Los Angeles native Jess Vallis' career as an artist wasn't always guaranteed. Dissuaded from going to art school by her parents, she instead turned her academic attention to neuroscience, where she studied for three years at Santa Barbara City College. She says, “I tend to put all my energy into things that I'm passionate about, and it's very difficult to pursue something that I'm not interested in at all. It just happens.” [other than art] I got interested in neuroscience,” Vallis said in a video call from her home in Glendale, accompanied by her dog Joey.
Valis' interest in neuroscience focused specifically on the chemical dopamine and its effects: whether there is too much dopamine, not enough, and the space in between. “That sparked my interest in understanding the brain and dreams. I went down this crazy rabbit hole and ended up studying it and learning so much about the world. Because you have to take all the biology courses, the physics courses, the math courses. It's incredibly beautiful. And I think it goes hand in hand with art.”
Despite spending much of his time studying, Vallis continued to pursue his art on the side until scientific pursuits threatened what little time he had left for painting. “After a while, I decided that if I wanted to become a doctor, I could definitely pursue painting, so here I am.”
Artist Jess Vallis. Courtesy of Almine Rech.
The change in trajectory from a career in the hard sciences to becoming an artist may seem dramatic to outsiders, but Valis doesn't seem to think so. “I hope that more people can understand that science is very useful and that neuroscience and physics are some of the most important sciences.As an artist, you create. You are expressing your ideas, perspectives, and interests on canvas in order to understand how life works and the work you create. Well, that's because of how the brain works. It's because of the world around you, and I think my work is based on the interests of the mind.”
Of course, this change in policy proved very beneficial, and despite lacking connections with the art world, Valis was able to gain a foothold fairly quickly. “The pivot was kind of quick. I dropped out and started as an artist assistant at Canyon Castator, in the same building I'm in now. At the time, I was working in so many restaurants, but… I ended up quitting those restaurants all at once, around the time he said he was converting the building into a studio and asked if I wanted a studio.”
The building Valis is referring to is now known as Mohilev Studios in Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA), a growth center for emerging and established creative talent spearheaded by Kastor. Mohilev proved to be a viable starting point for Valis. “As an artist, I was just starting out. Next to me was an artist who had been making clay works for a long time, and next to me was Austin Weiner, who had already published some great works and was active. And this is her third studio. Austin is a very supportive studio neighbor and friend who brought her studio visit to my studio and introduced me to her. That was the pivot, and that was how everything really fell into place from there.”
Jess Vallis Allie (2024). ©Jess Vallis. Photo: Matthew Kroening. Courtesy of the artist and his girlfriend Almine Rech.
And so it went. In 2021 alone, Vallis' work was featured in numerous group exhibitions and four solo exhibitions each at ATM Gallery NYC in New York, Carl Kostial Gallery in Milan, and Bill Brady Gallery in Los Angeles and Miami. And this month, “Mara,” one of the artist's biggest shows to date, opens at New York's Almine Rech, the first of two shows scheduled at the gallery (the second is scheduled for March 2025 in Paris Matignon). The show, which runs through April 20th at Armine Lech's Upper East Side, is divided into two main parts: one side features her paintings, and the other side features her drawings. be done.
In “Mara,” the self-taught artist's unique style of stylization is particularly evident in the depiction of figures with an “expressive vacuum” who gaze blankly and unwaveringly at the viewer. Valais's work is hazy and difficult to place, but it is clearly her own, with dramatizations of Fernando Botero, distortions of Pablo Picasso, and the intense gaze of Renaissance portraiture. It brings to mind numerous art historical precedents. Indeed, the artist cites Renaissance art, particularly liturgical works, as an early model and inspiration for her own then-burgeoning practice.
Some viewers recognize a degree of self-portrait on the part of the artist in Valais's portraits. “With a gun to my head, yes, I do some painting myself. But I think I'm more interested in learning more about the artist and the work than I am about the figures. That's why this painting… It's the subject.”
Jess Vallis sculptor (2024). ©Jess Vallis. Photo: Matthew Kroening. Courtesy of the artist and his girlfriend Almine Rech.
The works throughout the show testify to Valis' reflections on time, the people who populate her daily life, and psychological elements. Many of the figures on display are excerpts from some type of photo shoot. So the artist invited a group of her old friends from middle school and high school, with whom she had little contact. They each took their own path in life. Sometimes you work in a creative field, and sometimes you work in a field far from it. “I invited these people into my home and felt inspired by them and brought them into my world. It was a bit of a narcissistic thing. A way to live vicariously through them, or How they live through me.”
Jess Vallis Mara (2024). ©Jess Vallis. Photo: Matthew Kroening. Courtesy of the artist and his girlfriend Almine Rech.
Narcissism can be understood as the thematic basis of the show's title painting. Mara (2024). In this piece, Mara holds a bowl containing her two Beta fish. Usually these fish are kept separate as they have an instinct to fight with each other. Because her gaze is fixed outward, framed by the red ceiling above and the dark ground below, she is both in control of and removed from her own context. “Mara is a narcissist. It's the prince of illusions, the king of lies. It's also the one who tells you that you can't ask questions, that you can do it all yourself, that you don't need help, that you know all the answers. It’s also the voice in your head.”
Jess Vallis self-portrait (2024). ©Jess Vallis. Photo: Thomas Barratt. Courtesy of the artist and his Almine Rech.
Although Valais's paintings convey a strong sense of figurative presence and focus through almost every technical element, such as bold color schemes and interesting compositional arrangements, the artist's paintings also have There is clearly an element of kindness in . Whether this is a conscious choice or a result of the difference in medium, Valis's ability to express his inner world in a roundabout yet clear manner is brought to the fore. In some cases, the sitter's gaze may wander, drawn to reverie, a reflection, or something outside the frame, rather than staring directly at the viewer. In other works, as much attention is paid to the background and its contents as to the figures, such as the contents of a living room or the view from a window that shows a pond or lake or trees in the distance.
Jess Vallis heartfelt condolences (2024). ©Jess Vallis. Photo: Thomas Barratt. Courtesy of the artist and his Almine Rech.
The paintings and works on paper in “Mara” highlight Valis' rapid evolution as an artist and the strong thematic underpinnings that drive her work. Valis said of what she hopes her people take away from her work: work. That's a big question, but that's my work journey. It doesn't have to happen every time, but I could only hope that it would happen every time I finished one of my works. ”
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