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P
ainter Jen Mann’s new show is a twisty-turny
spiral into an almost absurd amount of meta
reflection—paintings of other paintings, of art
galleries, mirrors, fake magazine covers, film stills of
films that don’t exist, self-portraits of self-portraits—
but deep down in her hyper-colored world of self-
satire and fourth-wall-breaking imagery is a mirror
that is aimed not at Mann, but the viewer.
“I’ve not found myself in my paintings, and
I’m not entirely interested in finding myself.
I’m mostly interested in the concept of self,” the
Toronto-based painter says. “So it comes down to
not who I, Jen Mann, am, but what is our culture’s
fascination with the self and how can I frame that
in a way that’s a happy kind of illusion? I’m always
continuously searching for meaning, not so much
who we are, but what it means to be alive. I could
make a narrative on Instagram but if I look at it
closely enough do I really see who I am in it? It’s
almost dissociative. It’s hard to know where life
ends and a weird simulation begins.”
The show, which is now open at Gallery Jones
in Vancouver, Canada, is titled Metonymy, which
is a literary term for a word meant to invoke
another idea, but with a linked lineage between
the two concepts. The common example used for
metonymy is “suits” used for any kind of business
executive. Executives wear suits, and “suits” is
a casual word to describe them. It’s an elliptical
sort of substitution, which is what brought Mann
to the word. For her new show she’s objectifying
herself to the point she becomes an object, and
then the objects also relate back to her and her
attempt to rationalize the concept of “self”—like
the word itself, her motives are elliptical and create
an interesting loop of ideas.
The show includes many self-portraits, which
Mann is at ease painting. “It doesn’t feel like me, to
be honest. Think of all the people you see in your
day...your partner, your dog, your coworkers. My own
face seems sort of foreign compared to everyone
else. I feel like just a character in my life,” she says.
Not only is she painting herself, but she’s also
painting herself nude and in intimate and revealing
moments. “My work is reflective of myself. I’m really
open and honest in person. I do hide behind a lot
of humor. On first glance it looks very serious, but
it’s often self-deprecating. For my magazine cover
paintings, I just thought it would be funny to do that
and make all the titles into jokes.”
Works in the show include The Kiss, which is a
painting of a painting hanging in a gallery. AddingJEN MANNThe Concept of Self
UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / GALLERY JONES
Through 12/7 Vancouver, BC12