Jesse Draxler

Jesse Draxler
Born
Wisconsin, U.S.
EducationCollege of Visual Arts
Known forMixed media, collage, painting, photography
Notable workMisophonia (2018)
Reigning Cement (2020)
The World is Mine & I'm Thinking About You (2023)
Websitejessedraxler.com

Jesse Draxler is an American visual artist, illustrator and art director, known for his monochromatic mixed media work combining painting, photography and collage. His work has been auctioned at Christie's alongside works by post-war and contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat,[1] and he has exhibited in the United States and Europe.

Biography

Jesse Draxler grew up in a rural town in Wisconsin, where his family ran an automobile repair service.[2][3] In first grade, he discovered that he was color blind, being red-green color deficient.[4] He studied at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota, writing his thesis on the commodification of subculture through the lens of punk rock,[5] and began exhibiting in 2012.[4]

In 2018, Draxler released his first book, Misophonia, through Sacred Bones, with a foreword by musician Greg Puciato,[6][4] and co-founded with Puciato the record label and art collective Federal Prisoner.[7]

In 2020, Draxler released Reigning Cement, an audio-visual project pairing a book of photographs and collages with an album built from audio assets — recordings of the industrial area outside his Los Angeles studio — given to thirty-four musicians, who could arrange them freely while only adding vocals. Its singles featured Full of Hell vocalist Dylan Walker and the band Vowws.[8][9]

In 2023, Draxler published his second book, The World is Mine & I'm Thinking About You (Sacred Bones), alongside the solo exhibition U&I in Los Angeles,[10] later restaged as U&I 1.5 at Valuart Gallery in Lugano, Switzerland.[11] In 2024, he held the solo exhibition Good Artists Do Bad Things in Milan, curated by musician Achille Lauro.[12]

In December 2024, Draxler's work Pillar was offered at Christie's "First Open | Post-War and Contemporary Art" auction in New York, which featured works by post-war and contemporary artists including Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and George Condo.[1]

In December 2025, Draxler presented the installation C280: The Machine of Loving Grace with The Patina Collective during Art Basel Miami, released under Radical Iconography Productions (RIP), a platform he founded to distribute his music, books and installations.[13][14] His second album, Tongue of Angels, with collaborators including Zola Jesus, Iggor Cavalera, Ian Astbury and Ho99o9, is scheduled for release on July 31, 2026, via Federal Prisoner.[15][16]

Artistry

Jesse Draxler is a mixed media and multidisciplinary artist, and his pieces combine painting, photography, collage, typography and digital painting.[2] Among their characteristics are distorting the human form, working in grayscale, and abstract landscapes.[17][2] Writer Kyle Fitzpatrick described his portrayals as "a person mid-question ... Everything is abstracted just slightly, just enough to unnerve and entrance ... [It] feels as if his subjects are slowly focusing and refocusing, trying to become clearer",[18] while artist Mike Carney said that it "is an authentic look into the transitional stasis of a technologically saturated existence, and the lapse of connection, far from bridged within its void."[19]

Jesse Draxler's varied influences include heavy metal and electronic music, Zen literature, automotive machinery, background noise, and films.[3] He says that much of his work "involves directly translating what I hear into what I see."[3] Before relocating from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in January 2015, Draxler cut out all color and started to work solely in black and white. As a colorblind person, he described his transition as "natural" and felt that it opened up his artistic vision rather than limiting it.[5]

Draxler's work has inspired music by Daniel Davies[20] and Zola Jesus.[21] As an illustrator, his clients have included The New York Times and Alexander McQueen.[16]

Works

  • Misophonia (2018)
  • Reigning Cement (2020)
  • The World is Mine & I'm Thinking About You (2023)
  • U&I Exhibition Book (2023)
  • Tongue of Angels (2026)

References

  1. 1 2 Draxler, Jesse (December 3, 2024). "Draxler, Jesse (December 3, 2024)". Christie's. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Hernández, Leonel (March 2016). "Jesse draxler | La retórica del horror". WARP (in Spanish). No. 79. Issuu. pp. 26–31. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Musker, James. "THE WORK OF JESSE DRAXLER (FILM)". Andyr.com.au. Archived from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Silbert, Jake (June 1, 2018). "Jesse Draxler's Stark, Haunting Artwork Surfaces in 'Misophonia'". Hypebeast.com (text and video). Event occurs at 0:11-0:19 (color blindness), 1:24-1:40 (music). Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  5. 1 2 McDermott, Emily (January 11, 2016). "Jesse Draxler Embraces Mortality". Interview. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  6. ↑ Bowe, Miles (March 27, 2018). "Visual artist Jesse Draxler announces Misophonia art book on Sacred Bones". Fact. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  7. ↑ "The Black Queen Plot New Album 'Infinite Games,' Tease Music in Preview Video". Revolver. June 15, 2018. Archived from the original on August 7, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Music Video Premiere: Jesse Draxler & Vowws "Them"". Juxtapoz. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Hear Full of Hell Vocalist's Insane Collaboration With Artist Jesse Draxler". Revolver. April 3, 2020. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  10. ↑ "'It's the Snake Eating Its Own Tail': Artist Jesse Draxler on His New Solo Show That Feeds Off His Dark and Enigmatic Inner World". Artnet News. June 2, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Da Los Angeles, Jesse Draxler approda a Lugano con la mostra U&I 1.5". ArtsLife (in Italian). October 30, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Jesse Draxler, Good Artists Do Bad Things Curated by Achille Lauro, Milan". Fakewhale LOG. May 13, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  13. ↑ "The Patina Collective & Artist Jesse Draxler Debut "The Machine of Loving Grace"". PR Newswire. December 1, 2025. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Art Basel Miami: Jesse Draxler's 'Machine of Loving Grace'". Office Magazine. January 23, 2026. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Jesse Draxler announces immersive new project Tongue of Angels". Alternative Press. April 3, 2025. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  16. 1 2 Yücel, Ilker (June 2026). "News: Jesse Draxler releases collaborative track with HOLLY and Ho99o9 as latest single from upcoming album". ReGen Magazine. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  17. ↑ Toner, Paul (August 8, 2019). "10 Questions with Jesse Draxler, the Artist Behind Hugo's Latest Capsule Collection". 10 Magazine. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  18. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Kyle (March 13, 2019). "The Beauty of Abstraction". Playboy.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  19. ↑ Carney, Mike (January 7, 2016). "Jesse Draxler: The Story of Terror Management". Juxtapoz. Vol. 23, no. 2. Issue 181. Issuu (published February 2016). pp. 95–102. ISSN 1077-8411. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  20. ↑ Polson, Brian (March 19, 2020). "'Signals' Review: Daniel Davies conjures up a magical, angular, abstract world with his second solo album". Meaww. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  21. ↑ Jesus, Zola (September 11, 2017). "Muses: Zola Jesus on Franz Kline, Pierre Soulages, and Günter Brus". ARTnews. Archived from the original on January 16, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
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