JULIAN JACKSON: Once, In Utopia

About

Kathryn Markel Fine Arts is pleased to present Once, in Utopia, Julian Jackson’s fifth solo show with the gallery.

The dichotomy of Julian Jackson’s work is rooted in his fascination with the intangible and his appreciation for architectural structure.  Jackson has a reverence for nature, and so his paintings explore light, color, and atmosphere, but they are grounded by underlying formal structure, careful composition, and a tension between spatial relationships. His latest paintings take ambiguous references to nature and portray them in painterly abstraction.

Jackson’s marks are more evident here than his previous hazy fields of color. The brushstrokes speak the rhythm of breath, wind in the trees, flickering light. It is a conversation with his own consciousness and its relationship with nature. When we move through the world, our perspectives change with every step. We as people and the world around us are constantly in flux. Even in moments of perceived stillness our minds are whirring with thought, our atoms are vibrating, the planet is moving through space and time. These paintings reflect that state: serenity abuzz with perpetual energy.

In turn, Jackson also uses the paintings themselves as a respite from that ebb and flow. They are a still point, a centering meditative space that utilizes the calming effects of light and color. Sometimes a few moments are enough, a few glimpses of a space where everything is in harmony and at peace is what we need to move forward.

Julian Jackson has exhibited throughout the United States and around the world including at The Painting Center, The Chautauqua Institute, The DUMBO Arts Festival, and the Bau Institute.  He has received fellowships from the Millay Colony, MacDowell Colony, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, the New York Public Library, and elsewhere. He studied at Massachusetts College of Art, and has a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University.  He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.