The Jackson Junge Gallery is kicking off their 2023 season with SPEAK EASY, an exhibition featuring the work of Will Armstrong. Opening with a reception on January 13th, the gallery is excited to announce the opening will be sponsored by Beam-Suntory. In this exhibition, Armstrong traces the story of Prohibition-era Chicago and the sordid history of Chicago gangs as well as the figures that have grown into American legends.

Armstrong is well known for painting his “lady in red” flipping through vinyl at a record shop or crossing the Chicago River on the El. For SPEAK EASY, he’s gone back to the roots of the lady in red, re-introducing her to infamous gangster John Dillinger. The old story goes that a woman in red was the downfall of the notorious ladies’ man, signaling to Eliot Ness and the cops that Dillinger was their target as they left the Biograph Theatre together. This legend has inspired Armstrong’s work since the beginning of his painting career.

Playing into the Robin Hood-esque hero worship Dillinger received during his time, Armstrong has painted him alongside an abridged quote from one of his many bank robberies, “These few dollars are going to buy you stories for a lifetime.” The same could be said of purchasing a piece of Will Armstrong’s work.

In the social climate of Prohibition and the Great Depression, as Dillinger robbed banks and spent the money on extravagant parties, it doesn’t seem to matter if he never quite got around to the “giving to the poor” part of his Robin Hood story. Stealing from the rich and robbing banks was enough to put John Dillinger on a pedestal. “People were psyched about it,” Armstrong remarks, “even though his gang killed a lot of cops.” Armstrong then softly muses that the cops have never been popular.

The work in SPEAK EASY maintains Armstrong’s signature style, layering an inky wash over carefully constructed collage, while infusing a lively Chicago feel to the exhibition. In his piece “Recognition” Will Armstrong places his woman next to a figure resembling Dillinger at the bar, playing footsie in front of a KISS poster with a certain disregard for timelines that Armstrong playfully integrates into his work. The bar scene may not have taken place exactly as such and Armstrong knows that in reality his “lady in red” wore orange when outing Dillinger, but claiming the traditions of Mark Twain, he is never one to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

The conversation turns to the ethics of romanticizing violence and the tricky part that community plays into the making of American legends. “You look at Al Capone, and while he was a really violent man, he was also filling a void that really needed to be filled at the time.” Armstrong seems torn on who should be considered the hero of the story, or perhaps he knows that there isn’t one as he continues on the topic of Capone, “He was making a lot of profit off the Prohibition, but everybody wanted it at the same time; it was a really ridiculous rule. I find it interesting, the hero worship of Eliot Ness and the untouchables and all this. Sure, they’re revered because they were hard line cops or whatever, but at the same time they were standing up for a law that nobody necessarily wanted.”

When asked about his experiences as an artist, Armstrong has mixed feelings, “People say the shittiest stuff to us sometimes, and I’ve got thick skin on that. People can say whatever they want, but don’t make small talk with a volatile stranger, you can only push me so far.” It’s at this point that one begins to see the artist in a slightly different light; he’s a well-mannered family man who knows how to turn on the charm, but there’s something simmering just under the surface. At over six feet tall, with the air of a kid who doesn’t care what you think of him, Armstrong can cut an intimidating figure when he wants to.

Armstrong deflects from talking about himself often, skirting the question of his own history with the law and instead describing himself as having grown up in the Ferris-Bueller-Era of “trying to get away with things.” Before briefly worrying that we may be telling all his secrets, he describes himself as “the perfect introvert/extrovert” as an artist who travels much of the year to sell his own work. “I enjoy the different suits. I love my alone time in the studio, making a mess and not having to answer to anyone and making what I want, but then I also really like dressing up and selling at shows. It all feels authentic to me, I don’t mind dressing the part a little bit.”

Will Armstrong concludes our conversation with a neatly packaged statement about his goals for the show, “I just want to tell a good story.” Whether people make the connection to the story of Dillinger and the corruption and manipulation that would happen on the horse tracks and speakeasys during Prohibition Era, or simply see a couple flirting at a bar and a timeless image of racehorses, it’s all valid to Armstrong. He’ll take his satisfaction from connecting a series of moments in time, weaving in modern touches to old images and creating a lasting narrative that threads through the works in SPEAK EASY.

The exhibition opens with an artists’ reception on Friday, January 13, 2023, from 6-10pm with drinks sponsored by Beam-Suntory. Admission is FREE to the public.

SPEAK EASY is a collection of seven artworks by Will Armstrong. The exhibition runs January 13, 2023 – February 26, 2023 and is curated by Gallery Owner Chris Jackson, Gallery Director Kaitlyn Miller, Assistant Gallery Directory Lizzie Mahoney, and Gallery Assistant Jordan Keyes.

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Tags: Chicago, Chris Jackson, Jackson Junge Gallery, Jordan Keyes, Kaitlyn Miller, Lizzie Mahoney, Speak Easy, West Town, Will Armstrong