Richard Jackson
Los Angeles based artist Richard Jackson has been a pre-eminent figure in American contemporary art since the 1970s, counting Edward Kienholz and Bruce Nauman among his contemporaries. Influenced by both Abstract Expressionism and action painting, Jackson explores a performative process that seeks to extend the potential of painting by upending its technical conventions. For Jackson, paint is not a tool used to create a representational image, but is used as a ubiquitous liquid which is spurted, splattered and sprayed over the surface of his installations.
Jackson responds to the high-mindedness of painterly practice by repositioning painting as an everyday experience. He draws on domestic environments and basic human activities, such as defecation and sexual behavior, to create the foundation of his installations. He combines references from lowbrow American culture, including motifs from hunting and baseball, making his artistic practice highly democratic.
Jackson first came to international attention with a major presentation of his installation works at the Menil Collection, Houston, in 1988, followed by the 1992 exhibition, ‘Helter Skelter’ at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Since then, his work has featured in numerous group exhibitions including the 48th Venice Biennale, 1999, and the fourth Lyon Biennale of Contemporary …
Los Angeles based artist Richard Jackson has been a pre-eminent figure in American contemporary art since the 1970s, counting Edward Kienholz and Bruce Nauman among his contemporaries. Influenced by both Abstract Expressionism and action painting, Jackson explores a performative process that seeks to extend the potential of painting by upending its technical conventions. For Jackson, paint is not a tool used to create a representational image, but is used as a ubiquitous liquid which is spurted, splattered and sprayed over the surface of his installations.
Jackson responds to the high-mindedness of painterly practice by repositioning painting as an everyday experience. He draws on domestic environments and basic human activities, such as defecation and sexual behavior, to create the foundation of his installations. He combines references from lowbrow American culture, including motifs from hunting and baseball, making his artistic practice highly democratic.
Jackson first came to international attention with a major presentation of his installation works at the Menil Collection, Houston, in 1988, followed by the 1992 exhibition, ‘Helter Skelter’ at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Since then, his work has featured in numerous group exhibitions including the 48th Venice Biennale, 1999, and the fourth Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art, 1997, as well as ‘Iconoclash,’ 2002 at ZKM, Karlsruhe. The retrospective “Richard Jackson: Ain’t Painting a Pain” toured at S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany and Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach in 2013.
Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth
Hauser & Wirth, London, UK
