1. introduction
  2. bodies
  3. frames
  4. lights
  5. butterflies
  6. conclusion

1. introduction

by Avery Lawrence

Jonathan Lyndon Chase gives us so much. In Big Wash, their exhibition at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Jonathan gives us dozens of art objects that process water, bodies, cleaning, cleansing, Blackness and early-aughts popular culture. It’s a washing machine full of paintings, drawings, sculptures, poems and videos — and actual washing machines — that tumble together into one artist’s kaleidoscopic view of their world, a world they choose to privilege and celebrate with detail and nuance.

And Jonathan gave us so much. Each semester, my “Art, Design & Digital Culture” course at The University of Pennsylvania explores an artist’s concurrent exhibition and collaboratively writes a response. Each semester we humbly ask that artist to talk with us about their work. In the Fall of 2020, Jonathan Lyndon Chase gave us that pleasure. For over an hour, across two virtual chats, Jonathan shared with us their artistic process, their specific ideas behind Big Wash, and their general wisdom about making and being in the world. The 14 of us in the class listened. We asked questions. We submerged ourselves in Jonathan’s ideas, in Jonathan’s images, in Jonathan’s Big Wash. 

Valerie, Edward and Juliana lean on the bullet-point form to account for the multitudinous meanings that we can derive from Jonathan’s juxtapositions of body and water. In this exhibition, it is as if Jonathan has opened a tap for a lifetime of ideas, feelings, and experiences to splash into each object, occasionally spilling out into the physical space. Jonah, Vish and Egret explore the implications of that spillage, of art gestures that cannot be contained within discrete art objects. Light, in a sense, also contains fluid properties. It “washes” over us. It “spills.” It “floods.” Claudio, Shannon, Constance and Isabelle consider Jonathan’s play with represented and physical light in their work, exploring what happens when expectations are subverted. And Elyssa, Tavi and Ayaka examine the symbolism of the butterfly and the way it floats in, out and through Jonathan’s work. 

In the paragraphs and pages that follow, you will find 13 students thinking and writing about art, together.

2. bodies

by Valerie Wang, Edward Wu & Juliana Yu

  • “Never forget what you said to me in the reflection of your bathroom mirror. Rinsing your wishes away leaves me dry of love”
  • Washing machines
    • Central to the exhibition
    • Loved that it involved sculptural elements, paintings on the wall, and interactive bubbles
    • Bubbles create literal reference to water, liquid, and cleansing
    • Machines in the painting all appear to be in motion/ in the middle of the cycle → suggests the never-ending, continually progressing element of cleansing
    • Interesting choice to represent cleansing (as opposed to a shower/bath that literally cleanses the body)
      • Could suggest that cleansing is often superficial/surface-level since clothes can be changed and taken off, it’s harder to cleanse or fundamentally change someone’s body and true self
    • Really cool to see the sketches, photographs and drafts that lead up to the final piece
    • Connects to boxers hanging on laundry line, cohesive theme and motif
    • Ritualistic yet mundane acts of doing laundry and washing the body
  • The idea of bathing and washing is an intimate one where an individual finds themselves the most exposed and vulnerable
    • Chase plays with the public nature of laundromats as well as the extremely personal and private act of washing
      • Something so personal can somehow bring people together as his work often show individuals socializing and engaging with each other
    • Soap as result of a mutual support system in “Carved to Flow,” each of the ingredients brought together with the intent of “care” (http://www.carvedtoflow.com/)
  • Love to see the various interactions of bodies in the different pieces of art
    • Different degrees of clothes vs nudity suggest different interpretations
    • Very loud, immediately captures your attention, not afraid to hide any parts of the body
  • Water representative of gender + masculinity as a construct
    • Maybe washing as a cycle of socialization into gendered ways of thinking
    • Also washing with “skin lightening” soaps plays into socialization of creating an ideal body, especially in the queer landscape where body consciousness is often an issue
      • Could also be a reference to the emphasis of white queer people in the LGBT community vs other races that are often left out and how African-American queer people feel a need to fit in the mold (https://www.them.us/story/queer-poc-body-image)
      • “danced around through carrier hands to generate that which will circle back to somewhere else, to take new form – a no-waste product carved to flow” → soap is cyclical and not wasted, but merely changes form (http://www.carvedtoflow.com/)
    • “fine art shrouds masculinity in darkness”, “If masculinity is the flame, whiteness is the fentanyl”

3. frames

by Jonah Charlton, Vish Dhar & Egret Jin

4. lights

by Claudio Angrigiani, Shannon Suhendra, Constance Wang & Isabelle Yablon

Can light change ourselves? Light directly affects how we perceive colors and it even changes the color of our own body. Jonathan portrays light in a myriad of techniques, from a few strokes turning an object into a silhouette to shiny objects glued directly onto the painting to light washing over the entire scene. Jonathan uses light to compare and contrast ourselves in different times and places.

Are we the same person when we are in public and when we are inside? Jonathan shows that our public and private selves can be contradictory. The first painting depicts two figures having sex in what looks like an alleyway, with the brick wall in the back, and the second work shows one figure lifting weights alone in a locker room. It’s interesting that green light washes the first scene, while red, which usually communicates sex and passion, tints the latter. Both feature nude figures, but the complementary colours highlight the different emotions: calmness and desire.

Day and night is a strong theme in Jonathan’s works. Jonathan uses multiple neon-tinted light sources and dazzling headlights to embrace a chaotic and glamorous LGBTQ nightlife. These works feature a crowd—three or more—of colourfully dressed figures interacting and dancing together.

Jonathan’s incorporation of select objects that shine or sparkle also seem to be an important element of their work. Here, Jonathan has painted a mouth with gold, shiny grills which contrast the matte, black background of the painting. Wearing grills is certainly a form of expression, as it’s the first thing someone notices when opening your mouth to speak. Interestingly, glitter is not only “intimately tied to the long legacy of nightlife and performance art,” but to many people, “wearing glitter is a way to signal our queer identities not only to ourselves but also to each other.” In the LGBTIQ+ community, glitter is often used in celebrating one’s queer identity rather than remaining silent. 

On a separate note, Jonathan’s daytime scenes tend to feature a single yellow light that glows into the rest of the image, creating an aura of warmth and hope within the viewers. Unlike their night scenes—which tend to be more chaotic and exciting—this scene depicts a cleaner, more simplistic environment, with two figures engaging in daily, domestic acts like hanging laundry or bathing together. 

Comments and beliefs such as these in the art community reveal just why representation through art is so important (https://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/in_depth/what-is-masculinity-in-art-and-do-we-have-to-care-56336)

5. butterflies

by Elyssa Chou, Tavi Kim & Ayaka Shimada

6. Conclusion

by Avery Lawrence

I’ll end in gratitude. Thank you to Claudio, Jonah, Elyssa, Vish, Egret, Tavi, Ayaka, Shannon, Constance, Valerie, Edward, Isabelle and Juliana for working together and sharing your thoughts and words about art. Thank you to The Fabric Workshop and Museum for your exhibitions and programming. And, most of all, thank you to Jonathan Lyndon Chase for sharing your time and your work.