The Sermon
8' x 4'

Stateside

featuring artwork by Jesse Chapo

July 10th - August 30th, 2009

Phyllis Stein Gallery

207 West 5th Street, Los Angeles, California 90013

Stateside was my first big art showing and included over 20 paintings on wood. The show focused on examining peculiar American habits, traditions and customs. The end result was a strange and playful look on our culture. I utilized the playful characters as a way to discuss topics that were sometimes awkward, taboo or polarizing allowing for the viewers to be engaged with the art at some level. Some of the ideas that I feel were particularly well explored included our infatuation with firearms, raising our children with religion without allowing them a choice, and problems with our judicial system.

The starting point for this show came strangely enough while I was traveling through South East Asia and reading The Trial by Kafka. I think the personal struggle to understand the system that structures our lives - government, social norms, fashion, etc. is something I could relate to and Kafka really got me thinking about trying to understand our American system.

Below is a selction of the works from the show. A few of the artworks are still for sale in the store section. All work is from 2008.