Project Room: Between Garden and Wilderness: J. Carino
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RHODES is delighted to present Between Garden and Wilderness, a deeply personal solo exhibition by J. Carino, opening Thursday 3rd April in our Project Room.
Through this new collection of original paintings, Carino reflects on the ever-shifting relationship between people and nature, particularly within queer identities, exploring how we see ourselves as part of the natural world.
Carino’s paintings are rich with storytelling, inspired by mythology, personal experiences, and the quiet intimacy of touch. Figures and landscapes blend seamlessly in their work, creating scenes that feel both vast and deeply personal, evoking a sense of connection and belonging.
“In this series, I wanted to explore the contrast between the cultivated beauty of a garden and the wildness of landscape, and how both of those experiences of nature reflect different parts of our humanity,” says Carino. “We fluctuate between our desire for wildness and the expectation to tame those desires, but within it all, there is a hunger for touch, connection, and belonging.”
Works in the exhibition include When Mountains Meet (2024), where colossal figures awaken and plant trees, embodying creation and care. In Like a River Flows (2025), a figure perches over rushing water, caught in a moment of transformation. Echoes Beneath (2024) reimagines the myth of Persephone, with a sleeping figure enveloped in a garden that waits for his return. At the Threshold (2025) weaves tenderness and movement through lush, geometric florals inspired by millefiori glass.
The exhibition also explores the concept of time within nature and how landscapes hold memory and history within them. Gardens are spaces of intention and cultivation, while wilderness speaks to untamed, raw existence. Carino’s work highlights the tension between these spaces, suggesting that our own identities, particularly queer identities, navigate similar shifts between control and freedom, visibility and obscurity.
Carino’s practice, rooted in queer ecology and poetic introspection, invites viewers to consider their own place in the world and the landscapes that shape them. The works speak to the longing for connection; between people, between nature, and between past and present.
Coinciding with the exhibition, RHODES Editions will release an exclusive new print by Carino. Between Garden and Wilderness will be on view at RHODES from 4th to 26th April. For more information, please email info@rhodescontemporaryart.com
About J. Carino
J. Carino (b. 1988, Colorado) is a California-based artist whose work explores the intersections of queerness, identity, and nature. He earned a BFA from Parsons School of Design in 2011. Carino's recent solo exhibitions include Genesis, New York (2023), Frontiers and Boundaries, Los Angeles (2023), and Emparadise, New York (2024). His work has also been featured in group shows in New York, London and Los Angeles. In 2023, Carino was awarded a residency at The Art House of San Clemente, California, and in 2024, he completed a residency in London.
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Selected works
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Collecting
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