Jacob Kassay

Jacob Kassay’s practice is concerned with experimental and conceptual method and making. Hovering between painting, sculpture and interactive installation, his work is conceived as a response to space. The arrangement of an exhibition and how his pieces interact with the surrounding architecture – and ultimately their audience – is key to understanding the essence of his work. Kassay’s paintings interrelate and form multiple dialogues: with each other, with the space around them and with the viewer. His silver paintings, for example, oscillate between absence and presence. Made using an electroplating technique that references early photography, they are like blurry mirrors that reflect the world around them. The movement of colours across their surface, and changes in the light, subtly and continuously alter the appearance of the works throughout the day. The language of materials is important to Kassay, who pays great attention to form, surface and physicality. Although lacking marks that could be conceived as gestural, a close inspection of his seemingly blank or monotone paintings reveals traces of their making – small incidental marks, or burnt edges, for example. Jacob Kassay’s practice also encompasses film and sculpture.

Jacob Kassay (b. 1984, Lewiston, NY) lives and works in Los Angeles. Solo exhibitions include Untitled (disambiguation), The Kitchen, New York (2013); Jacob Kassay, Protocinema, Istanbul, Turkey (2013); No Goal, The Power Station, Dallas (2012) and the ICA, London (2011).