SAM JACKSON | The Fearful Joy | Mar 4th - Apr 2nd 2011

Private View

Thursday March 3^rd 6.30pm–8.30pm

Exhibition Dates

Friday March 4^th 2011 - Saturday April 2^nd 2011

Gallery Hours

Wednesday–Saturday 11am–6pm or by appointment

CHARLIE SMITH london is delighted to present Sam Jackson with his second solo show at the gallery following his 2009 sell out debut.

In this exhibition Jackson has restricted his studio practice in order to concentrate only on portraiture. Returning to a smaller format than his recent larger works there is an economy in scale as well as paint application that demands quiet consideration. Calling to mind the economical approach of Luc Tuymans or Wilhelm Sasnal, these new paintings are subtle, contemplative and calmly beguiling. Beginning with source material derived from the canon of art history; historical figures of consequence or obscurity; political figures; and others that might be found variously in books, periodicals or newspapers, Jackson chooses and then engenders in his subjects a distinct melancholy and authenticity. It is important that these subjects, almost wholly male, have been chosen as a starting point and not as specific references, but nonetheless they are imbued with a gravitas that alludes to the presence of the weight of history.

Technically we find in these paintings a fluidity of paint. Just as the subjects are rendered atmospheric rather than specific, so the paint work provides expression and feeling. The idea of a life lived and spent is felt and liquid application and mark making represent an understanding of the conveyance of character via the entropic. As well as this, poise and palette also point to the worn and weary; to experience and the effects of time. Combined with characteristic use of unsteady line we are presented with psychological, charged paintings that at times turn us back on ourselves. Seen together as a body of work one occasionally has the sense of being observed by a group of forefathers in a similar way to that induced by Gerhard Richter’s ’48 Portraits’. A sense of character, culture and history bring weight to the subjects who invite and then question the observer.       

Perhaps, though, these paintings are more about the artist than his audience. In attempting to ‘punctuate a boredom of society’ Jackson is resorting to history and to his own interior world. There is a yearning for the past that is perhaps less about the romantic notion of a more idyllic age and more about the dissatisfaction of today. We cannot locate the time and place which these characters inhabit but we do know that it is not here and now. Due to a discontentment with our nihilistic age Jackson aligns himself to heroic but unidentified figures of the past and of his own imagination, revealing as well as this disavowal a want of perceived acquaintance over actual isolation.   

Please contact gallery for images and further information

Biographical:

Born: 1977

Education: MA in Fine Art, Royal Academy Schools, 2004 – 2007; BA (Hons) in Fine Art (First Class), Middlesex University, 2000 - 2003      

Selected Exhibitions: 2011: Everyday (curated by Tony Benn), Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge; 2010: Pokerface, Koraalberg Contemporary Art Gallery, Antwerp; Ray Lowry London Calling, Idea Generation, London (touring to New York & Tokyo); New British Painting (curated by Zavier Ellis & Pilvi Kalhama), Gallery Kalhama & Piippo, Helsinki; 2009: Vas Deferens, CHARLIE SMITH london (Solo); British Art Now (curated by Edward Lucie-Smith), Werkstatt Galerie, Berlin; The Future Can Wait (curated by Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley), Old Truman Brewery, London; 2008: The Cabinet Braubach Five, Frankfurt (Solo); A Stain upon the Silence (curated by Chris Shilling, Chris Page & Gaboy Gaynor), St. Martins College of Art, London; Anticipation (curated by Kay Saatchi & Catriona Warren), Selfridges, London; UK Best Graduates, White Box Gallery, New York; The Past is History (curated by Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley), Changing Role Gallery, Naples & Rome; New London School (curated by Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley), Mark Moore Gallery, LA ; The R.A.5, Lennon Weinberg, New York

Selected Awards & Residencies: 2007: Chelsea Arts Club Travel Award; 2005: Sturdley Award; 2004: British Institute Award; 2003-2004: Florence Trust Studio Award

Collections: Carlos Fragoso, New York; David Roberts, London; Sir Norman Rosenthal, London; Kay Saatchi, London

Private collections in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States