Jackson Junge Gallery is excited to hold #Trending, their third group exhibition of the year. #Trending features art about trending topics from the year leading up to the show. In the digital age, almost anything can become a global phenomenon. #Trending puts our pop culture, media, music, fashion, memes and more under the microscope. Check out this exhibition to see if you’re also staying current with trends!

What is trending? The exhibition #Trending takes a lighthearted approach to the question. As many people turn to their screens, social media and social trends for a bit of escapism during rough times, Jackson Junge Gallery hopes to provide the same in a physical space. In Jeep and duck, well-known Bodyscapes photographer Allan Teger captures the inside joke between Jeep owners who leave rubber ducks on each other’s hoods. Zapiain’s Irish (trend) setter does a good job at acknowledging playful trends as well! Zapiain’s colorful painting of a fabulous dog with fashionable accessories plays with a pun on the word trendsetter. Zapiain describes the subject: “With their doggy bag in heel and their custom matching star doggles to boot, they're pawsitively iconic. Often imitated but never duplicated, K-9 out of 10 critics agree this pup isn't just a cliché but the genuine article." Zapiain’s work views trends playfully, and #Trending similarly hopes to have fun and laugh at our ideas of what’s trending.

It’d take some time to see all the pop culture references featured in the artwork of #Trending. To name a few - Peter Brourman’s portrait of the character Carmy from the currently airing tv show The bear in Yes, chef, Victoria Park’s painting of the redlight greenlight doll from December 2024’s Squid game season 2 in Squid game, Megan Nixon’s landscape transforming Chicago into The Emerald City from Wicked in When I meet the Wizard, and Audrey Jewell’s painting of a Charli XCX concert coming off Brat Summer in Sweat tour september 30th 2024 United Center. Huy Nguyen’s “Bat” and “Bart” were also created in celebration of Brat Summer. Nguyen channels Brat energy through unexpected icons - Batman and Bart Simpson, who are fashionably decked out in trendy items like Labubu keychains, Trader Joe’s tote, 2000’s digital camera and long shorts with docs. Nguyen says while Batman is “traditionally a symbol of justice, here he’s moonlighting as a fashion icon, serving not only justice, but a look as well. This piece channels the exhilaration of late nights, bold looks, and dancing like no one’s watching. It’s about reclaiming power through self-expression and turning every sidewalk into a runway, even after dark.” Nguyen’s “Bart” reimagines Brat Summer as Bart summer, “channeling the spirit of the iconic Bart Simpson as a symbol of living in the moment. This piece captures the attitude of being unapologetically yourself, having fun for fun’s sake, and not taking life too seriously. It’s about the ones who are here for a good time, not necessarily a long time.”

Nothing trends on the internet quite like a cute animal. In the fall of 2024, the baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng took the world by storm from the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand. Sophie Levit’s bright painting Bubble bath bliss playfully depicts the adorable hippo at bath time. Levit says that “In a time of so much uncertainty and stress, sometimes all you can do is try and find the small things that make you smile and escape the horrors of the world, even if it’s just for a little bit. For many, that escape came from a small baby Pygmy hippo that quickly captured hearts all over the world with her cuteness and playful personality. Moo Deng or “bouncy pork” was a welcome escape and ray of sunshine in an incredibly cloudy time.” Yuliya Klochan’s beaded piece Moo Deng and Pesto also features Moo Deng alongside another baby animal sensation that appeared on the internet at the same time.

Pesto the penguin at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Australia, who rose to fame for weighing more as a chick than both his King penguin parents combined. Using 2,160 Miyuki Delica beads to craft images of the pair, Klochan “couldn't resist imagining them meeting. Moo Deng is tiny and sassy: Her body is made of iridescent gray and neon pink beads. Pesto is giant and resolute: His baby fuzz is a low-shine dark brown with matte beak and feet.” Kara Volle’s digital painting The child also immortalizes Pesto the giant baby penguin, but it is Volle’s painting of a small anglerfish titled Ascension which may offer insight into why cute animals go viral beyond our desire for sweet distraction. In February of 2025, a little six-inch anglerfish from the deep sea mysteriously ascended to the surface off the coast of Spain. Volle recollects how “perplexing scientists, she took over the internet as different theories for her swim to the surface arose. Did she know her life was coming to an end and want to see the sun? Did a volcanic current push her upwards? We may never know, but this now famous fish has inspired many in her final journey.”

Our screens can provide much needed distraction, but too much screentime can also be overwhelming for the chronically online. Bridget Gallagher addresses this stress in In this economy?! Gallagher’s silly painting is of a scared opossum clinging to a pole plastered with a sanity wanted poster, and it has an undeniable relatability. Gallagher empathizes “if opossums could talk, they'd probably have a Better Help-sponsored TikTok account dedicated to explaining the "freeze" stress response. This opossum, like her creator, is at her wit's end. It seems impossible to keep up with rapidly shifting pop culture trends, an increasingly absurd news cycle, and the laundry. She's not super qualified for "fight" or "flight," so she'll keep holding on for dear life, hoping that someone has some sanity to spare. But that's tough to find in this economy.”

#Trending is sure to be a bit of fun escapism. An Opening Reception for #Trending will be held Friday, July 11th, from 6pm - 10pm and is free to the public. The exhibition will be on view at Jackson Junge Gallery July 1st – August 10th, 2025. It is curated by Owners Chris Jackson & Laura Lee Junge, Gallery Director Kaitlyn Miller, Assistant Gallery Director Kristen Arcus, and Gallery Assistant Marisa Taravella.