Amber Boardman | Painting

@JADEFAD: A SOCIAL MEDIA FEED IN PAINT

This exhibition comprised of 34 paintings spirals around the gallery in one continuous narrative. These works explore the desire to create a persona online and the propulsion to constantly improve oneself as fads change. The paintings are the Instagram posts of Boardman’s invented character (and alter ego) Jade. The exhibition exists both physically in the gallery space, and online as a social media feed in the form of animated paintings. Jade's Instagram account @jadefad lives on as an archive of the exhibition after the gallery show closes. The exhibition catalogue contains an essay by Brigitte Mulholland, Director of Anton Kern Gallery in New York and an introduction by Amber Boardman.

PART ONE: Jade repeatedly tries to control and transform her body and environment. After drinking turpentine cocktails with friends at an open bar she disintegrates and realizes she is a character made of paint. She uses this self-knowledge to transform herself further.

PART TWO: Jade creates a character of her own Blob (a blob of paint), and posts the story of his life from birth to death in order to achieve 'Instagram Influencer' status,

PART THREE: Jade leverages her newfound social media popularity in order to sell products; her line of 'hand painted sweaters'. The exhibition ends in "The Singularity Sweater", a reference to the moment artificial intelligence becomes self-aware.

PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE