Jeremy Olson: Grotto Domestic

29 May-3 Jul 2024

Overview

Jeremy Olson’s latest exhibition with Unit goes ‘underground’. Through a series of works that depict subterranean environments, Grotto Domestic considers ideas of time and enclosed spaces through the eyes of the artist’s signature cast of otherworldly creatures. Are these grottos natural, or man-made? The answer is inherently ambiguous, as organic rock formations and pools of water are contrasted with sleek modernist furniture and sculptural artworks. Ideas of confinement  are reflected in the gallery space itself.

The low ceilings of the basement setting mirror the cave-like environments in which these creatures dwell. Softened through the inclusion of fabrics and wallpapers, Olson has created a total environment that is both tactile and womb-like. Viewers seem to inhabit the paintings themselves, as the artist draws us further and further into this enclosed world.