Joseph Yaeger: Point of Return

Joseph Yaeger. Point of Return is the first solo exhibition in an Italian institution by the artist, who was born in Helena, Montana, in 1986 and lives and works in London. Bringing together works produced over several years alongside new pieces, the exhibition offers an overview of Yaeger’s artistic practice and his exploration of images, memory and the passage of time.

Yaeger’s paintings begin with stills taken from films, documentaries and found videos. Rather than selecting iconic or immediately recognisable scenes, the artist focuses on images that evoke a vague sense of familiarity, as though they were fragments of a memory. Through cropping and alteration, these images are suspended between recognition and disorientation, creating compositions that invite viewers to reconsider their relationship with visual culture and personal recollection.

The exhibition takes its title from a 2021 painting, reworking the expression “point of no return”. While the latter suggests an irreversible loss, a point of return introduces the possibility of transformation and renewal. The new works function as windows and mirrors, reshaping the interpretation of earlier paintings and connecting the present moment with the artist’s personal experience and collective memory.

Yaeger uses watercolour on gesso, a technique that requires extensive preparation of the canvas but allows for rapid painting. As the gesso dries, fine cracks form across the surface and become an integral part of the work. This material process creates a contrast between the fleeting, cinematic quality of the source images and the physical presence of the painted surface, highlighting the tension between the persistence of images and the instability of memory.