Japeth Mennes
Neighbor to Neighbor
February 2023

Ampersand is pleased to present Neighbor to Neighbor, an online exhibition of new work and an interview with Japeth Mennes, whose paintings were previously featured here at Ampersand in his 2021 solo exhibition titled City Paintings. Currently living and working in New York City, Mennes received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and his BFA from Kansas City Art Institute. His work has also been included in recent group exhibitions at Taymour Grahne (London), 57w57 Arts (New York), The Ekru Project (Kansas City, MO), My Pet Ram (New York) and Stockton University (New Jersey). A forthcoming solo exhibition of his paintings will be at 65 Grand (Chicago) in 2023.

Shade (Ochre, English, White), 2022
Acrylic on canvas
26 x 17 inches

AMPERSAND: So, for you, photography can function in two ways? In part as a form of note taking—here I’m thinking of the pictures of laundromat signage that inspired your Laundromat paintings. But maybe photography as an artistic pursuit as well. Your idea of a “good picture” being more in line with the notion of photographer as artist? Is that also a pursuit of yours?

JAPETH: For sure, although I'd still consider myself a novice. It's a nice contrast to painting and is something I can take a little less seriously.

AMPERSAND: Do you have examples of these “types” of photos?

JAPETH: Of course. I’ll send you a few examples.

AMPERSAND: One might say that your work is grounded in architectural details that we mostly take for granted—washing machines, mailbox buzzers, security cameras and, in the case of this exhibition, windows. It seems like there are thousands of similar things in an urban environment that you could select as source imagery. So, how do you go about narrowing your focus? Is it purely formal or are you also hunting for underlying meanings?

JAPETH: There’s definitely criteria for me to feel like I can work with something. I’m primarily looking for images that can slip somewhat into abstraction. I’m also drawn to objects that are seemingly meaningless but also could be thought of as mediators of social interaction. Paintings themselves also inherently act this way. There’s a third mysterious quality that is formal, or maybe a more visually meditative aspect that I’m trying to achieve. Sometimes I can bend the imagery toward that through painting it, sometimes it’s already there at the source. The possibilities seem endless, but it really is specific for me.

AMPERSAND: Each of these new paintings are recognizable as windows, but your focus doesn’t always seem to be their transparent nature. Instead, you seem to emphasize how windows can also function as barriers from the outside world or concealment and security from others. Was that intentional?

JAPETH: Not at first, but now it feels inevitable from the beginning. I started painting that way because I didn’t want to depict any illusionistic or narrative space. In that way the surface of the window and the surface of the painting can be the same thing. I understand that it has a psychological result, the shutters especially. I’m ok with that reading and think there must have been a part of me that wanted to work with those themes.

Window Shade (Verona, Green,
Peach, Grey), 2022
Acrylic on canvas
44 x 17 inches

Window Shade (Oxide, Orange,
Cobalt, Grey), 2022
Acrylic on canvas
44 x 17 inches

Window Shade (Purple, Cerulean,
Prussian, Grey), 2022
Acrylic on canvas
44 x 17 inches

AMPERSAND: Given this possible idea of windows as a form of divide—outside versus inside, public versus private—would you say there is a degree of irony in your exhibition title, Neighbor to Neighbor?

JAPETH: Maybe more of a paradox than an irony. Not to make it all about the pandemic, but I started this way of painting just before the world closed down in 2020 and really explored it afterwards. During that time, here in NYC, all you had for real social activity were open windows and banging pots and pans at 7pm. Maybe this way of painting seems cold and mechanical, in both technique and imagery. But perhaps in that way it can elicit the opposite, or come full circle back to warmth and friendliness? I would like that.

AMPERSAND: Is there a window in your studio? What direction does it face? When it’s open, what do you see, hear or smell?

JAPETH: Yes! It’s glorious and faces east. I’m making new paintings right now that are a 1:1 scale to this window (49 x 32 in.). This window looks out to a hundred other windows. The scene is very much like “Rear Window,” but without the murder. The most interesting thing I’ve seen was a raccoon climbing a fire escape.

AMPERSAND: Is a sense of place important to your work? Maybe not in what we see as a final painting, but more as it relates to your making process. Are there specific patterns or conditions in your surroundings, say in your studio, that need alignment before you arrive at the headspace for painting?

JAPETH: In making, not really. I try not to be precious about it! If anything, painting can be a great leveler of moods. Source-wise, I think the paintings are specific to NYC—its signage and objects just don’t exist in the same way in other cities. Even the shutters are from a nearby building. Like anyone, I listen to a lot of music. Compact discs are my format of choice!

AMPERSAND: And you’ve also worked as a musician. You wrote songs and played guitar in the band, Dead Painters. I’m curious about the experience of composing music for guitar versus writing lyrics. They are independent yet also connected—the balance between musical form in relationship to possible meanings that song titles and lyrics imply. Have elements of this process carried over to your work as a painter?   

JAPETH: Back to walking . . . I used to walk around and think of ideas for lyrics. I would notate clips of overheard conversations and incorporate them into songs or craft narratives with them later with the guitar. Now I just think about paintings. It’s hard to have the bandwidth for both. But I think through songwriting I learned to be receptive to ideas rather than forcing them into existence. I personally found it almost impossible to sit down and will a song on demand.

AMPERSAND: Speaking of musicians, you told me that the title for this exhibition, Neighbor to Neighbor, also happens to be the title of a song by Sam Prekop. He’s best known as a musician, playing in the band The Sea and Cake, but he also happens to be a prolific photographer. You’ve mentioned an admiration for his work, but I’m curious how the work of other artists in general informs or influences your own practice. Is it obsessive—taking a deep dive studying what other artists do, how they live? Or is it more of a passive thing, a form of enjoyment?

JAPETH: When I was younger it was more extensive, now it’s definitely scattered. I get color ideas from other painters, but I also get them from the city and street stuff. Lately I’m trying to appreciate art outside of my wheelhouse as much as possible, to see the value of something I would not normally enjoy. I also get a lot of inspiration and ideas from my peers and friends as much as I do from other contemporary artists and art history. Sam Prekop is definitely on that list, and I'm also a big fan of Holly Coulis, Jaime Alvarez, Beverly Fishman, Sean Sullivan, Alain Bilteryst, Luigi Ghirri, Malick Sidibé, Matthew F Fisher, Brian Michael Dunn, Stacy Fisher, Jacob Feige and Matt Connors.

AMPERSAND: From your point of view as an artist, how would you describe a successful or satisfying day?

JAPETH: Sometimes I have to totally remake a painting because there’s something that needs to change, but for various reasons cannot be altered as is. Having to abandon ship on a painting I’ve worked on for days, or even weeks, can be frustrating, but it’s part of the process and I usually learn something as a result. Other times everything comes together naturally. I work on two or three at a time, so there’s more room to take risks—at least one of them will likely work out.