SALAD DAZE

Salad Daze is New York-based artist James Evans’ first solo show. The term “Salad Days” is a reference to youthful idealism and inexperience coined by Shakespeare’s Cleopatra and re purposed by 1980s punk bands. James identified with the uncertainty and cultural naiveté this expression calls to mind as he created the works for this show.

Tragic events of the last few years have dominated headlines and suggest a lack of compassion in how we judge and interact with those around us. Sensationalized reactions expose a general ignorance to the history behind current issues and an undercurrent of aggression that we as a society prefer to ignore.

Salad Daze intends to explore the mentality that creates a public imprint of sociopolitical disaster. On an individual level, many of us don’t know how to reckon with macro tragedies, whether to celebrate or vilify visible people, or question the ideologies that sell us products we consume to survive with the hope of living. This work was made to reference these shared uncertainties.

James Evans is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Brooklyn. He curated two recent group shows Thank you and You're welcome, bringing together photographers, illustrators, and conceptual artists. Both shows were featured by a wide range of art and fashion outlets including Milk, Oyster, Opening Ceremony, Complex, and BFA.

Following these experiences, James was offered a residency at the Ace Hotel to paint. His residency ran in conjunction with the release of his New Yorker’s print at the hotel’s Opening Ceremony outpost. He continues to enjoy contributing art direction and design services to notable fashion houses and agencies around New York.