Jason Rhoades

Inside the art and thinking of Jason Rhoades, through a facsimile edition of the visionary artist's sketchbook Illastrations' is a facsimile of an undated sketchbook of drawings by Jason Rhoades. A leading figure of the 1990s international art world, Rhoades was a world builder, an outsider, a California cowboy who never relinquished his sense of rural practicality or punk sense of humour. His art--which took America as its imaginative subject--is a dynamic construction, designed to systematically explore and communicate life's big questions. As much a tool as a book, the sketchbook serves as a guide to Rhoades' visionary work: a collection of didactic cartoons, organized by keyword, that illustrate key concepts, materials, works of art and personal references (see: abstraction, curator, donut, Marcel Duchamp, unfair). Originally given as a gift by Rhoades and his wife, the artist Rachel Khedoori, to their friend and patron Iwan Wirth, Illustrations encapsulates the spirit of generosity with which Rhoades shared his greatest gift, his art.