Heizer by Ryan Hewett – a sign of things to come as both would go on to be leading Unit London artists.

Subjection & Discipline was Jake’s first major London solo show. Taking inspiration from 18th century painters, including works by Joshua Reynolds and Henry Raeburn, Jake set about reworking the pieces in his uniquely haunting yet evocative style. Viewed together, the body of work is eerily reminiscent of an art collection of a great estate in the early years of the British Empire. Faces are defiled and figures appear as apparitions, subjects range from a ghostly vision of a society lady to a fading portrait of a once proud general. Such subject matter made for some wonderful private view images, as these society figures mingled with the contemporary audience, occasionally catching the photographer’s eye through the crowds.

Following the success of Subjection and Discipline, Wood-Evans returned to Unit London with Transitions: a body of work that marked a shift from portrait to landscapes, as well as a deeper foray into the abstracted element of his work. The works were mainly richly coloured, lightly-hued depictions of seascapes or bucolic vistas, all appearing as if through a veil or layer of vapour.

By the time Jake’s next show launched – in May last year – the gallery had moved into its new and permanent home on Hanover Square. As Jake’s rise to prominence had dovetailed so nicely with the rise of Unit London as a gallery, it almost felt as if the new space would not quite be complete until it had been christened with a Jake Wood-Evans solo show. Legacy & Disorder saw an amalgamation of everything Jake had learnt from Subjection and Discipline and Transitions, culminating in a truly incredible and diverse range of work.

This, the latest body of work from Jake Wood-Evans, continues the artist’s meditative explorations of memory and mortality. Relic sees Jake respond to his influences in the Baroque art historical canon: Rubens, Van Dyck and Poussin form the basis for the show. Whereas previously Wood-Evans’ work had a figurative core, we now see the artist in a period of subtraction and deeper abstraction. In taking away the rigidity imposed by a figurative structure, Jake has enabled himself to add emotional depth. These paintings capture the essence of what it was to view a Wood Evan’s portrait from Subjection & Discipline or Legacy & Disorder, the subject and composition has changed, but the qualia remains broadly the same. Wood-Evans’ has reduced the aesthetic experience down to something tighter, more concise, more intense – like a poem condensed into a single line.