America Disrupted

JAY SAMIT: AMERICA DISRUPTED

Sep 30 – Oct 17, 2020

LOCATION

Richard Taittinger Gallery

154 Ludlow Street

New York, NY

USA

RICHARD TAITTINGER GALLERY is pleased to announce theU.S. representation of artist Jay Samit (b.1961), and to present his first NYC solo exhibition: America Disrupted featuring a series of watercolors painted during the Covid-19 quarantine. At once a record of the artist’s emotional response to our current era, it is also a time Jay Samit found himself conflicted about his nation’s history. Part therapeutic, part social commentary, Samit’s palette reveals the fissures in American society further exposed by this unsettling period.

Jay Samit began painting last March to cope with the sudden isolation prompted by the forced confinement measures. He used this time indoors to paint one watercolor a day in a manner and style that perfectly convey the disquieting feelings that all found themselves in facing radical change in their daily routines. Harboring a Hopperesque appeal, his paintings are deeply evocative, sharing an uncanny charm that conspicuously communicates the disruption that defines our time.

Upon closer inspection and beyond the subtle charm of bright hues employed by Samit, the artist’s compositions are rife with social commentary which address the political turmoil that permeates America today. Layered with complexities and contradictions, his watercolors act as a force of reflection and examination.

As over one hundred and fifty thousand Americans died and politicians played politics with the virus, Jay saw a pattern that has haunted the nation’s history and used his brush to confront the uncomfortable topics of race, income inequality, as well as the aftermath of post-industrialization on cities and citizens. America Disrupted probes America at a standstill, it confronts the viewer to re-examine the nation’s overlooked history and strives to induce us to reconsider and re-analyze our realities. As cracks in the country’s edifice continue to expand and Covid-19 has warped all our sense of time, Samit’s art conflates past and present to shed an unflinching light on America.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Having spent a career creating innovative technology to bring art, music, and video to billions on the Internet, Samit’s watercolors are heavily influenced by the impact disruption has on humans and our institutions. The former Independent Vice Chairman of Deloitte Consulting, Samit helped grow pre-IPO companies such as LinkedIn, been a Nasdaq company CEO, held senior management roles at EMI, Sony and Universal Studios, pioneered breakthrough advancements in mobile, ecommerce, digital distribution, and spatial reality that are used by billions of consumers every day.  Called the “guru for the entire industry” by Variety, his list of partners and associates reads like a who’s who list of innovators, billionaires, presidents and even the Pope. Described by Wired magazine as “having the coolest job in the industry,” he advises Fortune 500 firms, transforms entire industries, revamps government institutions, and for three decades continues to be at the forefront of global trends.

Based in Los Angeles, Jay Samit is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on disruption and innovation.  He has also written for such publications as Fortune, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal. An internationally best-selling author, his book, Disrupt You! Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation (MacMillan 2015), is currently published in ten languages.  His next book, Future Proofing You – Twelve Truths for Creating Opportunity, Maximizing Wealth, and Controlling Your Destiny in an Uncertain World, is being published by Wiley this coming March and deals with finding success in a post-pandemic world. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of UCLA, a Presidential Fellow, and an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering. 

ABOUT THE GALLERY

Richard Taittinger Gallery opened in March 2015 at 154 Ludlow Street. Embracing its prime location in the Lower East Side, the gallery provides a foundation that supports the presentation of works by artists with significant global recognition. An international forum for new ideas in contemporary art, Richard Taittinger Gallery presents an ambitious program dedicated to cultivating a critical dialogue between artists, viewers, and institutions.  RichardTaittinger.com