Jesse Aridoux
Born in 1981 in Jacmel, Haiti, Jesse Aridoux lives and works in Queens, New York. A multidisciplinary artist, web, and graphic designer by training, Aridoux tackles various mediums in his body of work. From drawings to paintings, photography to design, his works reflect on the history of surrealism, abstraction, and classical painting while hinting at the notion of identity and existence. With drawings from his Tessonism series, Aridoux crumples the paper as a way to symbolize deconstruction before unfolding and drawing in each crease, sewing the work back together with graphite, in an act of healing. The process reminds us of the Surrealist’s signature method called ‘Exquisite Cadaver’, with the exception that Aridoux acts intentionally and alone. With his paintings, Aridoux subtly blurs the lines between figuration and the hint at contemporary history often tainted with oppression, injustice, and inequality.