Introduction
Jeremy Olson’s latest exhibition with Unit goes ‘underground’. Through a series of works that depict subterranean environments, Grotto Domestic considers ideas of time and enclosed spaces through the eyes of the artist’s signature cast of otherworldly creatures. Are these grottos natural, or man-made? The answer is inherently ambiguous, as organic rock formations and pools of water are contrasted with sleek modernist furniture and sculptural artworks. Ideas of confinement are reflected in the gallery space itself.
The low ceilings of the basement setting mirror the cave-like environments in which these creatures dwell. Softened through the inclusion of fabrics and wallpapers, Olson has created a total environment that is both tactile and womb-like. Viewers seem to inhabit the paintings themselves, as the artist draws us further and further into this enclosed world.
Olson has always been drawn to cave environments, viewing them as theatrical landscapes onto which various ideas can be projected. Childhood memories of visits to caverns or play areas built to mimic caves inform his vision of these underground grottos that seem at once organic and simulated. In Grotto Domestic, Olson thinks particularly about time and leisure, pondering what we do when we have too much of both.
In this exhibition, the artist conjures a vague image of a post-work or post-scarcity world. These cave-like spaces seemingly offer endless time as, free from societal pressures, creatures simply lounge around or become absorbed by electronic screens. The underground worlds simultaneously evoke a sense of luxury and isolation. Olson plays with a juxtaposition between streamlined modernism and seclusion, forcing viewers to question whether these are spaces of relaxation or traps that inhibit interaction with the outside world.
Installation View: Jeremy Olson, 'Grotto Domestic', Unit, 2024
Installation View: Jeremy Olson, 'Grotto Domestic', Unit, 2024
Installation View: Jeremy Olson, 'Grotto Domestic', Unit, 2024
Installation View: Jeremy Olson, 'Grotto Domestic', Unit, 2024
Selected Works
Jeremy Olson
release strategies
2024
91.44 x 76.2 cm
Jeremy Olson
the disappointment
2024
60.96 x 106.68 cm
Jeremy Olson
Panoptithon!
2024
91.44 x 76.2 cm
Jeremy Olson
endless voyage
2024
92 x 76 cm
Jeremy Olson
a mirror or a door
2024
73.66 x 106.68 x 25.4 cm
Jeremy Olson
fainting spells
2024
60.96 x 106.68 cm
Jeremy Olson in his studio
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Biography
Jeremy Olson (b.1976) is a Brooklyn-based artist working in painting, sculpture and video. He received his BFA from the University of Arizona (2000), and an MFA from New York University (2009).
Selected group exhibitions include An Adventure of Being, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, USA (2023); Playground of Geometry, Centre of International Contemporary Art Vancouver (CICA), Vancouver, Canada (2022); Rites of Passage, Unit, London, UK (2021) and Imagining Reality II, Future Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2021) and Fairyland, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, USA.
Selected solo exhibitions include zoognosis, Asia Art Centre, Taipei, Taiwan (2023), this time of monsters, Unit, London, UK (2022), transient waters, apocryphal shore, Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, USA (2022), WT Foundation, Kyiv, Ukraine (2022) and the likes of others, Unit, London, UK (2021).
Olson’s works are held in numerous prominent public collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA BANGKOK), Thailand; The Bunker Foundation (Rudin DeWoody Collection), West Palm Beach, USA; X Museum, Beijing, China, Recharge Foundation, New York, USA and WT Foundation, Kyiv, Ukraine.
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