Jonas Wood’s new show at Gagosian in Beverly Hills represents a significant escalation in the series of tennis court paintings he began in 2011—as well as an evolution from Four Tennis Courts, his last exhibition of tennis court studies in 2021 at Gagosian in New York. The new show features more than 20 paintings of courts the L.A.-based artist has seen on TV—his reference point is not the stands, but the comfort of his home and studio, where tennis is frequently on TV, along with basketball, another of Wood’s sporting and artistic passions.

The new works depict much deeper cuts on the tennis tour than his previous court studies, such as the Japan Open, the Porsche Grand Prix, the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, and the Madrid Open, to name just a few, along with his own Nintendo game system, as if to emphasize how these courts were taken in by the artist. Though no players are depicted, score lines often are, some of them notable. We see, for example, a moment in Novak Djokovic’s gold-medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics and Victoria Mboko’s maiden tournament win, in Montreal, where she defeated Naomi Osaka in the final.

There’s also a painting of his own studio, where, as usual for Wood, space is compressed and linear perspective dispensed with—and Wimbledon is on the television. The work references Matisse’s The Red Studio, which Wood has reproduced more literally on his own “Matisse Pots” cutouts.

Wood is known for painting from his own photo collages and found images, and he often references artists who have inspired him. “For Wood, the standardized dimensions and varied color schemes of tennis courts allow the series to function as a form of serial abstraction, with each work balancing unique and repeated elements,” according to the gallery. As such, the new paintings offer a lot more visual references than just the tennis court themselves. Several reproduce the works of Roy Lichtenstein, such as Dubai With Nude With Blue Hair. Other courts are framed by subway tiles, speckled flooring, notes to self, and Wood’s signature houseplants. Wood has referred to his work as “a visual diary,” and with this set of paintings his pages are filled with tennis.

The show is up until April 25.