Project for Empty Space 2025 AIR Jake Troyli, Fine Line

Fine Line is a solo exhibition by 2025 Artist-in-Residence Jake Troyli, on view through January 18, 2026, at Project for Empty Space (PES), 800 Broad Street, Newark, NJ.

A series of monochromatic drawings juxtaposed with two murals, one of which will be interactive, Fine Line is a unique change of pace for Troyli who is known for his grand paintings with smooth, saturated, bold colors. The drawings, inspired by his love for political cartoons and MAD magazine, honor the technique that serves as the foundation for his visual practice. Fine Line is the first exhibition where Troyli’s drawings are the focal point and shown as their own body of work. The figures teeter on a fine line, vibrating between hypervulnerability and empowerment as they move through the drawn vignettes. Troyli considers the figures self-portraits, elastic avatars that he can manipulate, bend, and pose with full agency. Placed in settings in which they hold varying degrees of power, Troyli’s figures challenge the reality of shape-shifting and code-switching. Using humor and formal techniques, Troyli opens accessible windows into larger conceptual considerations. Viewers are invited to contemplate the conscious and subconscious practice of constructing and manipulating one’s identity, and further examine what that means in a global social context. Fine Line calls into question the performance of self and what it means to be on display.

For the two large-scale works in the show, Jake Troyli employs the technical rigour of Northern Renaissance paintings, which are important to his practice. Reminiscent of medieval tapestries, the large-scale works are maximalist and complex, composed of many smaller vignettes that encourage thoughtful viewership, and are echoed and recontextualized in the smaller drawings. The interactive piece serves as a response to Project for Empty Space’s mission of accessibility and community. The organization’s Artist In Residency program exists to uplift artists interested in social engagement. Troyli’s mural does just that and acts as a formal exercise for the artist that is visually exciting for both himself and the viewers who choose to interact with it.