Travis Boyer and Jesse Genepi:
Sweet Tooth
04.26.25 - 05.31.25
︎Checklist
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12.26 is pleased to present Sweet Tooth, an exhibition featuring paintings by New York-based artist Travis Boyer and Los Angeles-based artist Jesse Genepi, on view at the gallery’s Los Angeles location.
Sweet Tooth brings Boyer and Genepi together to share in their mutual appreciation of unconventional materials, delicious textures, and distinct perspectives. From Genepi’s tactile stratified configurations to Boyer’s funky fungal spirits, Sweet Tooth has work you can sink your teeth into.
Auras of vivid dye and color sprawl across Boyer’s velveteen surfaces, each graced with a mushroom. In Boyer’s Garden Bones, Ode to Penelope Hobhouse, the artist channels gardening designs and principles platformed by the world-renowned gardener. Consideration of the background, in this case, a field of lavender hues, a framework of vertically and horizontally leaning shrooms, and a balanced color palette, grounds the work in the garden of the mind. Surrounding the fully rendered yellow mushroom with a triangular chunk removed are marks that appear to be in the early development of new fungi. Still, for now, they are elusive possibilities.
Genepi’s magnetic grids and luminous stratum-like compositions bounce with a curious movement. Layers upon layers of brushstrokes envelop the canvas, creating a perspectival illusion of horizontal and vertical levels. This terrain of wonder and visual delight stems from a cacophony of real and digital influences collected by the artist. The formal qualities of Genepi’s iridescent and simultaneously matte paintings could result from his time working at a century-old candy store in his youth, a sweet tooth origin story. Genepi’s planar simulacrum captivates your attention, leaving you craving more.
Losing yourself in the surface quality of Travis and Jesse’s work is an indulgent and guiltless pleasure. However, you must see them in person and engage with them visually to appreciate their presence and material richness. While Boyer’s use and manipulation of silk velvet results in a sumptuous veneer, Genepi’s mixture of oil and acrylic paint, as well as mylar and resin, effectively causes an ocular color-shifting experience. Regardless of the material, the magnificent and splendid work of Boyer and Genepi inspires awe in all.
Travis Boyer (b. 1979, Fort Worth, Texas) lives and works in New York City. He received his MFA from Bard College (2012) and his BFA from the University of North Texas (2003). Boyer’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Paris, FR (2024); Noon Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2023 & 2022); False Flag, Queens, NY (2021); Company Gallery, New York, NY (2019); The New Museum, New York, NY (2016); the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, NL (2016); the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX; among others.
Jesse Genepi (b. 1995 La Crosse, WI) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. He received his MFA from the University of California, Davis (2021) and his BFA from the University of Minnesota (2018). Genepi’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at Elsa Lee Bruno, Los Angeles, CA (2025); Noon Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Island Gallery, New York, NY (2023); the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, Davis, CA (2021); b. Sakata, Sacramento, CA (2021); below grand, New York, NY (2021); among others.
Sweet Tooth brings Boyer and Genepi together to share in their mutual appreciation of unconventional materials, delicious textures, and distinct perspectives. From Genepi’s tactile stratified configurations to Boyer’s funky fungal spirits, Sweet Tooth has work you can sink your teeth into.
Auras of vivid dye and color sprawl across Boyer’s velveteen surfaces, each graced with a mushroom. In Boyer’s Garden Bones, Ode to Penelope Hobhouse, the artist channels gardening designs and principles platformed by the world-renowned gardener. Consideration of the background, in this case, a field of lavender hues, a framework of vertically and horizontally leaning shrooms, and a balanced color palette, grounds the work in the garden of the mind. Surrounding the fully rendered yellow mushroom with a triangular chunk removed are marks that appear to be in the early development of new fungi. Still, for now, they are elusive possibilities.
Genepi’s magnetic grids and luminous stratum-like compositions bounce with a curious movement. Layers upon layers of brushstrokes envelop the canvas, creating a perspectival illusion of horizontal and vertical levels. This terrain of wonder and visual delight stems from a cacophony of real and digital influences collected by the artist. The formal qualities of Genepi’s iridescent and simultaneously matte paintings could result from his time working at a century-old candy store in his youth, a sweet tooth origin story. Genepi’s planar simulacrum captivates your attention, leaving you craving more.
Losing yourself in the surface quality of Travis and Jesse’s work is an indulgent and guiltless pleasure. However, you must see them in person and engage with them visually to appreciate their presence and material richness. While Boyer’s use and manipulation of silk velvet results in a sumptuous veneer, Genepi’s mixture of oil and acrylic paint, as well as mylar and resin, effectively causes an ocular color-shifting experience. Regardless of the material, the magnificent and splendid work of Boyer and Genepi inspires awe in all.
Travis Boyer (b. 1979, Fort Worth, Texas) lives and works in New York City. He received his MFA from Bard College (2012) and his BFA from the University of North Texas (2003). Boyer’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Paris, FR (2024); Noon Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2023 & 2022); False Flag, Queens, NY (2021); Company Gallery, New York, NY (2019); The New Museum, New York, NY (2016); the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, NL (2016); the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX; among others.
Jesse Genepi (b. 1995 La Crosse, WI) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. He received his MFA from the University of California, Davis (2021) and his BFA from the University of Minnesota (2018). Genepi’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at Elsa Lee Bruno, Los Angeles, CA (2025); Noon Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Island Gallery, New York, NY (2023); the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, Davis, CA (2021); b. Sakata, Sacramento, CA (2021); below grand, New York, NY (2021); among others.