FOSTER PAINTINGS
2021 - PRESENT
In late 2021, I began a series of abstract paintings recording the phone calls we received for foster placements. Physically, these works begin with a vibrant blue gradient mechanically printed on synthetic velvet. The foreground gem like shape is primarily painted in flashe, a heavy vinyl paint known for its vibrant color and luscious satin texture.
With over 45 paintings to date, these works are a deep dive chronicle of my fostering journey. Each painting references a point of contact with a foster child. From three boys (ages 12, 10, 9) we hosted over memorial day weekend, to a call we received (and declined) for an infant with severe shaken baby syndrome, each painting carries a specific emotional weight.
These works also represent my exploration into abstraction. Relying on the figure posed a problem in my recent studio practice. In my relationship with foster children I am not allowed to use their representational images.
My daily life is filled with complex, impossible, gut wrenching decisions. The foster paintings are an attempt to process some of the emotional fallout within the studio.
EXHIBITIONS
Meantime CO, NY - 2022
Lyman Allyn Art Museum, CT - 2023
Second Street Gallery, VA - 2024
Otis Library, Norwich CT - 2024
Lyme Library, Lyme CT - 2024
AWARDS & GRANTS
Community Foundation Of South Eastern CT, 2023
CT Foster and Adoptive Families Community Partner Award, CT, 2024
Artists Respond Grant, CT Office Of The Arts, 2024
Foster Paintings : Mockup for Lyman Allyn Museum Exhibition - August 2023
Detail of Foster Painting, 2023
RECORD PAINTINGS
In the groundbreaking exhibition "Hot 100: Record Paintings," contemporary artist Jac Lahav offers a unique fusion of painting, contemporary art, and music through a series of over 100 paintings inspired by iconic record covers. Drawing from their vast vinyl collection, Lahav reimagines the visual and auditory essence of influential hip-hop, rock and roll, and various music genres, bridging the gap between personal nostalgia and collective memory. This series not only celebrates the profound impact of music on our cultural landscape but also showcases Lahav's exceptional ability to translate the ephemeral nature of sound into captivating visual art. With limited prints available from their Spring/Break Art Fair showcase in September 2023, "Hot 100: Record Paintings" invites art and music enthusiasts into an analog oasis, rekindling the deep connections between auditory and visual artistic expression in our digitally dominated era.
In this series Jac Lahav mines their substantial vinyl record collection to produce over 200 paintings of celebrated record covers. Lahav became fascinated with vinyl after discovering a Russian bootleg of Sonic Youth’s iconic 1988 album “Daydream Nation” with the artist Gerhard Richter’s painting Kerze (Candle) featured on the album cover. Richter’s work confronts history through combining painting and photography. Lahav’s work considers the back and forth of history, the transaction of ideas of both our personal and collective past, capturing a momentary flicker in time.
Lahav applies his unique skill set to breathe new life into these portraits, drawing inspiration from the fluidity and resonance of the artists’ touring exhibitions “48 Jews” and “The Great Americans”.
Each painting carries the weight of nostalgia, music, and artistic expression, transporting viewers to an analog oasis in our digitally focused world.
Recently, Lahav has been exploring the works of art history notables such as Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Francis Bacon, and Sol LeWitt. He has collaborated with the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center and the Francis Bacon Estate to delve deeper into the connection between visual representation and music.
EXHIBITIONS
The Sink: Nashville, Tinney Contemporary July 2024
(curated by Jodi Hays)
Mana Contmeporary, 2025
SPRING/BREAK Art Fair : Sept 2023
“Hot 100: Record Paintings” delves into the sentimental realm of Lahav’s musical explorations through their art practice, celebrating albums that have profoundly resonated with the artist and within our collective consciousness. This unique intersection of personal experience, artistic expression, and collective memories fuel the multi-faceted transactions between audience and viewer in this exhibition.
THE GREAT AMERICANS
UPCOMING : SLATER ART MUSEUM, CT - Summer 2023
The Great Americans (2010 - Present) is a series of over 35 life-sized portraits re-telling iconic and unheard narratives of American history.
Exhibited at the Richmond Art Museum (Richmond IN), The Saginaw Art Museum (Saginaw MI), Dorsky Museum, NY, The Longview Museum Of Fine Art (Longview TX), The Florence Griswold Museum (Lyme CT), and The Slater Memorial Art Museum CT.
AWARDS / GRANTS
CT Humanities - a state affiliate of National Endowment for the Humanities, 2019
Norwich Cultural Council, 2023
Frederick Douglass, 32” x 80”, 2022
Text Below Courtesy Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme CT
Jac Lahav’s portrait series The Great Americans plays off of a 2005 Discovery Channel series that encouraged voters to select the country’s leading figures, past and present. In the contest, media personalities like Oprah Winfrey vied with scientists like Jonas Salk, with Winfrey ousting one of the inventors of the polio vaccine from the top ten. In the series, the artist explores the tension and competition between image and reputation, media fame and history. The larger-than-life portraits depict American icons in unexpected ways through dress and pose, often distorting bodies or altering costumes that we’ve come to see as synonymous with the image of figures like George Washington, for example. Lahav is interested in the concept of layering—how individual and group identity are like an onion skin that we can peel away, but whose transparency allows the whole to assume a larger meaning than its parts. By assembling his own unconventional canon of Great Americans, Lahav exposes the clash of image and substance in our contemporary culture. Starting with figures represented in countless paintings and photos that have shaped our perceptions, some of which the artist incorporates into his compositions, Lahav asks what we can know about people from their portraits. As a further meditation on art’s role in the formation of these perceptions in American culture, Lahav will mine the museum’s permanent collection in a companion exhibition. Lahav lives in Lyme, CT. Exhibitions of his work have appeared or will appear at the Richmond Art Museum, the Saginaw Museum of Art, in Michigan, and the LongView Museum of Fine Art in Texas.
*Awarded a grant from Connecticut Humanities
(a state affiliate of National Endowment for the Humanities)
48 JEWS
The 48 Jews (2006 - Present) tells the story of what it means to be Jewish in the modern era. The artist depicts notable gures in Jewish history and culture such as Elie Wiesel, Anne Frank, Marc Chagall, and even Elvis Presley (who had four generations of maternal Jewish decent). Through painting, Lahav explores the meaning of Jewish identity and how individual idenity creates a larger sense community. To date there are 82 portraits in the series, many of which are repetitions and some of which are in private or public collections.
Paintings from this series are in the collection of the Saginaw Art Musuem (Saginaw MI), The Florida Jewish Museum (Miami, FL), and The Jewish Museum (NY, NY). Six works from The Jewish Museum NY are currently on display as part of their permanent collection.
BELOW IS A SELECTION FROM THE SERIES
SMASH ART
In a groundbreaking shift from traditional museum experiences, contemporary artist Lahav has redefined what it means to create a children-friendly art event, making waves in the art community with his innovative approach to social engagement in artwork. Through his unique performance in 2022, Lahav transformed galleries and museums into spaces of joy and interaction, inviting young audiences to actively participate in his art. By introducing "sleeper paintings" — artworks made of papier-mâché and filled with candy, inspired by piñata traditions and Jewish Purim celebrations — Lahav offered children a chance to engage in an act of joyful iconoclasm. This event not only provided a memorable experience for its young participants but also challenged the conventional boundaries of art spaces, making it a standout example of fun, museum-based contemporary art events tailored for children and families. This initiative marks a significant step towards creating more inclusive, engaging, and child-friendly environments within the contemporary art world.
Social engagement plays a large role in Lahav's practice, particularly related to accessibility of art spaces for children and families. With young children of their own, Lahav noticed galleries and museums often seem unwelcoming to younger audiences. Lahav set out to challenge this status quo in 2022 with an innovative performance inviting children to become active participants in their art.
During exhibitions, Lahav replaces one of their paintings with a "sleeper painting." Unlike traditional artworks on canvas, these “paintings” are crafted from papier-mâché and filled with candy, drawing inspiration from the traditions of piñatas, pinole, and Jewish Purim celebrations. Children are encouraged to break open these unique paintings using a giant paintbrush baton, symbolizing a joyful act of iconoclasm within the conventional settings of galleries and museums.
Lahav comments: "The children instantly grasp the essence of what we're doing; they recognize this as a special event where they're granted permission to engage in a completely unconventional way in museum or gallery settings. This not only makes the moment incredibly joyful and memorable for them but also profoundly shifts a child’s understanding of what contemporary art can be."
PLANT PAINTING & INSTALL
In the dynamic intersection of horticulture and contemporary art, plant installations have emerged as a captivating medium, blending the natural world with artistic expression to create immersive experiences. These living artworks, often large-scale and site-specific, engage audiences by transforming ordinary spaces into lush, green environments that challenge our perceptions of nature and art. As both a celebration of botanical beauty and a commentary on environmental and personal themes, plant installations are at the forefront of contemporary art, drawing attention from art enthusiasts, environmentalists, and the general public alike. This unique fusion of horticulture and art not only beautifies spaces but also inspires reflection on our connection with nature, making it a significant trend in today's art world.
Plant Installation, The Saffron Thief - Sugarlift Gallery 2023
In 2021, Lahav's interest in houseplants blossomed, embracing them not only as emblems of nature's allure but also as profound metaphors for life's journey. Drawing from the rich heritage of still life art, Lahav ventures beyond to craft immersive installations. Through the creation of grand vine sculptures, Lahav envelops viewers in an atmosphere of wonder, transforming spaces into vibrant ecosystems that mirror the complexity and beauty of life itself.
PLANT PAINTING
In addition to installation work, Lahav has been painting succulents and plants. Here are a select grouping of plant paintings and drawings.
SAFFRON THIEF
Deeply rooted in Jac Lahav’s personal narrative as a foster parent this work brings together various pillars of the artist’s practice into one cohesive body titled The Saffron Thief. Rivaling gold in cost per ounce, saffron’s cost is due in part to the arduous process involved in cultivating fine strands from the intensely purple crocus flower. In this installation, Lahav contrasts the rarity of the plant, its laborious cultivation process, and its mysterious mood-boosting qualities - all as allusions to the heuristic journey of parenting.
For Inquiries Please Contact Sugarlift Gallery, NYC
REFLECTIONS ON REPAIR
more meditative abstraction investigating the interplay of surface and texture.
MEDITATIONS
The Intersection of Surface, Texture, and Abstraction
In 2019 at the Florence Griswold Museum CT, Jac Lahav curated a grouping of historical pallets along with some from his collection in the final gallery of his exhibition. This began a long journey into the history of surfaces. Interested in the palimpsest nature of a painting Lahav began a series of abstract works which are meditations on surface, gesture, and the watery Turner-esque depth of Lahav’s pallets.
