Henry Jackson: Evocation Digital Catalog

Henry Jackson Evocation

Henry jackson

Henry Jackson’s work is a celebratory experience. This work is alive with energetic mark-making, bold applications of color, and vital interactions of line and shape. His art reveals a multifaceted tension between various impulses – figuration and abstraction, instinct and intention, body and spirit – that have come to characterize the generative process at the heart of Jackson’s aesthetic distinction.

These impulses generate an engaging sense of exploration and unearthing. Rather than being literal records of thoughts or observations, Jackson’s works attend to inner, elemental truths or emotions that, otherwise indefinable, could only have been freed through his act of painting. These powerfully emotive spirits are illuminated and captured by Jackson utilizing dramatic emanations in a rigorous admixture of oil paint and cold wax.

Consider Jackson’s recent painting, Camouflage. As the title suggests, a figure is hidden in plain view, nearly vanishing, like a

chameleon, into its environment. On closer inspection, the figure is fully there – at one with its surroundings, and yet appearing as mere suggestion. Within this work’s rich and dramatic colorations, the figure slowly reveals itself as its presence expands before the viewer’s eyes in an almost totemic manner. Jackson is a master of ambiguity and subtle revelation.

The figures discerned in many of Jackson’s paintings adapt to the surrounding abstract elements to the point of being nearly indistinguishable from them. And they are nearly indistinguishable because of how he plies his craft, working in a process of layering, revealing forms through a kind of reverse archeological digging. Once seen, the figure, can’t be unseen. “In all my work, the figure is present,” Jackson says. “Even in some cases where the figure is not obvious and one might possibly find it difficult to ascertain, I know that the figure is there and has been part of each of my endeavors. They are part of my adventure.”

Jackson’s paintings inevitably appear as Abstract Expressionism, but it is interesting to note that, as an art student at the California College of the Arts in Oakland, California, and, later, at San Francisco State University in the mid-1980s, Jackson trained also as a realist painter. “I truly appreciate artists who create representational work, or hyperrealism; I appreciate the involvement that it takes and the artistic commitment required,” says the San Francisco-based artist.

As a student, Jackson was immersed in an ether that grew out of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, which in turn emerged as a response to earlier Abstract Expressionism. West Coast figurative artists already had figure painting well covered, and Jackson, not unlike Richard Diebenkorn, sought to free the figure from the restraints of formalism, as well as from Abstract Expressionism’s focus on “the medium as the message” and the ambiguities that concept entails. He found artistic freedom in the idea of a figurative form, as “something that might not present itself all at once but can change with the viewer’s own mood or even the light of day.”

Early on in his education, he leaned into the human form and continues to maintain a lifelong interest in the figure as subject. As he progressed, Jackson’s figures evolved into expressions of emotion – inner states of being that neither a strict adherence to a corporeal form nor an abstraction could entirely express. “In my work, the energy of the human form is always present,” he says. “I needed something physical with which to amplify meaning within my abstraction to provide a greater sense of narrative.” Jackson’s work, such as his recent, intimate Cloud Veil, incorporates rich swaths of colors. Here, the use of colors ranging from blues and burgundy to greens, yellows, and violets seem to emanate from off-center in energetic bursts that resonate with a sense of gestural abstraction.

Jackson does show restraint in his use of the human figure. Adding too much detail would make his works too specific, detracting from the mysteries of their equivocal natures. Still, the narrative sense is present in the emergence of forms arising out of uncertain and at times chaotic space, as in his painting Untitled (Kinetic Figure). The painting’s central form, like a whirling dervish, balanced on one leg with the other kicking out horizontally, is poised in a liminal state of transformative motion, inviting the viewer to project not just meaning, but story.

The resultant narrative comes directly from the viewer, who perceives a one-to-one relationship that’s based on more than a mere emotional resonance, but on a psychological one, where vague, loosely defined forms suggest shadowy figures from the subconscious mind. Jackson shares: “The late, renowned art critic Robert Hughes once wrote a lovely line about the paintings of Susan Rothenberg, stating, ‘It’s not just an emotional splurge.’” Jackson’s response to this comment is, “That phrase resonated with me; as an artist who paints that way, I immediately grasped the impact of Hughes’ observation.” Indeed, the ambiguity tempers the “splurge” in Jackson’s work almost exquisitely.

Jackson says, “I’ve discovered that when you present an audience with works that are abstract, a certain level of viewer commitment is required to be participatory. I create works that are hopefully captivating, leading to further engagement on yet another level. For me, a successful work must be heartfelt, passionate, and true. Each is a complete and unique journal of an intense and all-consuming interaction – on a scale both grand and intimate.” This is the generative process at the heart of Jackson’s aesthetic genius brilliantly actualized in these new works comprising the exhibition here aptly entitled “Evocation.”

Untitled (Figure at Rest), 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 60 x 60 in.

Forest Floor, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel

48 x 60 in.

Untitled (Kinetic Figure), 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 58 x 48 in.

Anthesis, 2024 Oil & mixed media on canvas over panel 42 x 40 in.

Camouflage, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 36 x 36 in.

Tutelary, 2022 Oil & mixed media on panel 35 x 23 in.

Torrent, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 36 x 36 in.

16 x 16 in.

Torrent #2, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel

Evanesce, 2022 Oil & mixed media on panel 17 x 24 in.

First Appearance, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 16 x 16 in.

Senescene #1, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 18.75 x 25 in.

Senescene #2, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 18.75 x 25 in.

Senescene #3, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 18.75 x 25 in.

Senescene #4, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 18.75 x 25 in.

Effusion, 2023

Oil & mixed media on panel 12 x 12 in.

Impermanence, 2023 Oil & mixed media on panel 12 x 10 in.

Crevice #1, 2024

Oil & mixed media on panel

30 x 32 in.

Crevice #2, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 19.75 x 19.75 in.

Crevice #3, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 24 x 24 in.

Cloud Veil, 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 12 x 12 in.

2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 47.75 x 35 in.

Conclusion,

16

Untitled (Guise), 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel

x 16 in.

Untitled (Guise #2), 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 12 x 12 in.

Untitled (Guise #3), 2024 Oil & mixed media on panel 12 x 12 in.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2022 Shifting Ground, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

2021 (In) Place, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2020 Verdant, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2019 Introductions, Westbrook Modern Gallery, Carmel, CA

2018 Sight Becomes Insight, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM Madagascar – World in Peril, San Francisco Zoo, San Francisco, CA

2017 New Work, Orth Contemporary, Tulsa, OK Red Ivory, large scale video & sound installation, awarded by John & Michele McNellis & The San Francisco Zoological Society, San Francisco, CA

2016 Continuum, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

2015 Configuration, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2014 Halted in Transition, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

2013 New Work, Sandra Lee Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2012 Kingdom Animalia, large scale video & sound installation. Awarded by The Bernard Osher Foundation and the S. F. Zoological Society, S.F., CA New Works, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2011 H.A.R.P., Selected works honoring the first recipient of the S.F. Zoo’s Heritage Artist Residency Program. Cain-Schulte Gallery, S.F., CA 2010 New Works, Cain-Schulte Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2009 Fractured Form, Zane Bennett Gallery, Santa Fe, NM New Works, 2009 residency at MACA, San Francisco, CA

2008 Descendants, Cain-Schulte Gallery, San Francisco, CA Introduction, work from 2007 residency, MACA, New York, NY

2007 New Work, Bonhams, New York, NY New Work, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2006 Paintings & Drawings, Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, CA

2005 New Paintings, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

2004 Raw, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA New Works, 1212 Gallery, Burlingame, CA

2002 Dualism, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA The Mutilated Figure, Gotham, London, UK

2001 Henry Jackson - West Coasting, Broadbent Gallery, London, UK Origins, Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA Amorphous, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

1999 Elemental, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

1998 New Figurative Work, Richard Witzel Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1997 The Expressive Figure, Museum Parc Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022 Winter Festival, Part One: The Abstract Artists, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe NM 35th Anniversary Exhibition, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2022 Vehicles of Concern, Your Mood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Palm Beach Modern & Contemporary Art Fair, Stewart Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL

2021 Farewell, winter exhibition, Stewart Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL

2020 Art on Paper Fair, New York, represented by: LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

2018 Art on Paper Fair, New York, represented by: Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, WA, represented by: Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2017 Winter Exhibition, Orth Contemporary, Tulsa, OK

30th Anniversary Exhibition, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

Spectral Hues: Artists + Color, curator: Sharon Bliss, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA

2016 Lines, Annual works on paper exhibition, Stewart Gallery, ID

Art on Paper Fair, New York, 2-person exhibition, Stewart Gallery, New York, NY

2015 3-person exhibition, Inaugural grand opening, MMG Foundation, San Francisco, CA

Abstractly, M.A. Doran Gallery, Tulsa, OK

Indigo Springs, Artist-In-Residence, 2-person exhibition in conjunction with Monte Azul, Costa Rica. Healdsburg, CA

ArtMRKT San Francisco International Art Fair, Sandra Lee Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Art on Paper Fair, 2-person show, Pier 36, Sandra Lee Gallery, New York, NY

2014 Aqua International Art Fair, Sandra Lee Gallery, Miami, FL

Aqua International Art Fair, Seager-Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA

Summer Exhibition, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

Silicon Valley International Art Fair, Sandra Lee Gallery, San Jose, CA

2013 ArtMRKT San Francisco International Art Fair, Ft. Mason, Sandra Lee Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Houston International Art Fair, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2012 Summer Salon, Paint, Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA

S.F. International Fine Art Fair, Fort Mason, San Francisco, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

Dallas Art Fair, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

Twenty Five, Celebrating Stewart Gallery’s 25th year, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2011 Affordable Art Group Show, Zane Bennett Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Dallas Art Fair, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2010 Clear Vision, Smith Andersen North, San Anselmo, CA

Art Chicago, Zane Bennett Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Art Chicago, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

Inaugural Group Show, Cain-Schulte Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2009 Art Miami, Zane Bennett Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2008 New Selected Works, Zane Bennett Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2007 Artists in Residence, MACA, New York, NY

ArtNow, Stewart Gallery, International Art Fair, Miami, FL

RedDot, MM Galleries, International Art Fair, Miami, FL

Figures, Donna Seager Gallery, San Rafael, CA

2006 New Works from the Gallery Collection, MM Galleries, San Francisco, CA

2005 Introductions – Recent Acquisitions, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

Figures without Form: A Look Beneath the Skin, CFA Gallery, San Anselmo, CA

Looking Back & Seeing Forward, Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco, CA

SF International Art Expo, Trillium Press, Brisbane, CA

SF International Art Expo, CFA Gallery, San Rafael, CA

2004 New Works, Trillium Press, Brisbane, CA West Coasting, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX

In the Summer, Haley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, CA

SF International Art Expo, Trillium Press, Brisbane, CA

2003 00-01-02-03: A New Century of Art, Trillium Press, San Francisco, CA Coast to Coast, Lecture Series, de Baun Center, Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ Paint Junkies, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

Beginnings, LIMN Gallery - Ligne Roset, San Francisco, CA

SF International Art Expo, Michael Martin Galleries, CA

2002 Selected Gallery Artists, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

SF International Art Expo, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA Works on Paper, Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

2001 ‘Tis the Reason, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

Lines, Gotham, London, UK

Recent Projects, Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, CA

New Acquisitions, Craighead-Green Gallery, Dallas, TX

2000 Fall, Michael Martin Galleries / London, London, UK

Introductions, Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

Selections from the Gallery Collection, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

1999 Full Fellowship Exhibition, Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

Introductions & Dialogue, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

New Works, Toomey-Tourell Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1998 CAFE, Multi-Disciplinary Exhibition and Concept, LIMN Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1997 Introductions, Richard Witzel Gallery, San Francisco, CA

New Figurative Works, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

Benefit for SF Camerata Americana, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco, CA

1996 Mutilated Figure, American Institute of Architecture Gallery, Oakland, CA

Selections, Juried Exhibition, The Academy of Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Selected Awards

2021 “Patriarch,” large scale mosaic mural commemorating African Savanna flora & fauna Awarded by the Osher Foundation & The San Francisco Zoological Society, San Francisco, CA

2018 Madagascar - Wonder in Peril, special commission, large scale video & sound installation, San Francisco Zoological Society - Barry & Marie Lippman, San Francisco, CA

2016 Red Ivory, special commission, large scale video & sound installation, San Francisco Zoological Society - John & Michele McNellis, San Francisco, CA

2016 Artist-Patron Award, Print Residency, MACA, Costa Rica

2015 Indigo Springs Artist-In-Residence Award. (In conjunction with Monte Azul, Chimirol, Costa Rica) Healdsburg, CA

2013 Full Fellowship Award, Artist-in-Residency, Monte Azul Contemporary Art, Chimirol, Costa Rica

2012 Kingdom Animalia, Large scale video & sound installation, The Bernard Osher Foundation, San Francisco Zoological Society, San Francisco, CA

Full Fellowship Award, Artist-in-Residency, Monte Azul Contemporary Art, Chimirol, Costa Rica

“Hearts in San Francisco” recipient, San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, San Francisco, CA

2011 Full Fellowship Award, Artist-in-Residency, Monte Azul Contemporary Art, Chimirol, Costa Rica Heritage Artist Residency Program, San Francisco Zoological Society, San Francisco, CA

2009 Full Fellowship Award, Artist-in-Residency, Monte Azul Contemporary Art, Costa Rica

2007 Full Fellowship Award, Artist-in-Residency, Monte Azul Contemporary Art, Costa Rica

2001 Commission Award, David Bruce Winery, 40th Anniversary Fine Art Label, Limited Estate Vintage Pinot Noir 2000, Los Gatos, CA

2000 Gamblin Artist Oils, New Color, created for/by Henry Jackson & Robert Gamblin

1999 Full Fellowship Residency Award, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

Nathan Oliveira Fellowship Award, presented by MMG, San Francisco, CA

1997 Artist-in-Residency, The de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

1996 “Selections,” Juried Exhibition, ArtSpan, San Francisco, CA

Selected Bibliography

Nelson, Jennifer. “Abstract Expressionism as Figurative.” Woven Tale Press, August 2019. Mena, Milagro. “Red Ivory.” San Francisco News, March 2017.

Butler, Sharon. “Art on Paper - and in practice.” Two Coats of Paint, March 2016. Artsy Editors. “Facility and Cacophony of Color in the Paintings of Henry Jackson.” Artsy.net, June 2014. Tolpa, Eve. “Art Issue.” The Santa Fean Magazine, June/July 2014.

Parry, Megan. “The Deconstructed Paintings of Henry Jackson.” Artists Inspire Artists, July 2014. Piowaty, Deanna. “The Unsettling Abstracts of San Francisco Artist Henry Jackson.” Combustus, August 2014.

Kearney, Caitlin. “Henry Jackson, A Solo Show at Sandra Lee Gallery.” Art Enthusiast, October 2013.

Baker, Kenneth. “Henry Jackson: Art inspired by stories.” SFGate, October 2013. Palvic, Ed. Visiting Hours at the Color Line. Milkweed Editions (cover art & epigraph by Henry Jackson).

Coe, Alexis. “Exhibitionist - Recent Acquisitions: Kingdom Animalia, San Francisco Zoo.” SF Weekly, September 2012.

Corriel, Michele. “Illuminations – Ones to Watch.” Western Art & Architecture, March 2012.

Baker, Kenneth. “New Paintings.” SFGate, November 2011.

Rubell, Jennifer. “Monkeys and Moonshine in Costa Rica.” Food & Wine Magazine, February 2011.

Fairfield, Douglas. “Fractured Form.” Pasatiempo, September 2009.

McGraw, Kate. “2 Artists, 2 Views.” Santa Fe Reporter, August 2008.

Baker, Kenneth. “Descendants.” SFGate, May 2008.

Crump-Ray, Ann. “Views Across the Bridge.” Marin Magazine, May 2008.

Baker, Kenneth. “Local dealers salvage S.F. International Art Expo.” SFGate, January 2005.

Baker, Kenneth. “Notable single works.” SFGate, January 2005.

Westbrook, Lindsey. “Henry Jackson at 1212.” Artweek, December 2004.

Baker, Kenneth. “Jackson’s Phantom Figures.” SFGate, April 2004.

Brenneman, Christine. “Paint Junkies’.” Artweek, June 2003.

“Editor’s Highlight, New Young Collectors (National).” Art & Antiques, 2003.

Crump, Ann. “Fast & Furious.” San Francisco Examiner, May 2002.

“West Coasting: Introducing 5 Artists from the West Coast.” House & Garden, September 2001. “West Coasting.” Bizarre, December 2001.

“West Coasting.” Artworld, December 2001.

Moniot, Marie-Adele. “Amorphous: New Paintings by Henry Jackson.” SFGate, February 2001. Brenneman, Christine. “Introductions & Dialogues.” Metropolitan, June 1999.

“Elemental.” Neue Press, November 1999.

“Elemental,” Canadian Architect, December 1999.

“Elemental,” Art-Talk, December 1999.

Selected Public Collections

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, S.F. CA

The Achenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts, S.F. CA

The de Sassait Museum, Santa Clara, CA Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums for: “Kingdom Animalia” 2012, “Red Ivory” 2017 “Madagascar – Wonder in Peril” 2018 – large scale experimental video & sound installations

Education

1986/87 San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

1984/85 California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA

1983/84 City College of San Francisco, CA