Jay Stern at NOON Projects

At NOON Projects in Chinatown, Jay Stern’s paintings present a quiet domestic world with painterly fervor. Scenes of clothing drying on a rack, a plant sunning in a window, and a stack of logs ready to contribute to a warming fire populate the exhibition. Several of the works picture windows from the vantage of being on the inside looking out — in some, fall colors emerge or winter snow begins to accumulate, and there’s a sense that through painting the artist is bolstering himself from the elements while also honoring the landscape that hems him in. 

Stern’s painterly style — blocky and almost cubist — allows areas of each composition to dissolve into abstract patterns, as if making space for dreams amidst the mundane familiarity of everyday domestic life. “House on Angeline” significantly pictures the exterior of a home with its curtains drawn  (presumably the artist’s), creating a momentary sense of remove. After allowing us into private scenes of laundry hung to dry, the painting suddenly places us on the outside, unable to enter the intimate spaces that lie within. How many simultaneous lives are being lived in the little worlds that are our homes?

On view: September 9 – October 8, 2022

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Photo courtesy of artist and NOON Projects.