Overview

Wilding Cran Gallery is pleased to present A Day In The Life, a curatorial assemblage of the memories and everyday influences of emerging artist, Jonah Elijah. 

 

In an effort to capture the essence of life in his hometown of Houston, Texas, Jonah Elijah invites the viewer to take a walk in his shoes, harnessing everything from oil paint and pastel, to newsprint and found objects. Through an odyssey punctuated by snapshots of street scenes and basketball courts, shopping carts and sneakers, A Day In The Life introduces the viewer to a series of vignettes that guide us through the experience of a young black man growing up in America. 

 

Throughout his practice, the now Los Angeles-based artist utilizes representational and abstract approaches to painting in order to isolate and examine the impact of certain images, objects, and rituals that came to characterize his adolescence. At once thoughtfully methodical and implicitly organic, Elijah revisits the sites of his memories by experimenting with point of view. Through an aesthetic commentary on the ways in which we are able to re-evaluate our modes of perception, the artist questions the significance of where we stand in relation to our memories, to one another, to animals and insects, to telephone poles and mountaintops.

 

Whether witnessing a bird’s eye view of a neighborhood dice game or observing the world from beneath the soles of a pair of Jordans, A Day In The Life pieces together the puzzle of memory to examine the pathways though which we learn to navigate the world. By holding a microscope up to his own iconography, Jonah Elijah draws the viewer into an intimate autobiographical journey that sheds light on the experiences that shape us as individuals and the ties that come to bind a community.

Installation Views
Works
  • Jonah Elijah, Nothing Is Something, 2020
    Jonah Elijah
    Nothing Is Something, 2020
    Oil, color pencil, 1 dollar bill on wood panel
    96 x 38 1/2 inches
    243.8 x 97.8 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, First Day of School, 2020
    Jonah Elijah
    First Day of School, 2020
    Acrylic on wood board
    96 x 38 1/2 inches
    243.8 x 97.8 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, Black Toe 1, 2022
    Jonah Elijah
    Black Toe 1, 2022
    Oil on board, oil on canvas, shoes
    48 x 24 x 4 inches
    121.9 x 61 x 10.2 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, I Got What You Need, 2022
    Jonah Elijah
    I Got What You Need, 2022
    Acrylic on board, shoe soles
    60 x 24 inches
    152.4 x 61 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, Carefree, 2021
    Jonah Elijah
    Carefree, 2021
    Acrylic on board
    96 x 48 inches
    243.8 x 121.9 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, Hood Messenger, 2020
    Jonah Elijah
    Hood Messenger, 2020
    Oil on wood panel
    96 x 38 1/2 inches
    243.8 x 97.8 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, South Central Tension, 2022
    Jonah Elijah
    South Central Tension, 2022
    Oil on canvas
    72 x 56 inches
    182.9 x 142.2 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, Pushing P on Vermont, 2022
    Jonah Elijah
    Pushing P on Vermont, 2022
    Acrylic, spray paint, and oil on canvas
    48 x 93 1/2 inches
    121.9 x 237.5 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, Erv Broke Em, 2022
    Jonah Elijah
    Erv Broke Em, 2022
    Acrylic on canvas, string
    54 x 54 inches
    137.2 x 137.2 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, Drum Practice, 2020
    Jonah Elijah
    Drum Practice, 2020
    Acrylic, pencil, pastel, paper, and carpet on canvas
    20 x 16 inches
    50.8 x 40.6 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, A Hard Head Makes a Soft Behind, 2021
    Jonah Elijah
    A Hard Head Makes a Soft Behind, 2021
    Acrylic and pastel on canvas, metal
    56 x 54 inches
    142.2 x 137.2 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, The Drum Is How We Carry Our Story, 2022
    Jonah Elijah
    The Drum Is How We Carry Our Story, 2022
    Oil on board, Djembe drum
    48 inches diameter
    121.9 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, The News You Can Use, 2021
    Jonah Elijah
    The News You Can Use, 2021
    Acrylic and newspaper on canvas
    69 x 32 inches
    175.3 x 81.3 cm.
  • Jonah Elijah, Don't Shoot the Messenger, 2022
    Jonah Elijah
    Don't Shoot the Messenger, 2022
    Chalk and paint on wood, shoe, newspaper, LED light strips, toy soldiers, hand mirror, megaphone, wooden poles, acrylic paint on canvas
    153 x 72 x 72 inches
    388.6 x 182.9 x 182.9 cm.