Yung Jake - CV + Bio

Yung Jake first received acclaim for his rap videos that relate to technology, social media and pop culture. Since then, he has created wall works that combine painting, printing, drawing, collage and video on supports made of found metal and new powder-coated steel. He juxtaposes images of twisted Fiji Water bottles, cartoon and video game characters and his own likeness to create paintings that are all encompassing self-portraits. In addition to portraying aspects of his appearance, they depict his fascination with the pop culture images of his youth. By using scrap metal, Yung Jake has sought the perfect balance to the ephemerality of the Internet.  


Education
2012
BFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia

Solo Exhibitions
2020
Cartoons Too, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2019
cartoons, Guild Hall, East Hampton

2018
Emoji Portraits, Market Art + Design (with Tripoli Gallery), Bridgehampton

2017
Emoji Portraits, Tripoli Gallery, Southampton
Caution: Wet Floor, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Zona Maco (with Steve Turner), Mexico City

2016
V, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Hydration, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Dear DTLA, The Ace Hotel, Los Angeles

2015
Twisted Metal II, Tripoli Gallery, East Hampton

2014
Furniture, Sunday, Los Angeles
Art Berlin Contemporary (with Steve Turner)
New, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Drawings, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

Group Exhibitions and Screenings
2020
ALAC (with Steve Turner), Los Angeles

2018
On Struggling to Remain Present When You Want to Disappear, OCAT Shanghai/KADIST, San Francisco
BioPix, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2017
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)
ARS17: Hello World, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki

2016
Datamosh, 59th DOK Leipzig Festival
#CULTURECOLLECTIVE, MAMA, Los Angeles
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)
Art Brussels (with Steve Turner)
Dallas Art Fair (with Steve Turner)

2015
The Real World, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Space Program, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2014
Unfollow, MOCA, Los Angeles
Untitled, Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)

2013
Datamosh, Shorts Program at AFI fest (won Special Jury Mention), Los Angeles
E.m-bed.de/d, New Frontier exhibit, Sundance Film Festival, Park City
Augmented Real, New Frontier exhibit, Sundance Film Festival, Park City
Datamosh, New Frontier Short Films, Sundance Film Festival, Park City
Water, Tripoli Gallery, Southampton

2012
Workshop at New Frontier Story Lab, Sundance Film Festival, Park City
Datamosh, Off the Air, Adult Swim (Television broadcast)
Datamosh, Bruciennial, New York

2011
Datamosh, gli.tc/h screening, Chicago and Amsterdam

Performances 
2016
Museum of Modern Art, New York
it’s wet, Steve Turner, Los Angeles

2015
The Getty Center, Los Angeles
SXSW, Austin

2014
Step and Repeat, MOCA, Los Angeles

2013
Art Basel, Miami
TimeWarner Storytellers Summit, Laguna
The Future of Story Telling Conference, Staten Island
REDCAT, Los Angeles
Augmented World Expo, Silicon Valley
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

Awards
2015 Sundance Institute and Time Warner Fellowship Grant, Los Angeles

Bibliography
2019
Landes, Jennifer. “Sciulli’s Dreams and Yung Jake’s Cartoons,” The East Hampton Star, April 18
Lil Miquela. “Yung Jake is the David Bailey of the Emoji Generation,” Dazed Digital, April 4

2018
Skelton, Eric. “Tips for Creating on the Internet with Yung Jake,” Complex, July 23
Chards, Maria Isabel Carrasco Cara. “Yung Jake: The Artist Who Creates Emoji Portraits With Thousands of Icons,” Cultura Colectiva, July 18
Dawkins, Farida. “[Art Attack] Digital artist Yung Jake creates masterpieces with emojis,” Face2face Africa, April 12

2017
Parles, Jon, Jon Caramanica and Nate Chinen. “The Playlist: Pusha Spurns the Doubters and Kendrick
Lamar Tempts the Critics,” The New York Times, October 14
Blanchard, Emma. “Digital Artist Yung Jake Explores Emojis as a New Medium,” V Magazine, August 9
“Nostalgic visions of pop culture + consumerism in Yung Jake’s Caution: Wet Floor at Steve Turner,” AQNB, July 17
Jardine, Alexandra. “See emoji artist Yung Jake create a portrait of LeBron James in this Intel spot,” AdAge, June 16

2016
Stutz, Colin. “Meet Yung Jake, the Artist Making Masterpieces Out of Emojis,” W Magazine, October 27
Jquinones. “Lil Yachty, Yung Jake and Sonny Digital Provide an Artistic Statement at the MoMA,” The Source, May 1
Weiner, Sophie. “Texting With Yung Jake,” The Village Voice, April 28
“Is Yung Jake the Internet’s Artist?” UPROXX, March 29
“Meet Yung Jake, The Artist Making Celebrity Portraits Out of Emojis,” The Fader, March 17
Willams, Maxwell. “In Yung Jake’s Work, Opening Parties Double as Happenings—and Draw Thousands,”Artsy, March 4
Spiwak, Valeri. “Yung Jake Takes Over Downtown Billboard For ‘Dear DTLA’,” Amadeus Magazine, February 2
Freeman, Carolyn. “An iMessage Interview With Yung Jake, The Rapper Who Turned Emojis Into Art,” Nylon, January 21
Noice, Lauren MacKenzie. “The Real World @ Steve Turner Contemporary reviewed,” AQNB, January 11

2015
Barsky, Alice. “You’ll Need Two iPhones to Watch Yung Jake’s Latest Video,” Paste, September 11
Leight, Elias. “Yung Jake Dropped A Music Video On Snapchat And You Need Two Phones To Watch It Because music videos are more fun with friends,” The Fader, September 10
Silver, Leigh. “How Yung Jake Is Pioneering What It Means to Be an Artist Born on the Internet,” Complex, June 3
Gill, Kate. “Yung Jake: The Rapper Behind Those Celebrity Emoji Portraits,” Studio 360, WNYC, January 28
Grossman, Samantha. “These Incredibly Realistic Celebrity Portraits Were Made Entirely With Emoji,” Time Photo, January 23
Munro, Cait. “New Media Artist Creates Celebrity Portraits With Emojis,” artnews, January 15
Mufson, Beckett. “Yung Jake Is Making Emoji Portraits of Celebrities,” The Creators Project, January 14

2014
Silver, Leigh. “10 Artists to Check Out at UNTITLED Fair,” Complex, December 4
“SFAQ Pick: UNTITLED. Miami,” SFAQ, December 1
Gibson, Clay. “Strolling Through Downtown Mexico City with Artist and Social Media Star Yung Jake,” i-D Vice, November 3
“Best Art Exhibitions This Month,” Complex, August 6
Lasane, Andrew. “ Yung Jake Opens His “New” Solo Exhibition at Steve Turner Contemporary,” Complex, July 14
“SFAQ Pick: New, solo exhibition by Yung Jake at Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles,” SFAQ, July 13
Munro, Cait. “Meet Yung Jake, Rapper and New Media Art Sensation,” artnet, May 28
Frank, Priscilla. “Meet Yung Jake, The Art World’s Favorite Rapper,” HuffPost, May 27
Cheng, Susan. “Computer Cursors Spazz Out in Yung Jake’s Video Installation at Steve Turner Contemporary,” Complex, May 5
Frank, Priscilla. “Ten Rappers Who’ve Dipped Their Toes In the Art World’s Water,” HuffPost, March 28

2013
Johnson, Paddy. “Yung Jake, Video Prankster and Meta-Rapper, Turns the Hustle into Art,” SPIN, November 13
Williams, Maxwell. “Yung Jake,” Flaunt, October 29
Wright, James, “Augmented Reality,” So It Goes, Issue 1, Volume 1, May 30
Burnett III, Zaron. “Notes from the Avant-Garde: 5 Artists Pushing Today Into Tomorrow,” Thought Catalog, April 17
Lewis, Amanda. “Yung Jake, a Recent CalArts Grad, Could Be the Breakout Art Star of Sundance,”LA Weekly, January 16

2012
Galperina, Marina. “11 Net Artists You Should Know,” Flavorwire, September 4
Brand, Will and Paddy Johnson. “Best Link Ever! Yung Jake – E.m-bed.de/d,” ArtFCity, March 20
Moore, Jacob. “Video: Yung Jake E.m-bed.de/d,” Complex, March 19