Punch-Drunk Love is a body of work by multidisciplinary artist Jamel Robinson that began during his inaugural tenure at the Long Meadow Art Residency in The Berkshires of Massachusetts.

Using boxing gloves to make free-form gestures on the surface of un-stretched and stretched canvas and watercolor paper, Robinson channeled his memory of artist Ushio Shinohara, whom he discovered in the 2013 documentary, Cutie and the Boxer, and sought to use boxing as a cathartic means of coping with the insurmountable grief that surrounds a tragic loss.

Using only black and white paint for “rounds” of boxing that form into abstraction, Robinson addresses the stark nature of grief and the gray-area of peace that he finds through the creative process.

These free-form paintings are a celebration of life in the midst of death and the grief it leaves in its wake; they are a testament to light and its promise to always penetrate the darkness; they are an ode to the calm that finds its way to the midst of the storm; they are his fight for peace in the midst of pain.

Jamel Robinson's exhibition, "The Eagle Flies Free, But Why Not Me?" comments on the Black American experience through the innovative use of found materials. Robinson's artistic career has spanned a decade in the form of painting, abstraction, sculpture, poetry and installation. His work has recently solidified in its strongest form, striking and profound assemblage works. His assemblage utilizes immediate materials, demanding viewers take inquisitive action when confronted with them. Public space and ownership are the subtexts that run throughout Robinson's practice.

Why firewood? Firewood represents the reclamation of a discarded item that was chosen to be burned. Why pennies? Pennies serve as a metaphor for how black men and women have been seen throughout American history. Why rice? Rice was traded as currency and was often stored away in the hair of enslaved individuals as means of securing food. Why sand? Sand is a reminder of the enslaved being taken from coast to coast. Why boxing gloves? Boxing gloves represent the constant fight for true freedom and equality.

Why the Eagle? Eagles are a symbol of American prowess and freedom. They soar uninterrupted throughout the country as a protected species, contrary to the plight of African Americans.

The materials used to create the unique works in Robinson's exhibition speak to the present and historical realities of grief in Black America. Gallery 495 is proud to host Robinson's very first exhibition in Catskill, NY and the first exhibit to showcase the full range of Robinson's assemblage artworks. Many of the works on view were made in the Berkshire Mountains, a sister region to the Hudson Valley, at the Long Meadow Arts Residency.

"I want people, primarily the youth, to ask why I'm using sand, rice, rope, pennies, nails, chains, and wood in the work so that, socially, we're forced to address the truth regarding historical issues of race inequality that may have changed in shape, but are still the pulse of our country today." - Jamel Robinson

The current and historical silence of the black voice in America is under the menace of authority held unaccountable to itself.

“One day I wandered down to the World Trade Memorial site during a walk and sat on a concrete block to write. A woman entered the area with two brown children that were hopping from block to block. A white security guard approached to tell them to stop but his tone and physical demeanor were far too aggressive to be speaking to a woman and two children, but it flew just under the radar, so I didn’t say anything despite wanting to. I just stared at him. When the family walked away, he came up to me and asked if I had a problem because he saw me speaking to the woman and her kids. He knew what he was doing then, and I knew what he was trying to do with me: abuse what he perceived as his power of authority over someone who didn’t have any. I almost engaged him but toed the line. There were real police all around us and I knew that if I allowed myself to get angry or show aggression, it could cost me my time, my freedom, or even my life. And he knew that. And America knows that. And black people in America know this. He said that, “if I needed anything, he’d be right over here until 5PM,” and I thanked him for letting me know, as I walked away. I wanted to scream.

In 2021, during a ten-day residency at The 8th House in Vermont, I was chopping into a log and watching its center split in two until it formed what looked like a mouth. I turned the wood into a sculpture and that gave me the inspiration for making The Scream Paintings.

It quickly became obvious this series of work must adequately serve to amplify the magnitude of my scream. In order to do that I had to turn my studio into a factory and work day and night for several weeks, in the way I imagined Andy Warhol toiling away, working with silkscreen, but my method repeated in oil stick, oscillating between figuration and abstraction again and again and again.

The SCREAM paintings are the space between circumstance and breakthrough. They are the roar of the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen.”

- Jamel Robinson