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Artist in residence : Sophie Becker

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Exhibition Jake Brush

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Artist in residence: William Ludwig Lutgens

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International program Copenhagen 2023

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Salon #1 William Ludwig Lutgens

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Performance by Daisy Ray & open studios during Kunstennacht

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20→25.03.23

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Posted on 24.04.22

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Date: 25→30.04.22

International program NYC 2022

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Date: 07.05.25

Exhibition Jake Brush

Exhibition

Mall, Interrupted by Jake Brush

Starting May 7, 2025 we present Jake Brush’s first solo exhibition in Europe: Mall, Interrupted. This at the abandoned Vonk Centrale in Hasselt. This expo offers a conceptually layered exploration of his multidisciplinary oeuvre, in which Brush dissects the excesses of consumer culture and the society of spectacle with an astute mix of humor and satire. Central to the exhibition is his monumental video art, in which digital manipulation and sculptural forms come together to create alienating yet playful narratives that blur the lines between reality and fiction.

Exclusive opening May 7, 2025 from 5 p.m.

Vonk Centrale, Kempische Kaai 85, 3500 Hasselt
The opening reception is free but you need to reserve a spot –> here

Open for audience from May 8th, 6 p.m.
From there on the exhibition will be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon (12a.m.) to 6 p.m. Admission : 3 € until June 21st 2025

Pers Jake Brush 1 5 2025 Selma Gurbuz 11

Pers Jake Brush 1 5 2025 Selma Gurbuz 12

Three graces in cakey makeup emerge from the lake. Their true colours shine through the mélange of twitching pixels. Rainbow eye wash, glitch glitter, data shockwaves sent down the spine, RGB and D&G, and KKW BB, medium coverage, effectively protects skin from harmful UVA and UVB rays. He smiles and receives a bottle to his head, a milkshake jizz into the face. Coverage from the purgatory of an influencer’s retreat, a puppy parlour scoop, a mall transmission. If you’re not currently exploding online, you’re pretty much non-existent — you can keep your nondescript integrity. So many angels waiting in the heavens to be sent down to Earth, pre-big-bang.

ZAP!* We gathered here today to celebrate the work of Jake Brush, a beloved artist and performer. His videos and installations are characterised by a zany* blend of glitz and trash — visual, linguistic, and material. They both feed and are fed by the underlying drive that animates the media industry: voyeurism — along with its twin affects, cringe and schadenfreude, which represent a masochistic and sadistic pleasure, respectively, drawn from witnessing others’ failure. Hate-watching kills time. Brush does not pretend to know all the answers or hold the right morals, unapologetically smashing together different values and POVs. He is interested in everything that’s ‘problematic’ — a word we use when we’re afraid to say something is ‘predatory’, ‘exploitative’, or just ‘fucking dumb’ — and in the ‘ugly’ side we rarely want to look at or admit to looking at, the side responsible for low instincts and low entertainment. The shame economy of taste is lubricated by those guilty pleasures no one acknowledges enjoying. Here, desire and self-image live in an uneasy truce. But also, so much socialisation occurs through mockery and shaming. There is a sense of togetherness to trashing someone — gathering in front of the TV, a new episode of ‘Idol’, microwave toasts, watching delusional wannabes getting smashed by a performatively critical jury, and chewing on the gummy amalgam of white bread, cheese, and ketchup. In Hasselt, which takes pride in calling itself the capital of taste, Brush’s work brings in something of a different, soapy flavour.

ZAP! In his videos, Brush summons a recurring cast of characters and props: detergents and degenerates. Less performing, more enacting, he channels early aughts TV personalities and micro-celebrities from his hometown to whom he has a tangential connection: a former child star, a pet store owner turned TV host, a dietician-cult-leader, and other surface-active agents. A digital archive of personalities from the golden era of television, a Long Island pantheon of stars, people on the verge of breakthrough or breakdown.

Manias, tantrums, backbiting — vibe swings as fast as editing, split screen and split personalities. Casually slipping in references to conspiracy theories. Cable to cabal. Those who know, know. Did they have any issues growing up? Just anorexia. Who is worthy of empathy? Whom is it socially acceptable to hate?

Things that are tacky and tasteless to some are edgy to others. One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. Trash with thrush. Candidiasis on candid camera. Let’s not go there. Some are afraid of sexually active postmenopausal women. What comes after post-irony? What’s the era-appropriate age-appropriateness of today? Are you an Adult Child of Emotionally Immature Parents? Self-Discovery Questions for Personal Growth. Question 2: What’s my purpose in life?

ZAP! The problem with parafiction, autofiction, and other semi-fictional artistic strategies in the era of fake news is that they tend to deploy the same logic as the phenomena they criticise. In that context, paradoxically, explicit hyper-artificiality might be seen as more authentic, even honest. ‘Birds aren’t real’ becoming real. Caricature-to-conspiracy pipeline. I mean — why not? Each advance in image-making technology is bound to a military advancement, and carrier pigeons were used for surveillance during the Cold War. Details of pigeon missions are still classified. Whatever subversive potential culture had it’s been pacified, co-opted by capital and turned into merch. EVERYTHING MUST GO. Time waits for no one. YOLO.

ZAP! Slipping in and out of characters, Brush combines the scripted with the unscripted — the appropriated, chewed-up lingo of confessionals, business seminars and life coaching, therapy talk and YouTube apologies with his vibe-sensing and improvisation. Besides prosthetics, wigs, make-up, and carefully crafted fits, language becomes another suit to slip into. Corpse linguistics.

The collapse of language unfolded alongside the retail apocalypse. Correlation does not imply causation — except when it does. Junkspace has moved online, that ‘fuzzy empire of blur, fusing high and low, public and private, straight and bent, bloated and starved’ (Rem Koolhaas). Brush picks up on different idiolects and linguistic codes, stock language from social media and TV, and he flarfs* and vocal fries his way through this material.

ZAP!Video is such a potent medium because it devours all other media. Everything’s image, everything’s surface. Brush’s videos bring together different aspects of his artistic practice: installation, sculptures, costumes, makeup, text, and performance. He is involved on every production level — as a writer, actor, scenographer, director, and editor. It’s filmmaking as freak fighting — a spectacle of struggle with low budget, limited expertise, and idea overload. DIY aesthetics combined with digital effects added in post like glue sticking disparate parts together, or like colorful bandages (his words). There is a certain honesty to leaning into the cheap, the staged, foregrounding the contemporary economy of image making.

Video devours and through it, we devour everything. Here is a brief disambiguation of contemporary expressions related to media consumption: ‘I heard somewhere’ — ‘I saw on TikTok’; ‘a great documentary’ — ‘a YouTube video essay’; ‘I read’ — ‘reels infographics’.

ZAP! Humour is the area exempted from the usual social norms and moral constraints. And sure, at times even court jesters faced the axe, but overall, ‘just kidding’ is a good excuse to avoid a beating. Comedy and parody operate with generic codes that serve as a container for whatever it is that needs to be said — whatever shocking, confessional, or uncomfortable things need to be expelled. It may feel cathartic.

I had to think of that guy on YouTube hand-crafting an insanely meticulous diorama of the moment Mel Gibson was arrested for drunk driving. So many hours devoted to this laborious medium — traditionally reserved for museum models. This totally absurd, tiny moment in the history of pop-cultural gossip, suddenly took on so many potent layers of signification. Then he put it in a box, buried it, and organised a treasure hunt for his followers. Gold.
Humour is a great equaliser: it makes it possible to relativise difficult issues; but it also does the reverse: irony, a specific flavour of humour, is the fig leaf we wear to make unserious pleasure appear serious — like ironically enjoying something or hate-watching a bad series. Humour is one of the few known antidotes to the cruel optimism* of the fantasy of the good life, aka the American Dream.

ZAP! Brush tells me his entry into culture, like many of us, was through television. In our lifetime, broadcasting was substituted by streaming. Yet that aura of uniquely televisual formats — game and talent shows, reality TV, para-documentaries, televangelism — operating not on the level of information but of affect, persists and haunts. He is interested in the disintegration and, at the same time, the lasting impact of that culture, its aesthetics, and its economy. Those productions were cheap, exploitative, and abundant. For a shot at fame, many would participate for free (insert an art parallel here? Too cheap?). His work amplifies that legacy, using the tools, tactics, and vernacular of our social media era — drawing from the culture of ubiquitous content creation. Brush calls his work ‘fan art’ for the golden age of television. I call it methadone for scroll addicts.

ZAP! These images are undead, exhumed from the TV cemetery and returned as gifs, reels, and memes. Beyond the original medium and its constraints, the images, once produced under conditions of limited choice — where the golden standard was the ‘Least Objectionable Option’ — return to haunt us in the economy of instant access. Anything, anytime, anywhere — and somehow, everything feels like shit. ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’ always already sounded like the name of a zombie apocalypse film. We should have known better.

Poor images are everywhere. Decapitalised, demonetised, compressed over and over. History teaches us that those disenfranchised eventually rise. History is on their side. Poor images are on a warpath; they’ve learnt to reproduce, self-generate. We live in a paradoxical time of abundance and lack — with countless images without referents and countless people without representation (paraphrasing Hito Steyerl). They’re flooding the zone. No beeldenstorm can stop them. This is image accelerationism par excellence. The only way to survive is as an image — to become iconic, lossless, non-fungible.

– Alicja Melzacka

*cruel optimism: according to Laurent Berlant names ‘a relation of attachment to compromised conditions of possibility.’
flarf (noun): ‘A quality of intentional or unintentional “flarfiness.” A kind of corrosive, cute, or cloying, awfulness. Wrong. Un‑P.C. Out of control’ (see: flarf poetry).

zaniness: according to Sianne Ngai, is one of the dominant contemporary aesthetic categories, ‘one highlighting the affect, libido, physicality; evoking the production of affects and social relationship as it comes to increasingly trouble the distinction between work and play. A laborious involvement from which ironic detachment is not an option.’

zap (verb): ‘to rapidly change from one channel to another using a remote control device; to deliver a blow; to kill someone or something.’

Interview

Jake Brush (°1994), originally from Long Island, is a contemporary artist based in New York known for his bold, multi-disciplinary approach that blends video, performance, sculpture, and installation. Drawing from his unique background and experiences, his work often explores themes of identity, family dynamics, and the absurdities of modern life through the lens of reality TV and consumer culture.

With a keen eye for humor and satire, Brush challenges societal norms while offering a fresh perspective on contemporary art. His work has been showcased in a variety of spaces, and his upcoming exhibition in Hasselt marks his first major show in Europe, adding a new layer to his already diverse practice.

How has your background and the difference in interests with your family influenced your work and artistic vision?

I didn’t grow up in an artistic family. They are clever but not really into art. However, they are definitely characters. My family is very “red, white, and blue,” —obsessed with tanning and working out. I’ve always felt quite different from them, and I still find our dynamic fascinating.

Your work often explores themes of reality TV and contemporary culture, a very family oriented thing. Can you share what draws you to these subjects, and how do you see them reflecting the absurdities of modern life?

In the past, I created a lot of work centered around my family — both with them and about them. The loose concepts of my “scripts” would clash against their poor performance as non- actors, and so to sell the performance, the video would include unscripted material — something they did between takes, or out of character when they thought I wasn’t filming. I’ve always been fascinated by reality TV, as a desperate, exploitative, cheap, and entertaining art forum. The genre captures this residue of what happens between production, and cast — and brands that edited residue as “reality”, which is really nuts. It mirrors what we see on the internet: the internet now is like a increasingly fragmented reality show.

So would you describe your work as direct, given its strong connection to reality?

Absolutely. I don’t wait for the funding to produce a video. If I write a script, I just go for it. But then my plans for a video smash against this total lack of resources. It’s constantly chaotic and intimate. There’s no high budget to hide behind, which I allows for this directness. A lot of art can get lost to this mundane regurgitation of academia. I’ve just always been more interested in talking shit and watching tv.

You studied Film, Media, and Visual Arts at SUNY Purchase in New York. Were you already exploring these themes during that time?

Yes, I was. While studying, most of my work revolved around my family — pretty much everything I made at that time was focused on them.

Your work blends video, performance, sculpture, and installation. How do you navigate these different mediums in your practice? Do you see them as interconnected or distinct, and how does your thought process unfold when working with them?

A lot of my work revolves around the strangeness of labor — how bizarre and, in some ways, comedic it can be to be an artist. It’s like being a worker, but also a bit of a performer or comedian. There’s a lot of work that goes into producing the videos, and I really like to harvest all of that labor. I spend a lot of time reworking the digital elements of the videos. Combining footage with CGI animations that help break apart and extend the world within my work. When I create prints or sculptures, I like to take elements from those worlds and recontextualize them in another form. For example, I might print objects from the video, then transform them — like casting them in silicone. I’ve always been fascinated by mass production and the material used to create replicas.

You’ve mentioned that your work incorporates both humor and a critique of societal norms. How do you balance these two aspects, and what role does humor play in your art?

I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily about balancing those two elements. Humor is just part of my sensibility. It’s how I communicate and connect with people, a way of breaking the ice. Even though my work is often solitary, it’s still a form of communication. Humor creates space for a lot of things — sometimes it’s just a way of testing the waters. There are also moments where the characters in my work say things that are taboo. I think humor opens up that space for to be volatile , making it a bit lighter and, at times, just funny.

In your recent installation Petpourri, you reimagined a Long Island TV show. Can you tell us more about the project and how it reflects your interest in re-contextualizing everyday life through art?

The project was commissioned by The Shed for their 2023 Open Call. It’s inspired by a pet store owner from Long Island who also had a local TV show called Petpourri. On the show, animals would run wild, creating these outrageous, chaotic scenes. The original tapes were difficult to find, but I managed to track them down on Reddit. The tapes were only a few minutes long, so my idea was to build a piece around them. I wanted to create a Petpourri universe, starting with these short, violent yet comedic animal videos at its core, and then expanding from there.

Your use of fluorescent-colored pet products and oversized sculptures in “Petpourri”. How do you select materials or visual elements?

It was actually pretty straightforward. I used a lot of prosthetic makeup to represent the changes the characters were undergoing. When it came to the sculptures, I focused on casting the prosthetics into solid forms, then extracting the objects through 3D printing. It felt like a small collectible series that you can’t actually use to care for pets — impractical pet supplies, which I find really funny. For me, materials are all about what can be used to create replications. It’s similar to my videos, where the characters are impersonating real people from television shows, or videos I found online, or people from my life. The sculptures are impersonations of unremarkable objects.

In your work, you blend character and authenticity in a unique way. How do you navigate the balance between direction and spontaneity when working with performers?

I believe that everyone brings a mix of the character and themselves to set —how they’re feeling that day, what’s on their mind. When I work with a performer, it’s crucial for me that they feel independant . I actually enjoy it when they challenge me or act on their own ideas. I don’t typically work with trained actors because I don’t just want to see the character but the performer as well. I cast people who I think are interesting. It’s really about the initial concept being derailed by everything that happens on shoot day and then trying to pull it back together in the edit. That push and pull is what makes the work. That’s where the real magic happens.

Your work seems to challenge consumerist culture. How do you perceive the role of art in critiquing societal systems?

I believe that art, whether intentionally or not, often critiques consumer culture simply by existing. Art is, by nature, non-essential in the economy, which makes it an extravagant thing in itself. This creates a kind of space that indirectly engages with political issues. I think all art can be political, but I don’t necessarily aim to be a direct critique of culture. At this point American culture critiques itself constantly. It doesn’t need my help.

You’re heading to Hasselt soon for your first exhibition in Europe. Will this show differ from your previous work?

Well, it’s in Europe, which in itself makes it a bit different. Being overseas means everything has to be carefully planned out. It’ll definitely be different because the audience is European, but also because of the space — Vonk. It’s such an incredible venue; I find it much cooler than a traditional art gallery. There’s something more relatable and vulnerable about it. I’m really looking forward to showing my work there. So, in that sense, it will definitely be a different experience.

Given that your work is deeply layered in American culture, how do you think it will resonate with a Belgian audience?

Yes, it’s definitely very American. But America itself is so fascinating, as messed up as it is. I imagine the audience might watch it and think, “Wow, America — what a shit show” (laughs). But I do believe that once you get past those layers, anyone can connect with it. The fact that Vonk invited me to show my work already suggests there’s some kind of connection or resonance there.

How do you see your relationship with art evolving in the future?

I’ve definitely grown a lot over the past five years, and I think that’s largely been due to the opportunities I’ve had. They push you to really step up and give it your all. So, I’m not sure what the future holds, but I’m excited to see how my work will evolve as I get older (laughs). Oh god, what will that look like…

interview by Aïcha Mouhamou

Artist in residence : Sophie Becker

Exhibition Jake Brush

Ateliers voor beeldende kunstenaars in Hasselt/Genk

Portfolioday

Artist in residence : Sietske Van Aerde

European residency programme Moving Identities

Open Call : Presentation opportunity for artists

Artist in residence : Deveny Faruque

Interview The Age Of Love

Open Studio Shir Handelsman

Meet the artists for Moving Identities year two

Performa6

Ateliers: welcome Mounir Eddib, Jannick Rabijns, Nyk Baeten & Ruben Castro

International program 2024 NYC

Expo, performances and afterparty during Kunstennacht!

Atelier in Beeld 2024

Open studio F//AAT

European residency program Moving Identities

Late Lunch Lectures #19 #20 #21

Meet the artists for the NYC program 2024

Artist in residence: Elen Braga

Late Lunch Lecture #18 Kati Heck

International program NYC 2024

Steve Robyns at Z33

Interview with KAIHO for Moving Identities

Salon #2 The Stand In by Irina Jasnowski Pascual

International Visitors Program 2023

Artist in residence: Pieter Desmet

Artist in residence: William Ludwig Lutgens

Artist in residence: Irina Jasnowski Pascual

Kunstplaats Vonk welcomes Evelien Cammaert & Niels Vaes to the ateliers

International program Copenhagen 2023

Salon #1 William Ludwig Lutgens

Per­for­mance by Daisy Ray & open studios dur­ing Kunstennacht

Workshop on scenography, dramaturgy & theater

Late Lunch Lectures #12 #13 #14

Maya Dhondt & Elisabeth Klinck in residence for Studio Classic

Performance Night 2022

Portfolio day for performance artists

Performa 5

International program NYC 2022

Performance by Daisy Ray & open studios during Kunstennacht