CURRENT Exhibition
Handle with Care
James Schenck
September 16 - October 7, 2025
Opening Reception Tuesday, September 16th 4-7pm
Artist Walk-Through Saturday, September 20th 12 - 2pm
Afternoon Tea & Talk, moderated by Susan Aurinko Sunday, October 5th 1-3pm
ESSAY
Newsprint is the material of the moment, the paper that announces the now and is discarded as soon as it becomes then. James Schenck’s choice of newsprint as the substrate for his evocative array of drawings creates a special tension: on these sheets, he depicts fleeting moments that at first may not seem worthy of preservation. Yet, something in each pricks the sense memory—a tiny flower plucked from a city sidewalk or an improbably dandyish jug—beguiling the viewer to hold onto them far longer than expected. Schenck’s drawings are an archive of the image in the present tense, defying disposability with his use of gold-leaf and other fine art materials. Whether an image from memory or a flash of mass media intrusion, Schenck does not impose a hierarchy in rendering the idiosyncrasies that compose our lived experience. Through this body of work, he opens a capacious visual empathy: You may not have seen this or been there, but through these works that capture the immediacy of one point of view, now you have. Now, none of these moments will be drowned along with a succession of others in the stream of life; no matter how brief, no matter how personal, they stay with us as a mark of the small wonders of life.
Whether displayed individually or in thematic groupings, these works draw the viewer to make connections that interpolate their own experience of the world—the objects, memories, people—through the singular moments Schenck captures. Equal parts nostalgic romance and libidinal excess, these drawings forward a conceptual ethos in which form, process, and material work in equal measure to speak the artist’s truth. Do these drawings save stolen intervals of time, or is it that the observation, labor, and eventual contemplation produce or make time? Unlike the newspaper whose headlines have become old news long before they are tossed out or dissolved, Schenck’s drawings on newsprint—gloriously elevated through gold and gesso—challenge the viewer to think of them not as just part of a zeitgeist but as a sum of much more than their fragile parts. One must truly consider the animals, the superheroes, the friends, and the flowers that he depicts as things in need of care, delicate reminders of the myriad selves each of us has been over the course of time. Locating their power not in the tangible but in the ephemeral—those impressions that remain so close to be inseparable from ourselves—Schenck reminds us to be alert to each moment, to attend to the present not as a layover for the future, but as the very thing—the only thing—that fortifies existence.
—Miciah Hussey
James Schenck’s drawings break down his personal history into moments of sincerity and fantasy. He reshapes common events, cultural media, and his own archive of images to illuminate a soft, keen awareness of the shared physical world. Schenck’s abstractions push the boundary between image and object and operate with hyper-authenticity. In this space, Schenck composes a dialogue between the lived and the imagined. The balance of form and feeling in his work negotiates questions on the permanence of a body, the complexity of a mind, and the wonder of memory.
Artist Bio:
James Scheck lives and works in Chicago, IL. He received his MFA at the University of Cincinnati, DAAP School, and his BA from Vassar College. He was raised in Cincinnati, OH and spent most of his life traveling and observing, weaving a unique career that blends art, entertainment, and commercial styling. His conceptual practice is at the heart of all his actions, and he always lets his artistic spirit guide the way. Schenck is the Curator at Large for ENGAGE Projects and is professionally represented by Ford Artists.