SAIC SHOWS 2026 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

Graduates

SAIC SHOWS 2026 GRADUATE EXHIBITIONS

J Maskrey

Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts Degree

Low-Residency MFA Exhibition

info@jmaskrey.com

J Maskrey is a Los Angeles based artist whose paintings explore the theme of futuristic imperialism in a technological world. By appropriating historical portraits of Napoleon Bonaparte, replacing the central figure with modern day futuristic industrialists, through this juxtaposition, reframes Napoleon not only as a historical figure, but at the same time, a conceptual prototype of modern techno-sovereignty. Her subjects often occupy the ambiguous spaces between reverence and critique, seduction and unease, humor and destruction.

Maskrey holds a MFA (2026) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Visual Arts (2024) from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Sociology (2023) from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

She has held one solo exhibition ‘GIANTS’, in Arcane Space Gallery, Los Angeles, 2024. Maskrey’s artist book ‘GIANTS’ was acquired by the John M. Flaxman Library in 2025.

J Maskrey - The Astronaut - Elon Musk, 2026 (After Jacques-Louis David, The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812)

The Astronaut - Elon Musk, 2026 (After Jacques-Louis David, The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812), Oil on Canvas, 65 x 38 in.

J Maskrey - The Dark Knight - Sergey Brin, 2026 (After Jacques-Louis David, General Bonaparte, 1797)

The Dark Knight - Sergey Brin, 2026 (After Jacques-Louis David, General Bonaparte, 1797), Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 51 x 31 in.

J Maskrey - The Explorer - Larry Page, 2026 (After Antoine-Jean Gros, Bonaparte at the Pont d’ Arole, 1796)

The Explorer - Larry Page, 2026 (After Antoine-Jean Gros, Bonaparte at the Pont d’ Arole, 1796), Oil on Canvas, 51 x 37 in.

J Maskrey - The Storm Rider - Jeff Bezos, 2026 (After Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing The Alps, 1801)

The Storm Rider - Jeff Bezos, 2026 (After Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing The Alps, 1801), Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 51 x 44 in.

Painting allows me to construct the world without using words to describe it. It can blend time periods, distort reality and layer symbolism on the canvas. I use contemporary material, such as neon acrylic paint to emphasize the classical scene being recontextualized, my main material is oil paint. I enjoy working with oil paint because of its rich materiality and the way its consistency constantly shifts throughout the painting process. Exploring these different consistencies allows the surface to feel alive. I am a colorist, I love getting lost in colors. My use of new symbols and backgrounds radically shifts the historical image of Napoleon into a contemporary and unexpected narrative. These elements indirectly work together to make the viewer aware that the image has a history, and, by appropriation, they reshape the imagery and the meaning of it.