Jul 23, 2015–Nov 1, 2015
You Know I’m No Good presents works by a selection of contemporary artists that directly relate to the life and music of Amy Winehouse. Highly regarded Bay Area artists Jennie Ottinger and Jason Jägel, whose work extends the figurative tradition, present especially commissioned works for the exhibition. Jägel created a new mural-sized painting for the wall facing Yerba Buena Lane and Ottinger created a stop-motion video animation using original paintings.
In addition, the exhibition includes a series of untitled drawings (2011–12) with Amy Winehouse as the subject by New York artist Rachel Harrison. These drawings, made using colored pencil on paper, depict Winehouse alongside famous characters from art history like Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and Willem de Kooning.
Jason Jägel is known for his paintings that combine text and cartoon-like figures to create dreamlike narratives that pull the viewer across the image and back again. He has also created album art for many rap and R&B musicians. For You Know I’m No Good, he is creating a mural-sized painting for the gallery wall visible from Yerba Buena Lane inspired by Winehouse and her music.
Jennie Ottinger’s paintings blur the line between childhood memory and fantasy, power and vulnerability, attraction and repulsion. Throughout her practice, she challenges the constructed rules of everyday social constructions—tennis, cheerleading, football, and most recently, the circus. For this exhibition, Ottinger is creating a stop-motion animation that pictures Winehouse among such iconic singers as Nina Simone and the Ronettes, addressing the idea of legacy for female artists specifically.
You Know I’m No Good is organized by The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco. Major sponsorship has been provided by BNY Mellon Wealth Management, Gaia Fund, and Wendy and Richard Yanowitch.
Media Sponsorship for Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait and You Know I’m No Good is provided by 7x7.
Major support for The Contemporary Jewish Museum’s exhibitions and Jewish Peoplehood Programs comes from the Koret Foundation.
Header image: Jason Jägel, New Ways of Thinking, 2013. Oil on canvas, 44 x 38 in. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 16, San Francisco. You Know I’m No Good. On view July 23–November 1, 2015. The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco.