Jérôme Lagarrigue Walks the Line Between the Tangible and Intangible

Jenna Adrian-Diaz, Surface Magazin, May 10, 2024

In his first solo exhibition with Fridman Gallery—and on the heels of his feature in the Brooklyn Museum’s “Giants” exhibition—the painter zeroes in on the “emotional landscapes” invoked by the Caribbean’s azure glow, which was the inspiration for the body of work on view.

 

Here, we ask an artist about the essential details behind a recent work.

 

Bio: Jerome Lagarrigue, 50, Brooklyn.

 

Title of work: Shellfish Picker

 

Where to see it: “Shoreline,” Fridman Gallery, New York. 

 

Three words to describe this work: Misty, moody, blue.

 

What was on your mind at the time: It’s a feeling of open space. Painting is very meditative for me. The process of creating these paintings is a sense of liberation from everything. It’s just me at my studio often inspired by the movement of waves along the Red Hook shoreline. 

 

An interesting feature that’s not immediately noticeable: This is a woman on the beach in St Lucia collecting shells. You can’t see the shells in the image. I left it up to the viewers to imagine the storyline.

 

How the work reflects your practice as a whole: I gave myself a couple of rules of practice. One, to reveal enough information about a figure and the space that they exist. The other is to leave certain things open to interpretation, evoking curiosity.

 

One song that captures the work’s essence: I’m into free flowing, nostalgic, groovy and up beat vibes. So probably “New Person Same Old Mistakes” by Tame Impala

 

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