Patterson/Barnes at 119

Hanging at Gallery 119 in downtown Jackson is a show of 33 pieces by the Florida based duo Gary Patterson and Marion Barnes. They collaborate on assemblages that typically focus on caricatures of blues and jazz musicians, but also delve into subjects of the rural life that is behind this type of music such as poverty and religion. Like the music that inspires the artwork there is a real entertainment aspect to the work. Found objects mixed with well crafted drawing and painting cause the viewer to stick around for a longer look moving the work beyond pure illustration. Patterson/Barnes' work has a close connection with one of my favorite artists, Benny Andrews. He also uses exaggeration and mixed media to depict African-American lifestyle and hardship. Here is a selection from the show...

Too tired to fight

Not in my backyard

Mississippi Blues

Just as I am

John Lee Hooker/I don't want to hear it

I'm glad you're gone

Don't get left behind

Bobby Rush/Turn on your love light

B.B. King

Michael Doucet and Dennis McGee/Alligator Bayou

Jack Garner at Fischer

Hanging at Fischer Galleries now is a body of work by Jackson artist Jack Garner. This Rothko inspired show is Jack's first solo exhibition. While there is a definite visual connection to Rothko's "multiforms" they are certainly not pastiche, but introduce his own sense of design and color combination. Jack also stays away from Rothko's grandiose canvases to a size that is not only more manageable for the artist, but for the viewer as well. Here is a selection from the show.

Reflected Persuasion

Jung And Old

End Then Begin

Bank On It

David West's Digital Cartography

Hanging right now at Belhaven's Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center Gallery is a body of work called Digital Cartography by Baton Rouge artist David West. The description of the show is pretty well stated on Belhaven's website and I don't think that there is any reason for me to try to rewrite it. It says... "David West combines traditional print techniques with digital media to create a space that exists partly in the analog world, and partly in the digital. By borrowing motifs from architecture, mapmaking, and computer code, this recent work highlights the influence of the digital age on traditional art making practices." David recently received his MFA degree from LSU in Printmaking; however, printmaking is only one of several mediums used to construct this work. One of the pieces is an interactive projection called "Shift into Place" which places the viewer into the artwork by recording a wall graphic and projecting it on the opposite corner of the space. Several of the other pieces combine printmaking with silkscreen applied to plexiglass creating a multi-layered graphic that, like the projection, can only be fully experienced in person. The industrial imagery such as telephone poles and maps contrasted with strong abstract designs create a sense of urban decay with a beautiful promise for the future. Here's some of the work, but again you should really see these in person. I believe that the show will be up through October.

"Shift into Place" Wall Graphic

"Shift into Place" projection

"Chiba City II"

"Dead Television Channels I"

"Digital Sprawl II"

Another venue

This being the first post of my new blog I wanted to give a statement of my intentions as well as a disclaimer.

Intentions: I really enjoy looking and talking about art. Typically it is a conversation rather than a one-sided rant, though. My intentions aren

't to talk too much in this blog, but to provide another venue for artists.

I will discuss my personal feelings about the work, however. As Tolstoy says, "Art is man's (I'm sure he meant mankind's) transmittal of feelings."

Being an artist myself I know the value of having your work in front of as many people as possible. There is quality work being shown in Jackson, Mississippi that people aren't seeing.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional art critic. I am simply commenting on exhibitions and the impact they had on me personally.

That being said, the first show that I visited since deciding to start this blog was at Fischer Galleries, www.fischergalleries.com, in Fondren. It was a two person show of paintings by Matthew Puckett of Jackson, and ceramic sculptures by Stacey Johnson, www.staceyjohnsonart.com.

Matthew Puckett's work has a real psychological quality to them that is anything but comforting. He employs some traditional compositional no-no's, intentionally I'm sure, to create a disturbing sense of solitude. It's no surprise that he pays tribute to Francis Bacon in a triptych in the show. The uncomfortable compositional elements are things such as having an object sitting right on the edge of the painting, or having a figure facing off the side of the painting that it is closest to creating a lack of balance. In the case of "Interior with Columns" the column comes out of the guys head in a most unpleasant fashion. Matthew is also in the 2009 Mississippi Invitational at the Mississippi Museum of Art, www.msmuseumart.org., which overall is a very strong show. I got in trouble last time I tried to take pictures in the museum so I won't be showing the invitational here. I highly recommend you checking it out, though. Here are a few images from Matthews show at Fischer...

Interior with Columns

Interior VI

Dinner Party

Interior with Chair

Stacey Johnson's ceramic sculptures on the other hand simply make me happy. She has a great attention to detail, and not to mention that they are just interesting. You could spend hours deciphering the little clues she gives to her ceramic stories. I like what she says in her artist's statement on her website... "These sculptural chapters are work created from a true need to manifest externally what is not completely processed internally." I think that is a good descriptor of the need felt by most artists. Here's some of her work...

Green Skirt

Guilty of Something - detail

Guilty of Something

Self Portrait, Summer 2009 - detail

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