John Jackson
Nashville, TN, United States
About John Jackson
I recently finished a commission of ten paintings for a new Ian Schrager hotel in NYC on June 6th. I'll be able to show those paintings after the opening.
Finishing the hotel commission and a trip to NYC, London and Paris sparked an unexpected big bang breakthrough at the beginning of 2017. I've been digging and digging for years to get to the core of the matter, and I think I’ve found it. This most recent abstract work is just the tip of the iceberg. Been working small to start but am currently in the process of expanding into much larger scales and formats in 2017. Again I’ve given myself permission to be free of constraints. To make my most primal, instinctual marks, filtered through decades of artistic and life experience. I think I'll make my best work this year. My goal is for it to be original, authentic, interesting and beautiful.
After my solo show in June 2015 at The Rymer Gallery in Nashville, I had my first major breakthrough in 10 years The dam finally broke. After working in a proper "realistic", detailed technique with the Technology Series, I had been wanting to get beyond it but didn't quite know how. I finally said, "Fuck it. I'm just going to paint whatever I want, however, I want." For years I felt like my ideas were traveling at 1,000 mph and I was painting at 5 mph. I was finally able to paint much closer to the rate of my ideas. I was having fun again. That binge lasted from the Summer of 2015 through the Spring of 2016, when I got the NYC hotel commission.
My "Technology Series" paintings address how our culture is being funneled thru technology. They explore the potential irony, distraction, seduction and alienation that technology may render and how it affects the way we relate and communicate with each other. The paintings explore how our contemporary culture is simultaneously connected and disconnected. The concepts are often depicted thru images of people as characters in different settings interacting with each other and technological devices and references.
Education:
School of Visual Arts - NYC - Bachelor of Fine Arts / Painting 1985
ADDITIONAL STUDIES
2007 - 2010 Figure Study workshops – Watkins College of Art, Nashville, TN
2007 - 2010 Figure Study workshop - LeQuire Gallery, Nashville, TN
2007 Advanced Oil Painting workshop with Michael Shane Neal, Nashville, TN
2006 The Cumberland Society of Painters - with Michael Shane Neal, Dawn Whitelaw,
Jason Saunders, Pam Padget, Paula Frisbe, Roger Dale Brown
1984 - 1985 Assistant to Billy Sullivan, NYC
Events:
PUBLICATIONS
2017 Vice.com’s Creators, 50 States of Art - https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/john-jackson-darkly-humorous-paintings-technology-50statesofart
2017 Munich Germany blog article by Christian Kolos - http://www.kolos.de/technology-series-nsfw-by-john-jackson
2015 Feature article - Nashville Arts Magazine, June issue
2015 Nashville Arts Magazine, May issue
2014 Nashville Arts Magazine, July issue
2012 Feature article - Nashville Arts Magazine, Oct. issue
2010 Nashville Arts Magazine
2006 The Nashville Syndicate
2005 All the Rage
1992 The Nashville Scene
AWARDS
2011 “Artist we love this week” – Saatchiart.com – July
Exhibitions:
2017 Art of the South - Curated by Mark Scala, Chief Curator at The Frist Center for the Visual Arts.
2015 The Rymer Gallery, Solo exhibition Nashville, TN
2014 The Rymer Gallery, Group show, Nashville, TN
2014 The Rymer Gallery, Group show, Nashville, TN
2012 The Rymer Gallery, Solo exhibition, Nashville, TN
2011 Untitled Spring Show Nashville, TN
2010 Untitled Winter Show Nashville, TN
2009 Untitled Fall Show Nashville, TN
2008 Five Oaks Gallery Lebanon, TN
2008 Levy Gallery Nashville, TN
2007 Untitled – Winter Show Nashville, TN
2006 Untitled – Fall Show Nashville, TN
1991 Laurell Gallery Nashville, TN
1986 SL55 Gallery NY, NY
1985 The National Arts Club NY, NY 9th Annual Student Scholarship Exhibition
