‘Topa’ (2005) is derived from Jason Rhoades’s greater artwork ‘My Madinah. In pursuit of my ermitage…’ (2004), a mesmerizing installation comprised of vibrant neon euphemisms for female genitalia and lascivious language. His installations often entail multiple layers and components: larger installations consist of smaller, subsidiary installations: a deliberate and calculated pandemonium of accumulation.
The use of light is ubiquitous throughout Rhoades’s practice, as are industrial materials not typically associated with fine art. ʻJust as a painter has a palette, Rhoades had a materials cart,՚ says curator and writer Ingrid Schaffner. While the neon lights imbue the space with a radiant serenity that feels both limitless and sublime, Rhoades also illuminates cultural taboos and tropes, challenging the comfort of his audience while delighting their senses.
About the artist
Jason Rhoades (1965 – 2006, born in Newcastle CA,) is best known for his large-scale multimedia installations exploring concepts of labor, capital, materiality, modernism, performance and process. The artist’s idiosyncratic installations draw on the history of assemblage, incorporating a wide range of objects, including products of mass culture combined with hand-made and personal items with autobiographical significance. More than 15 years after his death, Rhoades’ radical oeuvre is more relevant than ever. He viewed art as a machine set on a continuous feedback loop, delivering something superficially chaotic but replete with hidden references and existential quest. Rhoades considered his separate works as components of one single boundless piece realized over time. ‘If you know my work, you know that it is never finished,’ he once said.
Artwork images © The Estate of Jason Rhoades. Photo: Jon Etter
Portrait © The Estate of Jason Rhoades
