Clint Jukkala's Cosmic Trigger exhibition at BravinLee programs explores psychedelic abstraction

Clint Jukkala presents his first exhibition with BravinLee programs, featuring thirteen brightly colored canvases that draw comparisons to Henri Matisse's Moroccan period from 1912/13. The show includes works like Telepath, a 44 x 50 inch oil painting from 2014, which displays influences ranging from Color Field abstraction to artists like Robert Delaunay and Joan Miró. Jukkala's schematic yet individualized figures create ambiguity about whether they are subjects of observation or themselves gazing outward through psychedelic eyes. The artist, a Yale MFA graduate who previously taught there before joining the Pennsylvania Academy last year, brings what critic David Cohen describes as a fresh, sophisticated approach to persona-abstractions. The exhibition runs through June 7 at 526 West 26th Street #211 in New York City, located between 10th and 11th avenues. Jukkala's work combines canonical references with exotic elements, reflecting his position as both insider and outsider in the art world. His paintings employ nursery-hued colors and textures reminiscent of Matisse's North African sojourn while incorporating elements of flower power iconography and Alfred Jensen's influence. The artist maintains what Cohen characterizes as an innocent eye in creating these nutty, insouciant abstractions.