Jessica Mein: obra dezesseis, 2013, acrylic medium on hemp and wood, 33 by 22 inches. Courtesy Simon Preston.
In her second solo show at Simon Preston, Jessica Mein moves away from her usual assortment of video, collage and painting to zero in on the titular “Obras” (meaning both “art works” and “sites of construction”). Mein’s collages on canvas are derived from obsolete billboards in her hometown of São Paolo. The resulting works often have blown-up, rough textures, like some sort of mutant hemp, with threadbare sections revealing the shadowy gap between canvas and wall.