Felipe Jácome
The Unbroken Project
Ecuadorian photographer Felipe Jácome’s first solo exhibition at Gilman Contemporary showcases work from the series The Unbroken Project. Created in collaboration with Ukrainian dancer and photographer Svitlana Onipko, the series reflects on how art endures amid war. Each photograph captures current and former members of the Ukrainian National Ballet mid-dance, revealing the grace, power, and vulnerability of their movement. These fleeting gestures, shaped by collective memory, emerge as acts of quiet defiance.
Printed in black on empty bullet casings, the dancers’ silhouettes transform objects of violence and brutality into vessels of meaning. The work embodies a tension between delicacy and destruction, with each piece carrying physical and symbolic weight that underscores art’s capacity for resistance and transformation in the face of war. A portion of the proceeds from every sale will be donated to Ukrainian relief.
Jan C. Schlegel
German photographer Jan C. Schlegel’s black-and-white images capture the profound beauty and delicate fragility of life. Known for captivating portraits and still-lifes, Schlegel’s work reveals the bare essence of his subjects. Whether it is a portrait of a person, a jellyfish, phytoplankton, or a tulip, each image is filled with a tender, quiet intimacy. Schlegel uses traditional photographic printing methods. Each hand-toned and printed platinum print is a meditation in stillness, craft, and artistic vision. Of his series My Secret Garden, which captures tulips in various stages of bloom, Schlegel writes,
“The title My Secret Garden reflects a private space of discovery, where visual language becomes a way to process feelings and reflect on what it means to be close, to be vulnerable, and to observe. Across many cultures, gardens have symbolized harmony, paradise, and personal growth. Tulips, too, carry layers of meaning—grace, love, the fleeting nature of life. This body of work is not about flowers alone. It’s about the quiet, sometimes uncertain journey of opening up to beauty—where it’s found, and where it leads.”
Matt Duffin
Gilman Contemporary will present new paintings by Matt Duffin. Trained as an architect, Duffin brings a rigorous understanding of structure, perspective, and spatial tension to his practice, where precision gives way to wit and psychological nuance. Executed in encaustic wax, these labor-intensive works are built through layers of sharp planes, compressed space, and a restrained palette that heightens their emotional charge. Duffin’s paintings hover between realism and imagination, drawing viewers into scenes that feel both familiar and slightly off-kilter.
Across these new works, Duffin continues his exploration of contradiction, pairing darkness with humor and unease with playfulness. Inanimate objects and recognizable figures are animated into quiet protagonists, each caught in moments that suggest solitude, irony, or absurd resolve. Duffin describes humor as a universal language, and here it becomes a subtle entry point into deeper emotional terrain. The works invite a deeper look, providing moments of reflection and an occasional smile, as the strange and quietly human worlds within them begin to unfold.
IMAGES:
Katya 2
by Felipe Jácome
UV print on bullet casings and epoxy resin
23.5” x 23.5”, Edition of 5
Plate 4 (My Secret Garden)
Jan C. Schlegel
Handmade platinum print
19” x 17” paper, Edition of 5 plus 2 APs
Burden of Proof
by Matt Duffin
encaustic on panel
20” x 20”
bozo
by Matt Duffin
encaustic on panel
20” x 20”
661 Sun Valley Road | Ketchum
208.726.7585
gilmancontemporary.com
