Jupiter is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Denmark-based Congolese artist Jack Kabangu, his first gallery exhibition in the United States. Featuring eleven new, never-before-seen paintings in the artist’s signature style marked by bold shapes, vibrant colors, and energetic lines that hum a tense pull between figuration and abstraction, the exhibition, titled being in love with my work is a gift, but at the same time also a curse, meditates on the conflicted feelings—the ups and downs, challenges and rewards—that not only define the artist’s practice but also his complicated relationship to home and nation.
Born in Zambia of Congolese origins to a family that had to flee their native country due to a series of civil wars that ravaged the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1996, when he was born, and 2003, Kabangu’s personal history mirrors that of gallery founder Gabriel Kilongo. The story they share of alienation, diaspora, and a search for home speaks to the core of Jupiter Contemporary’s founding ethos as a space that celebrates emerging international voices and cultivates community for diverse artistic practices and varied sociocultural perspectives.
About the Artist
Jack Kabangu (b. 1996, Lusaka, Zambia) is a self-taught artist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has had solo exhibition at Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen; Over the Influence, Hong Kong; beers London, London; The Cabin LA, Los Angeles; THE ANZAI GALLERY, Tokyo; Aston Martin Copenhagen, Copenhagen; and has been featured in group exhibitions at NBB GALLERY, Berlin; Galerie Moderne Silkeborg, Silkeborg, Denmark; and Maddox Gallery, London; amongst others. Kabangu currently lives and works in Copenhagen, where he has resided since 2005.
