Jesse Hlebo

Jesse Hlebo explores manifold incidences of crisis in a globalised society: insurrection, economic collapse, the Anthropocene and authoritarian control. With urgency befitting of the subject matter, Hlebo interrogates the media's role in crisis creation and propagation, whilst highlighting possible trajectories from our present course.

"In Pieces,” his 2015 exhibition at Edel Assanti in London, questioned how authenticity can be established in the age of social media, when upon upload, content is instantaneously dislocated from its original context. Hlebo's videos compile found amateur footage streams of disasters and riots around the world–from Hurricane Sandy to the Boston Marathon bombing to fighting in Ukraine and Gaza. Despite the material being drawn from disparate sources, depicting unrelated situations, the culmination of the sequences are as present as they are apocalyptic.

Jesse Hlebo has exhibited, performed, and curated numerous solo and group shows internationally. Venues include the MoMA Library, MoMA PS1, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Clocktower Gallery, Museum of Arts and Design, Printed Matter, Inc, and Storefront for Art and Architecture in NYC, The Luminary in St. Louis, Family in Los Angeles, the Khyber Center for Contemporary Art and NSCAD in Halifax, Nova Scotia, amongst others.

Courtesy of Edel Assanti