BILL JACKLIN

I choose not to define myself by working in just one way.

This  exhibition of paintings and monotypes highlights my various interests in painting over the last few years. A few  paintings refer back to earlier works that  emphasize  the structures that I have observed in natural orders and the depiction of light often as an emotive force.

I have been spending time in Rhode Island by the sea with my family on and off for the last few years and this experience has connected me to a different sense of place. I now find myself painting quite different subject matter but not unlike the pulsating energy of my previous work. The nature of change continues and the daily experience is always in flux.

In this show there is a collection of paintings  called “The Dance of the Clouds and Breezes” which are all by the sea. The paintings are inhabited by dancers, various figures, storms, the sea and the passing and changing clouds. There is a great deal that actually goes on in this part of the world as well.

In another vein, there is a  large Venetian piece “The Feast,” presented  as a triptych in three panels, showing a  time sequence of  a  group of people celebrating and eating  while the crowd behind  passes through  from left to right  of the square as so often is the case in Venice. I will never forget an evening walking through Venice where each square was set with tables celebrating something festive. It was surreal. I have worked on this painting on and off since 2004 when I was in Venice working on prints. 

I am also continuing with my crowd series as  I have painted “The  Singer  in the Square” within the swirling movement of the figures in the square as I have spent time in the Piazza della Repubblica in Florence drawing the crowds in my sketchbook. This is a continuation from the Grand Central Station paintings of the Concourse and the concentric movement of the crowds. 

 I saw many of the characters that I might have seen in Grand Central going about their business. I would also see this same crush or movement of figures in the  flux and flow of the Skaters in Central Park NY at an earlier time.

There is a group of paintings of fields that run down to the sea. I choose to do several of the works at night as the stars alight the field. The paintings are complementary to the the swirl of my previous work as the wind and clouds are constantly changing. I find it exhilarating. I am pleased with the outcome as my previous “Road With Shadows” was a precursor to this experience.

I have  included a small painting titled “The Celebration of the Animals” that means just that. It is a contemplative work. 

As I have described, I spend time outside watching and drawing in my sketchbook. 

I do seem to be constantly painting  about states of transition, from one state to another.

The weather, bridges and squares are good metaphors so I am drawn to them. I feel I am  painting about  being present in the space whether I depict a figure or not as it is an all encompassing space.

I have  found  nature a formidable subject knowing that  we have always taken the beauty and balance for granted. This time I find I am looking at the natural world in total awe.

–Bill Jacklin, 2019

From Bill Jacklin Paintings and Monotypes, 2019