Pure Hell
01.10.20–02.29.20
Jacob Mason-Macklin
PURE HELL grows from a place of frustration and desire. Drawing influence from the growls of Raw Power and the howls of Soul Brother No. 1, spirited portraits of Street-Stompers twist N’ shout looking for a release. Inside PURE HELL the figures are off the dog collar with a bone to pick. Flesh transforms into masks adorned with war paint and threads are razor sharp. The Night-Prowlers are dressed to kill. Paint runs like an out-of-tune solo; a last-ditch frenzy caked on like cheap make-up. Brushstrokes animate the monkey on the back and record the unscratchable itch. Underneath PURE HELL is an urge to unleash. The house has burned down and what’s lying beneath the ash is waiting around the corner.
Jacob Mason-Macklin (b. 1995) is a visual artist born in Columbus, OH currently living in New York City. Mason-Macklin has exhibited in New York City with Jeffrey Stark Gallery (2017) and The Swiss Institute (2019), as well as a solo exhibition in Ferguson, MO with The Bermuda Project (2019). His work is included in the permanent archives at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City and the Langston Hughes Libraryin Corona, New York (2019). Mason-Macklin is a 2019 Alumni of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and a 2016 fellow of the Yale-Norfolk Summer School of Art.
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