Multimedia artist Jessy Nite’s interpretation of her Miami, her hometown, includes strippers, sex, drugs and blue-blooded housewives baking Cartier pie. For her solo show opening at Miami’s Primary Projects on Saturday, Jessy Nite can, and will, be as bad as she wanna be…
Your first solo show opens on February 11th. Are you ready?
I have actually done a solo show before, but nothing like this. The gallery is huge and I am trying to fill it up. I’ve been working on this for almost a year, so yes…I am so fucking ready!
What defines the art of Jessy Nite?
I think I am still figuring that out.
You chose the title “Bad As I Wanna Be” for it. Why?
‘Cause being bad is oh so fun. I pretty much do whatever I want in life and I think that’s always the goal. Not even in a fucking punk rock way, just going as far as you wanna go. “Bad As I Wanna Be” is also about now I am getting to finally do the projects I always wanted to do. I always knew that I can do it but I have been waiting for the opportunity to show people. This is my own personal side of it… It’s about the whole attitude of just doing it.
Please tell us about title of the show…
It’s a bedroom piece for kinky people. A big 4×4 ft piece made out of layered, mirrored plexi that spells out “Bad As I Wanna Be.” It hangs from the ceiling above the bed and people are invited to hop under the covers and get bad with their reflection above.
What other pieces can we expect ?
Lots of builds and installations with different materials…wood, metal, gold, crystal, pills, and more. I am also showing a series of paintings entitled “Money-Hungry”, mixing bling and desserts. Think about a super-rich lady, a delusional housewife and if she ever decided to make something one day, because they don’t cook, she would be like “oh this is going to be the best pie ever, let’s use the Cartier!”
What were your inspirations for the show?
Sex, drugs, money…Miami! A lot of my work is inspired by Miami and how-over-the-top rich people are. I have always been really interested in that super over-the-top-wealth cause they are so fucked up. They have so much money . Most of them are like pill-popping housewives, they just marry some rich dude. That’s like my dream, marry some super-rich dude and just kind of like waste away and not even give a fuck. I just take my prescription pills and sip Champagne by the pool and fade away. I could never do that though. I am not that kind of person!
Your work often has a certain shock value to it. Is it deliberate or coincidence?
It is shocking? I guess some of it is…I don’t really think there is anything shocking about saying “fuck” or using drugs or blatant pornography. Those things all exist in very real ways for the majority of society and I hate that we all just have to hide those sides of ourselves. I say, bring that shit out and stop caring so much…
Do you ever think about how the public might react to any of your art when you create it?
Yes but not everything is for everyone. I know how to be appropriate in certain arenas. I like doing that! I want to make all kinds of things for all kinds of people, but it’s a project by project type of thing.
If you could create a piece of art entitled “Wonderland”. What would it be?
A giant experiential installation ending in sensory overload.
Words: Heike Wollenweber