The meteoric rise of Jonathan Lyndon Chase is perhaps less of an enigma than it appears. With a style influenced by artists Romare Bearden, Kerry James Marshall and Henry Taylor, Chase’s practice merges cultural influences like anime and erotica with their own observations of living as a Black, queer, non-binary person navigating an emotional life amongst strangers.
Along with paintings, they often use immersive installations to create viewing settings which explore feelings of intimacy, illicit encounters and voyeurism through the creation of domestic rooms, lawns and park benches. This approach was vividly realised in Big Wash (2020) at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. For this exhibition Chase transformed the institution into a surreal, sensory-rich laundromat where soft sculptures and clashing patterns mimicked the chaotic hum of community spaces. By situating the viewer within this semi-public environment the artist effectively dissolved the boundary between observer and subject (The Fabric Workshop and Museum, 2020). It allowed the audience to physically navigate the complexities of Black queer existence rather than simply viewing it from a distance.
Chase is clearly an artist who reflects not just their identity but some of the pressing questions of our era around physicality, presence and the perceptive states surrounding outsiderness and participation. As stated during an interview with BOMB (Turri, 2021):
“I definitely feel really loved and protected by the people who are close to me as well as strangers, admirers, and fans. I think it really helps me. We often perform our identities based on our safety, and the art world helps me explore things in a more liberated way, in a different way. The lines are kind of blurred for me.”
Viewed in this light, their success isn’t so enigmatic when the underlying message is radical love and connection but is that enough for good art? See for yourself at Milan’s Gió Marconi Gallery
Exhibition Notes
Gió Marconi Gallery is pleased to announce Keep thinking nobody does it like you here comes the sunset, the first solo exhibition in Italy by Philadelphia-based artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase and their first show with the gallery. The exhibition examines the everyday moments of queer Black life in the city. It reflects upon memory and the mind, body, and soul, the passage of time, opposites and balance, readability and abstraction.
Chase divides the ground floor of the gallery into private interior spaces which include a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. These are the settings where the figure navigates and interacts, revealing emotional, mental, and psychological states. Each space becomes a landscape of its own. The interiors act as an archive and a reflection of these elements. The space itself feels alive, like a body, with cracks, exposed wires, dripping pipes, leaking ceilings, and a carpet that holds many stories.
JONATHAN LYNDON CHASE
Keep thinking nobody does it like you here comes the sunset
Gió Marconi Gallery
Opening: Thursday, January 29, 2026; 6pm-9pm
January 30 – March 21, 2026
From Tuesday to Saturday, 11am-6pm
Gió Marconi, Via Tadino 15, Milan
References
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (2020) Jonathan Lyndon Chase: Big Wash. Available at: https://fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/exhibition/jonathan-lyndon-chase/ (Accessed: 3 January 2026).
Turri, S. (2021) ‘Public and Private Bodies: Jonathan Lyndon Chase Interviewed’, BOMB Magazine, 29 April. Available at: https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2021/04/29/public-and-private-bodies-jonathan-lyndon-chase-interviewed/ (Accessed: 3 January 2026).
Images courtesy of Gió Marconi Gallery and the artist © 2026
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. – Aristotle
