Built by Popular Demand
Jake Lahah, MFA 2024, Printmaking
Built by Popular Demand is an exhibition exploring the palm tree as a symbol of placemaking and utopia. Informed by my research on beach tourism and experience as a project manager in a signage shop, I assert the unstable relationship between the visual and the productive. Working collaboratively with sculpture, print, and craft studies, I make connections between the built-environment and sites of cultural production, revealing undertones of the political in the process. I use abstraction, data aggregation, and visual studies to aid in the creation of this work. This often leads me to questioning the differences between the built-environment and the lived-experience, mapping ways they are synonymous, completely different, and in between.
"Built by Popular Demand" (gallery installation shot) 2024 Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"Built by Popular Demand" 2024 Latex print on vinyl, spray painted die-cut coroplast, garden stakes, glue, zip ties, Home Depot and Lowes buckets, synthetic and dying plants, concrete, colored paint, screen printed foam board, screen printed wood, quilted moving blankets with adhesive vinyl, bleached fabric, blown glass vessels, and lighting systems Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"Built by Popular Demand" (detail) 2024 Latex print on vinyl, spray painted die-cut coroplast, garden stakes, glue, zip ties, Home Depot and Lowes buckets, synthetic and dying plants, concrete, colored paint, screen printed foam board, screen printed wood, quilted moving blankets with adhesive vinyl, bleached fabric, blown glass vessels, and lighting systems Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"Changing Time" 2024 Screen print on mylar, dead and synthetic palm frond Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"This Way" 2024 Screen print on mylar Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"Field Notes" (I) 2024 Screen print on mylar Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"Field Notes" (II) 2024 Screen print on mylar Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"Expanding the Network" (detail) 2024 Screen print on pink insulation foam, found map, blown glass, flameworked borosilicate glass, saw horses Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"Stratifying Strategy" 2024 Inkjet print mounted to found cardboard, screen print, tape Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"Hot Spots" 2024 Woodblock print, found map, flameworked borosilicate glass, burn marks, bakery crate Photo Credit: Sam Fritch
"A lure" 2023 Felt, latex print on vinyl, silkscreen prints, lithographs, synthetic flowers, stitching, beads, and screen print on artist made bandana Photo Credit: Jake Lahah
"A lure" (detail) 2023 Felt, latex print on vinyl, silkscreen prints, lithographs, synthetic flowers, stitching, beads, and screen print on artist made bandana Photo Credit: Jake Lahah
"Burn" 2023 Screen print on fabric, patchwork, appliqué Photo Credit: Jake Laha
"Reaching In" Screen print on fabric, digital print on silk, heat press vinyl transfer, direct to film t-shirt transfer, appliqué, patchwork, vinyl banner Photo Credit: Jake Lahah
"GO___!" 2023 Screen print on fabric, heat press vinyl transfer, direct to film t-shirt transfer, patchwork Photo Credit: Jake Lahah
"Mx. Community Organizer" 2024 Latex print on vinyl, stitching, screen print on fabric, appliqué, dissection pins Photo Credit: Jake Lahah
"Shark Cologne Bottle" (circe 2012) 2023 Hand carved mold blown glass Photo Credit: Jake Lahah
"Untitled" 2023 UV print on coroplast, printed vinyl, scored Photo Credit: Jake Credit
"Building a T-Rex" 2023 Screen print on laser cut plywood, brackets, screws, bolts, hanging hardware Photo Credit: Jake Lahah
"Building a T-Rex" (detail) 2023 Screen print on laser cut plywood, brackets, screws, bolts, hanging hardware Photo Credit: Jake Lahah
Jake Lahah
Jake Lahah is an artist working at the intersections of print, sculpture, installation and craft. His work explores the connections between the built-environment, labor, and the human condition. Currently, his research explores the palm tree as a symbol of placemaking, utopia, and marketing, using the tourism industry as a case study.
Notable places that Lahah has shown include the ICA Baltimore, Candela Books and Gallery, Partners and Son, Second State Press, SGCI @ UW Madison, Page Bond Gallery, Well Well Projects, and Attic 506. He completed a long term artist residency at Studio Two Three where he also taught community art classes. He received his BFA from George Mason University and MFA in Print from Tyler School of Art + Architecture. You can usually find him in Philadelphia, Richmond, or anywhere in between.