Maximillian William is pleased to announce its participation in EXPO Chicago with a solo booth of works by Jaylon Israel Hicks, marking the gallery's fourth appearance at the fair. Exploring the complex relationships between history, materials and the environment, Hicks presents three works that address the tensions and contradictions at the core of American culture.

Untitled (File Cabinet), 2024 confronts Major League Baseball’s delayed acknowledgment of the ‘Negro Leagues’ statistics as part of its official record. The cabinet is split down the middle – one half rendered in deep matte black and covered with sculpted black roses, the other in a sleek metallic silver gradient. The absorptive surface refuses reflection, mirroring how the players’ achievements were historically kept in the shadows.

Hidden within the weathered surface of the painting Ex (Black, red and green), 2025 are two legible elements: the partial ‘Ex’ from the FedEx logo and a doorbell from the artist’s childhood home. The ambiguous prefix ‘Ex’ might refer to travel or movement, or to something lost, while the doorbell evokes home and domesticity. Together, the forms suggest a collision between public systems and private histories, between corporate circulation and still, personal moments. A similar mood of paradox animates Matter: An Inherent Offering, 2025. The object depicted, a box with a bow, is familiar, yet here it is presented as an immaterial thing, arranged in an ethereal grid and constructed of light. For the artist, the piece reflects on the idea that existence itself is a gift, evoking creation not as an event, but an energy and an ongoing act of generosity.

Jaylon Israel Hicks (b. 1993, Houston, TX) is based in Houston, TX. Recent solo exhibitions include Favorite Planet, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2024 and Gothica, Maximillian William, London, 2023. Wilt, his first solo exhibition, was held at Kaboom Books, Houston in 2015. Hicks also featured in the group show 5 Years, Maximillian William, London, 2024.