Joseph Yaeger at The Perimeter: Painting's Next Superstar?

Joseph Yaeger‘s latest exhibition at The Perimeter in London ​is among the best shows we’ve seen in a long time.

Joseph Yaeger: Time Weft (11 January–18 February 2023) was made all the more enjoyable by the wonderful walk and talk-through with the artist on opening night.

As Yaeger explains, gesso ‘incidents’ are the foundation of his canvases, to which he applies thin swathes of watercolour that seep into every groove and crevice.

When making the cropped painting The flame seeking (2022) for instance, Yaeger sprayed water onto the drying gesso from a height and in a looping motion resulting in almost crater-like forms that permeate the surface, replicating the porosity of skin. Made possible from experimentation, Yaeger explains material and process often guide his final subject matter.

The side of Yaeger’s canvases are masterpieces in themselves, often bulging with gesso or the remnants of a past painting which—like with many Old Master paintings—have been replaced with the next bigger and brighter idea.

The variety of subjects keep you intrigued—from figures to road signs, boxing gloves to weaving hands—all sourced from found images, often film stills spotted when forwarding, pausing, and rewinding.

The exhibition is hung across The Perimeter’s immaculately designed four floors, with perhaps the best work in the show in the basement in an almost crypt-like room.

Depicting a woman with her head bowed and hands clasped, the painting radiates a feeling of reverence.

On view now at London’s Kings Cross, the exhibition is among January highlights.

Main image: Joseph Yaeger, Old long since (2022) (detail). Watercolour on gessoed linen. 270 x 190 x 4 cm. Courtesy the artist, The Perimeter, London and Project Native Informant, London.