AJC presents “Subversive Undertones” a solo exhibition of the work of contemporary Hong Kong based American artist Jesse Mc Lin.

Mc Lin’s practice has developed along a distinctive path shaped by his extensive travels and his varied expression involving painting, ceramics and printmaking. His experiences are collated in observation and imagery that give form to his own explorations of place. The resulting work can seem conflicted and influenced even in its form by the inherent paradox found in seeking a sense of belonging.

For this exhibition Mc Lin shares his expression through a collection of intimate portraits and installations evoking the tension felt between social interaction and feelings of confidence and awkwardness.

Understanding McLin's process is integral to his work and its intimation. Most paintings undergo a long and complex act of evolution with each piece holding some residue of the countless painted layers of information first discovered and then lost within the making process. Images lurk in the shadows washed out by figures either changing stance mid-painting or left unfinished alongside drips of gestural paint. In contrast to the washed out imagery, Mc Lin overlays his paintings with highly detailed iconography from diverse historic, pop and mythological sources.

At times subversive these inconspicuous icons help direct the conceptual premise of the works' chaotic composition. Each painting is its own journey of finding some personal even emotional resonance. At once the record of an action and witness to its own process.

Jesse Mc Lin was born in 1975 and raised in the forest of Northern California. After graduating from Kansas City Art Institute he moved to upstate New York obtaining his MFA at Alfred State School of Ceramic Arts. Mc Lin moved to Hong Kong in 2008 after teaching several years at Parsons New School for Design in New York. His sculptural work has shown in Hong Kong, Beijing and Seoul. “Subversive Undertones” is his first solo show in Hong Kong and opens on 5 March.

-Amelia Johnson Gallery

Image: © Jesse Mc Lin
Lovers
2013
Acrylic on paper
153 x 140cm
Courtesy of the artist and Amelia Johnson Gallery