Jake Clark’s work seeks to examine our relationship with contemporary culture and iconography. Clark’s work is rich in historical and artistic references, from Greek urns and funerary vessels to the work of artists like David Hockney and Keith Haring. Drawing inspiration from the world around him, Clark’s work captures the current moment through his reinterpretation of signs, product brands, and logos. His visual sources extend to supermarkets, restaurant menus, advertising, and visual signals such as street signs and local businesses.

Jake Clarks new solo show “Monster Mash” presents, through his signature ceramic pieces, a cultural background and personal observations which shape his contemporary reflection on the influence of fast food culture in American society.

The exhibition comes as a result of the artist’s personal conclusions of his recent move to the United States. For him, the ubiquity of fast food chains and their constant advertising through large, colourful billboards and commercials has been a dominant influence in American popular culture and aesthetic, projecting itself onto the world at large. The artist pays homage to the visual icons that define it and its influence on the idiosyncrasy of the collective imagination.

Through his ceramics, the artist expresses elements specific to fast food culture, such as chain logos, bright colors, and popular foods. Through the use of these elements, the artist appropriates them to create pieces that highlight the overwhelming presence of fast food culture in society and how it has been normalised and integrated into daily life, assuming the identity of an icon of American society through their very specific representative elements.

Mario Vera y Jara Sánchez