November 2, 2018 / December 8, 2018 – HONG KONG

Jonni Cheatwood is a Brazilian-American visual artist born in 1986 in Thousand Oaks, CA. Cheatwood’s work describes the broad visual ideas stemming from still-life, abstraction and minimalism. The graffiti-like scribbles, scratches and primitive colors of Cheatwood’s work is the controlled chaotic work of an expressionist. Beginning with direct marks, squiggles and doodles Cheatwood reacts and builds compositions over time. He works with the studio and the detritus that can build up as a result of working on the floor, intuitively embracing, repeating and then responding to the marks, both intentional and accidental, that can occur.

Cheatwood’s newest body of work is an exploration of nostalgia and tension. Combining materials — found, gifted, and custom-made — Cheatwood creates a patchwork backdrop of sewn fabric as the basis for his expressionist canvases. The backgrounds for his new works are comprised of found fabrics with nostalgic prints, Los Angeles fashion district finds, and old photographs printed on fabric. Cheatwood’s mother-in-law gave him the photographs taken by his wife’s grandfather while traveling in the 1950’s and 1960’s, which he had printed onto fabric to use as part of the stretched fabric backdrops for his paintings. On top of these patchwork canvases, Cheatwood lays down acrylic and oil paint through subconscious gestures working both intuitively and strategically across the assemblages. Layered with nostalgic meaning, the works explore the tension between marks, mediums, colors, composition, and time.