Jacob Robert Whibley creates collage-based works that foreground two histories, simultaneously: that of early modernist art, architecture and design, as well as that of the materials he uses. Russian Constructivism, the Bauhaus and de Stijl, and the artists affiliated with those movements – Wassily Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, Josef Albers and Piet Mondrian – come to mind when looking at Whibley’s work, but his collages do more than pay homage. Whibley skilfully, and with great sensitivity, exploits the pre-existing folds, tears, markings and discolouration of the vintage papers he uses, some dating back to the late-1800s. The result is work that manages to feel historical, contemporary and timeless all at once.
Based in Toronto, Jacob Whibley graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2005 and has been showing his work since 2007. His first solo exhibition in Europe took place in June 2014 at Bourouina Gallery in Berlin. In May, he was included in the group exhibition Space Squared at White Walls in San Francisco. He has also had solo exhibitions at the Wyatt Art Centre in Rochester, NY and at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Group exhibitions in Montreal, Los Angeles and Portland have featured his work, as well. He is represented by Narwhal Art Projects in Toronto.