Pretty in Pink: MOURNING OPULENCE by Jeremy at Peres Projects

Born in Geneva in 1996, Jeremy presents "Mourning Opulence", his first solo exhibition at Galerie Peres Projects in Berlin.

Extravagance, fantasy, lust and sensitivity are the cardinal points of Jeremy’s practice. Soaked in pink and enhanced with deliberately overelaborate vases, Mourning Opulence takes us on a journey off the beaten track of heteronormativity, whose invisible yet omnipresent veil is subverted by a queer gloss. Drawing from both mythology and video games, the artist envisions his practice as world-building. Each painting opens the door to a new territory with its own protagonists, adventures, rules and language. Large-format works alternate with smaller canvases, which punctuate the show like commas allowing for moments of pause. Pieced together they form a fragmented narrative, and map an opulent universe of various references, motifs and colors, surrounded by a camp aura.

Gender identity is central to Jeremy’s practice, in which both the masculine body and its modes of representation become a field of thorough investigation. Inspired by the Chimera, a mythical hybrid creature, Jeremy explores the limits of anatomy through a collection of shapeshifters who populate the exhibition space and struggle to adapt to sometimes hostile environments. Resisting categorization by giving shape to fluidity, he renders amorphous, swollen figures in metamorphosis, which both defy societal expectations and distort the canons of art history.

Unison, 2023

Drawing on sincerity and generosity, and fueled by irrepressible emotions, Jeremy’s standards are demanding but rewarding for those who join the dance. Despite its deathly allusions, Mourning Opulence is far from a danse macabre. More often than not, Jeremy’s paintings evoke memento vivi, which convey an undaunted and necessary call to reclaim one’s right to exist and take up space, fully and unapologetically. No matter if it’s slightly too much, no matter if it’s sometimes imperfect, as long as it’s flamboyant.

Mourning opulence, 2023