Mottled Form | Luis Jacob
2007
20 x 14 inches (28 x 21.75 inches framed)
Edition of 20, 3 APs
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Mottled Form depicts a figure ambiguously situated between a body-becoming-thing and a thing-becoming-body. This figure is draped with a flexible patterned fabric, giving it a sculptural appearance. The lighting in the photograph endows the scenario with a theatrical ambiance. Camouflage-like, the patterned fabric raises the question of where this figure properly belongs. The figure’s “unhomely” character fulfills the classic definition of uncanniness, which appears when there is a “doubt whether an apparently animate being is really alive; or conversely, whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate.”
ABOUT LUIS JACOB
Born 1970 in Lima, Peru
Toronto-based artist Luis Jacob is known for his multidisciplinary practice that highlights the socio-economic dimensions of the visual world. Jacob studied semiotics and philosophy at the University of Toronto and is recognized as an expert in the city’s art and artists. He co-curated the 2016 exhibition “Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto” for the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. He presented the solo exhibition “Habitat” at Gallery TPW in 2017.
Selected solo exhibitions: “Sphinx,” Allan Gardens, Toronto (2015); “In a Material World,” WORK, London (2013); “Show Your Wound,” Birch Libralato, Toronto, and Galerie Max Mayer, Dusseldorf (2012); “A finger in the pie, a foot in the door, a leg in quicksand,” Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen, Germany (2012); “The Eye, the Hole, the Picture,” McCord Museum, Montreal (2011); “Without Persons,” Art in General, New York (2010); PKM Gallery, Seoul (2008)
Selected group exhibitions: “Communicating Vessels,” Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga, ON (2014); “Diagrams,” Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefeld, Germany (2012); “Pop Politics: Activism at 33 Revolutions,” CA2M—Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid (2012); 2012 Taipei Biennial; “Surplus Authors,” Witte de With, Rotterdam (2012); “Oh, Canada,” MASS MoCA, Northampton, MA (2012); “Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); “Dance with Camera,” Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2009); “Documenta 12,” Kassel, Germany (2007)
Selected public collections: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Generali Foundation, Vienna; Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
2007
20 x 14 inches (28 x 21.75 inches framed)
Edition of 20, 3 APs
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Mottled Form depicts a figure ambiguously situated between a body-becoming-thing and a thing-becoming-body. This figure is draped with a flexible patterned fabric, giving it a sculptural appearance. The lighting in the photograph endows the scenario with a theatrical ambiance. Camouflage-like, the patterned fabric raises the question of where this figure properly belongs. The figure’s “unhomely” character fulfills the classic definition of uncanniness, which appears when there is a “doubt whether an apparently animate being is really alive; or conversely, whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate.”
ABOUT LUIS JACOB
Born 1970 in Lima, Peru
Toronto-based artist Luis Jacob is known for his multidisciplinary practice that highlights the socio-economic dimensions of the visual world. Jacob studied semiotics and philosophy at the University of Toronto and is recognized as an expert in the city’s art and artists. He co-curated the 2016 exhibition “Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto” for the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. He presented the solo exhibition “Habitat” at Gallery TPW in 2017.
Selected solo exhibitions: “Sphinx,” Allan Gardens, Toronto (2015); “In a Material World,” WORK, London (2013); “Show Your Wound,” Birch Libralato, Toronto, and Galerie Max Mayer, Dusseldorf (2012); “A finger in the pie, a foot in the door, a leg in quicksand,” Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen, Germany (2012); “The Eye, the Hole, the Picture,” McCord Museum, Montreal (2011); “Without Persons,” Art in General, New York (2010); PKM Gallery, Seoul (2008)
Selected group exhibitions: “Communicating Vessels,” Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga, ON (2014); “Diagrams,” Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefeld, Germany (2012); “Pop Politics: Activism at 33 Revolutions,” CA2M—Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid (2012); 2012 Taipei Biennial; “Surplus Authors,” Witte de With, Rotterdam (2012); “Oh, Canada,” MASS MoCA, Northampton, MA (2012); “Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); “Dance with Camera,” Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2009); “Documenta 12,” Kassel, Germany (2007)
Selected public collections: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Generali Foundation, Vienna; Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
2007
20 x 14 inches (28 x 21.75 inches framed)
Edition of 20, 3 APs
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Mottled Form depicts a figure ambiguously situated between a body-becoming-thing and a thing-becoming-body. This figure is draped with a flexible patterned fabric, giving it a sculptural appearance. The lighting in the photograph endows the scenario with a theatrical ambiance. Camouflage-like, the patterned fabric raises the question of where this figure properly belongs. The figure’s “unhomely” character fulfills the classic definition of uncanniness, which appears when there is a “doubt whether an apparently animate being is really alive; or conversely, whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate.”
ABOUT LUIS JACOB
Born 1970 in Lima, Peru
Toronto-based artist Luis Jacob is known for his multidisciplinary practice that highlights the socio-economic dimensions of the visual world. Jacob studied semiotics and philosophy at the University of Toronto and is recognized as an expert in the city’s art and artists. He co-curated the 2016 exhibition “Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto” for the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. He presented the solo exhibition “Habitat” at Gallery TPW in 2017.
Selected solo exhibitions: “Sphinx,” Allan Gardens, Toronto (2015); “In a Material World,” WORK, London (2013); “Show Your Wound,” Birch Libralato, Toronto, and Galerie Max Mayer, Dusseldorf (2012); “A finger in the pie, a foot in the door, a leg in quicksand,” Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen, Germany (2012); “The Eye, the Hole, the Picture,” McCord Museum, Montreal (2011); “Without Persons,” Art in General, New York (2010); PKM Gallery, Seoul (2008)
Selected group exhibitions: “Communicating Vessels,” Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga, ON (2014); “Diagrams,” Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefeld, Germany (2012); “Pop Politics: Activism at 33 Revolutions,” CA2M—Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid (2012); 2012 Taipei Biennial; “Surplus Authors,” Witte de With, Rotterdam (2012); “Oh, Canada,” MASS MoCA, Northampton, MA (2012); “Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); “Dance with Camera,” Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2009); “Documenta 12,” Kassel, Germany (2007)
Selected public collections: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Generali Foundation, Vienna; Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York