200 × 180 cm, oil spray acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 2020
Jordan Kerwick’s gritty, thickly impastoed paintings range from haunting figurative portraits and Cubist-inflected still lifes to more abstract, gestural works in the vein of Franz Kline or Cy Twombly. The self-taught Australian artist, now based in France, began painting in 2016—more or less on a whim, he says. Kerwick quickly found himself at the center of international success: He has shown at galleries in Melbourne, London, New York, Tokyo, and Paris. Kerwick’s disparate practice embraces a range of materials including enamel, acrylic, oil, house paint, airbrush, graphite, and charcoal. The artists’ inspirations include art historical still lifes, his family, literature, music, and the city of Los Angeles.
