Darby Jack
Visual Arts, Art and Art History
Large Pile
About the Project
Darby Jack’s Large Pile is an ongoing, durational pen drawing of an assemblage of different shapes and fictitious objects that are inspired from litter that Jack documents on long walks around the city of Chicago. Jack uses documentation of litter he finds as influence for pieces of the pile, all of which have their own unique design and way of existing in the larger accumulation. The familiar shape of the garbage pile is meant to draw the viewer in to search for any sort of familiar articles in the larger work.
Large Pile is also meant to act as an abstract portrait of Chicago using the idea that a city's trash is an unfiltered reflection of its accumulators.
About Darby Jack
Darby Jack makes paintings, videos, and drawings. With the use of materials that are largely associated with children, he creates a feeling of childhood nostalgia within the work, regardless of what the subject matter may be. These recognizable elements confront the viewer with how they are conditioned to think about materials and make room for the viewer to recall memories that may be lost in one’s past.
Jack uses found imagery to reference texts and media which have largely existed only in American subculture. By manipulating familiar imagery into unique combinations, new narratives are created and are waiting to be discovered by the viewer. Playful means of creating and the abject underbelly of counterculture are combined, causing a conflict between the categories. Darby Jack currently lives and works in Chicago.
Follow Darby Jack on Instagram: @darbyjacc
Visit Darby Jack’s website: DarbyJack.com
“When I first became familiar with Darby Jack’s work, I was touched by its quirkiness and the depth of his observations about what it is to be human, in all its messiness, contradictions, and chaos. In exquisitely complex drawings, layered shadow projections, and sparse installations with raucous audio, Darby Jack celebrates the intricacies and subtleties of lived experience.
When I encountered the pile drawings, I recall thinking about how attentive Darby Jack is to our contemporary flotsam and jetsam, representing visual cacophony. His works are varied and rich in form and format, and satisfyingly clear. Darby Jack’s generosity extends beyond art to the community at large.
As president of the SoFA (Students in Fine Arts) student group, Darby Jack has been a rallying presence this year, creating especially felicitous energies of connection where every bit of happiness has bolstered one.”
-Joan Giroux, Professor & Associate Chair, Art and Art History