Jake Cruzen & Jasper Spicero

As It Stands is pleased to present Hillcrest, an exhibition of paintings by Jake Cruzen and sculptures by Jasper Spicero.

The exhibition's content is drawn from Spicero’s discovery of an abandoned youth correctional facility, the anatomy of which can be seen as chambers of the human heart, featured in several of Jake’s paintings. Children and animals are often the protagonists of Cruzen’s paintings, this show being no exception, in Hillcrest these subjects are in different stages of development bursting from or metamorphosing into hearts. His paintings are UV prints on silvered plywood, glimmering in style and under the gallery lights. They feel down to earth, connected to the artist's reality as a young father watching his children change over time. The central sculpture and video piece of the exhibition is Jasper's reconfiguration of the facility as a snowball/billiard. A table covered in images and embroideries that nearly form a narrative, a story that the video piece helps the viewer feel rather than understand. The titular correctional facility becomes a stand-in for the effects of other harmful institutions; abusive schools, inhuman prisons, places where spirits break into submission. The sewn fabrics featured in his artworks are like a futile tourniquet against the chill that permeates his installation.

Jasper Spicero (b. 1990) has had solo exhibitions at Mother Culture, Musée d'Art Moderne, and The Swiss Institute. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Jake Cruzen (b. 1979) has had had solo exhibitions at Michael Thibault Gallery, White Flag Projects, and Bed-Stuy Love Affair. He lives and works in the San Bernadino mountains in California.