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Jack Pierson: b. 1960

Jack Pierson b. 1960

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  • Works
  • Exhibitions
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  • Biography
    Jack Pierson

    Jack Pierson works in several different mediums, including sculpture, photography and video, and is known for word signage installations, drawings, and artist's books. He explores the emotional undercurrents of everyday life, from the intimacy of romantic attachment to the distant idolization of others. In his well-known appropriation of vintage texts, Pierson references traditional American motifs (roadside ephemera, small town stores) and thus a lost era of cultural symbolism; his resulting word sculptures are imbued with both nostalgia and disillusionment. Informed in part by his artistic emergence in the era of AIDS, Pierson’s work is moored by melancholy and introspection, yet his images are often buoyed by a celebratory aura of seduction and glamour. Using friends as models, he has consistently engaged star culture, whether the stars are from the screen, stage, or art world. Sometimes infused with a sly sense of humor, Pierson’s work is inherently autobiographical; his fixation with fame affirms the tendency to yearn for an ideal, allowing for the viewer’s identification with his imagery. Fueled by the poignancy of emotional experience and by the sensations of memory, obsession and absence, Pierson’s subject is ultimately, as he states, “hope.”

    Jack Pierson was born in 1960 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston in 1984. He lives and works in New York. Pierson has had recent solo exhibitions at the CAC Malaga, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin and the Aspen Art Museum. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among other museums worldwide. Pierson is represented by Cheim & Read, New York.

  • Works
    Jack Pierson

    Jack Pierson b. 1960

    ANGEL YOUTH 1990
    Portfolio of thirteen color prints mounted on composition board
    30 x 20 inches each
    76.2 x 50.8 centimeters each
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  • Exhibitions
    • Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

      Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

      18 Apr - 21 Jul 2023
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      30 Nov - 14 Feb 2021
      Cheim & Read is delighted to particiapte in this year's Art Basel Miami Beach with a presenation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, William Eggleston, Ron Gorchov, Al Held,...
      Read more
    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      22 - 26 Sep 2021
      We are happy to be reunited with our colleagues and clients from around the world here at Art Basel for the first time since lockdown. Our presentation this year includes...
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    • At Dawn

      At Dawn

      10 Sep - 3 Oct 2020
      Not knowing when the Dawn will come, I open every Door, Or has it Feathers, like a Bird, Or Billows, like a Shore — - Emily Dickinson Cheim & Read...
      Read more
    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      13 - 16 Jun 2019
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2019 edition of Art Basel with a presentation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Ron Gorchov, Hans Hartung, Jonathan Lasker,...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      6 - 9 Dec 2018
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2018 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presentation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Ron Gorchov, Al Held,...
      Read more
    • All over the moon

      All over the moon

      Laurel Sparks, Lily Stockman, Richard Tinkler. Curated by Jack Pierson 12 Jul - 30 Aug 2018
      Cheim & Read is pleased to present All over the moon curated by Jack Pierson, an exhibition showcasing the work of three abstract painters: Laurel Sparks, Lily Stockman, and Richard...
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      14 - 17 Jun 2018
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2018 edition of Art Basel with a presentation of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Louise Bourgeois, Lynda Benglis, Louise Fishman, Jenny Holzer,...
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    • Frieze New York

      Frieze New York

      3 - 6 May 2018
      A focus of our presentation will be a new suite of drawings by Tal R entitled : a ship called New York. The drawings in the new suite, executed in...
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    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      Independent Art Fair 8 - 11 Mar 2018
      Cheim & Read will present works in various media from the early nineties by Jack Pierson at the 2018 Independent Art Fair. Centered on the iconic 1990 sculpture, Diamond Life...
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    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      7 - 10 Dec 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2017 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Adam Fuss,...
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    • The Horizontal

      The Horizontal

      6 Jul - 31 Aug 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce The Horizontal, a group exhibition exploring the poetics of the horizon in abstract art. The show will feature an intergenerational selection of 21...
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    • Frieze New York

      Frieze New York

      5 - 7 May 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to particpate in the 2017 edition of Frieze New York with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Donald Baechler, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, William...
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    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      1 - 4 Dec 2016
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2016 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presenation of works by Ghada Amer, Donald Baechler, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois,...
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      16 - 19 Jun 2016
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2016 edition of Art Basel with a presentation of works by Donald Baechler, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman, Ron Gorchov,...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      3 - 6 Dec 2015
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2015 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presenation of works by Donald Baechler, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, William Eggleston,...
      Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      onthisisland 25 Jun - 28 Aug 2015
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce its sixth exhibition by the artist Jack Pierson. This will be his first solo exhibition at the gallery in six years. Opening to...
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    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      18 - 21 Jun 2015
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2015 edition of Art Basel with a presenation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Al Held, Jenny Holzer, Joan Mitchell,...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      4 - 7 Dec 2014
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2014 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman,...
      Read more
    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      19 - 22 Jun 2014
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2014 edition of Art Basel with a presentation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Ron Gorchov, Jenny Holzer, Joan Mitchell,...
      Read more
    • Frieze New York

      Frieze New York

      9 - 12 May 2014
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in Frieze New York with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, William Eggleston, Louise Fishman, Adam Fuss, Al...
      Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      Abstracts 8 Oct - 14 Nov 2009
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of abstract sculpture by multi-media artist Jack Pierson. Pierson's last exhibition with the gallery was in 2006. Most recently, his show,...
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    • Abstractions by Gallery Artists

      Abstractions by Gallery Artists

      24 Sep - 3 Oct 2009
      Works by Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman, Adam Fuss, Jenny Holzer, Bill Jensen, Jonathan Lasker, Joan Mitchell, Jack Pierson, Milton Resnick, Pat Steir, and Juan Usle will...
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    • The Sum of its Parts

      The Sum of its Parts

      8 Jan - 2 Feb 2008
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce a group exhibition of works by a diverse selection of artists, all of whom create artworks configured from multiple parts, sequences or series....
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    • I Am As You Will Be

      I Am As You Will Be

      The Skeleton in Art 20 Sep - 3 Nov 2007
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce I Am As You Will Be, a group exhibition of more than thirty works which incorporate the skeleton as subject. Curated in part...
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    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      Melancholia Passing into Madness 30 Mar - 6 May 2006
      MELANCHOLIA PASSING INTO MADNESS March 30 to May 6, 2006. Opening Reception: Thursday, March 30, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of new...
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    • I Am the Walrus

      I Am the Walrus

      Curated by Jan Avgikos 10 Jun - 31 Jul 2004
      Featuring the work of Vito Acconci, Donald Baechler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ashley Bickerton, Olaf Breuning, John Bock, Maurizio Cattelan, Roni Horn, Michael Hurson, Martin Kippenberger, Sean Landers, Tony Matelli, Dan McCarthy,...
      Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      20 Nov 2003 - 3 Jan 2004
      Cheim & Read announces a new exhibition by Jack Pierson, his third at the gallery. The themes of his work – sex, drugs, and the vicissitudes of longing in general...
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    • Simple Marks

      Simple Marks

      23 Jul - 2 Sep 2003
      Cheim and Read is pleased to announce a summer group exhibition 'Simple Marks' including work by Richmond Burton, Louise Bourgeois, Lynda Benglis, Louise Fishman, Joe Fyfe, Joan Mitchell, Jack Pierson,...
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    • Liquid Properties

      Liquid Properties

      Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Richmond Burton, Adam Fuss, Mary Heilmann, David Hines, Gary Hume, Dona Nelson, Jack Pierson, Pat Steir, Juan Usle 6 Jul - 3 Aug 2001
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce the group exhibition Liquid Properties The exhibition examines the formal and metaphorical qualities of liquid as it: becomes hard in the work of...
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    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      2 Nov 2000 - 6 Jan 2001
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Jack Pierson. Born in 1960, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, this will be the artist's second presentation at the...
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    • Couples

      Couples

      6 Jan - 26 Feb 2000
      Inspired by a recent rereading of John Updike's classic 1960's novel, Couples, Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of that same name. Couples is a group exhibition...
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    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      31 Mar - 1 May 1999
      For his first solo exhibition at Cheim & Read, Jack Pierson will exhibit large paintings on canvas from three recent series, 'Hang On To Your Ego' (1997), 'Watercolors' (1999) and...
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    • Small Paintings

      Small Paintings

      1 - 31 Jul 1998
      SMALL PAINTINGS: HAND PAINTED PICTURES by Ingo Meller Louise Fishman Juan Uslé Richmond Burton Joan Mitchell Mary Heilmann Bill Jensen Jack Pierson Dona Nelson Eva Hesse Philippe Richard Lynda Benglis...
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  • Publications
    • I Am As You Will Be

      I Am As You Will Be

      The Skeleton in Art 2007 Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      onthisisland 2015 Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      Self Portrait 2003 Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      2001 Read more
  • News
    • Jack Pierson's Dreamy, Erotic Hungry Years

      Jack Pierson's Dreamy, Erotic Hungry Years

      August 23, 2017 Read more
    • The Horizontal

      The Horizontal

      Cheim & Read July 21, 2017 Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      February 6, 2017 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: onthisisland

      Jack Pierson: onthisisland

      Cheim & Read October 1, 2015 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: onthisisland

      Jack Pierson: onthisisland

      Cheim & Read August 14, 2015 Read more
    • Hands Over Head: An Interview with Jack Pierson

      Hands Over Head: An Interview with Jack Pierson

      August 7, 2015 Read more
    • Four Two Nine

      Four Two Nine

      July 1, 2015 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: New Drawings

      Jack Pierson: New Drawings

      May 1, 2012 Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      Bortolami Gallery August 9, 2010 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Cheim & Read January 1, 2010 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Cheim & Read January 1, 2010 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Cheim & Read December 1, 2009 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Cheim & Read November 9, 2009 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Jack Pierson: Abstracts

      Cheim & Read October 29, 2009 Read more
    • Jack Pierson

      Jack Pierson

      June 1, 2008 Read more
    • Wings of Desire

      Wings of Desire

      November 1, 2006 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: Melancholia Passing into Madness

      Jack Pierson: Melancholia Passing into Madness

      Cheim & Read June 1, 2006 Read more
    • Jack Pierson: Early Works and Beyond

      Jack Pierson: Early Works and Beyond

      Daniel Reich Gallery January 20, 2006 Read more

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New York NY 10001

+1 (212) 242-7727
gallery@cheimread.com

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