Trouble Trouble
Johnson y Jeisson, Tom Pretty
curated by Gunner Dongieux
Aug 3 - 11, 2024
Brooklyn, NY
Pop Gun is pleased to announce Trouble Trouble, an exhibition by Colombian artists Johnson & Jeisson, and the Berlin based Tom Pretty.
They say that a person lives as long as someone remembers them.
Today, 30 years after the release of the iconic theme of Los Embajadores Vallenatos, J&J revives the mythical, mysterious and graceful protagonist of 'El Santo Cachón', a devil with sleepy-eyes that after the success and fame achieved in the 90s, today lives austerely and rushed, with eagerness, going from show to show, trying to return to his golden age.
Vicariously sharing the spotlight is Tom Pretty, a prolific outsider pop singer who, by his own designs, knows not of his own audience, or inclusion in this exhibition.
Johnson & Jeison (J&J), is a duo based in Bogotá, CO. Whose work explores the entanglements between physical and digital spaces, while addressing the imaginaries and stereotypes of Latino pop-culture and the ways in which it is depicted online. They enjoy masonry, video games, cryptocurrencies and holidays. Their work has been exhibited in Lima, Bogotá, Rotterdam, Chicago, Medellín, São Paulo and the internet.
Tom Pretty is an American artist based out of Berlin, Germany. Each year Pretty produces hundreds of music videos, releasing each into the ether, across anonymous YouTube pages, unannounced and mostly unreceived.
Pretty has no social media presence, no physical following, and no method of public interface beyond experiences with his art.
Pretty has agreed to participate in Pop Gun’s exhibition, on the condition he is not contacted about the event hereafter. His practice is a rare example of artistic production outside the influence of an audience.