Feature Articles


October Issue 2000

Christ Faut Gallery Shows New Works by Herb Jackson

The Christa Faut Gallery in Cornelius, NC, just outside of Charlotte, will be showing new works by Herb Jackson Oct. 13 - Nov. 19.

Painter and teacher Herb Jackson says, "I cannot remember a time when I didn't paint." Internationally renowned, he is considered by many today to be the major abstract painter living and working in NC. His textured, multihued, and layered paintings hint at an inner life while his creative talent and energy inspires students. For his exploration of the South's psychic roots through mythical and poetic landscapes and his dedication to teaching, Jackson received the 1999 North Carolina Award in Fine Arts.

Born and raised in Raleigh, NC, Jackson haunted the NC Museum of Art as a boy. At least twice weekly, he went through the entire collection, diagramming each work and then either ranking it or studying it through a specific theme, such as a facial feature. In 1962 while still only a teenager he received his first award at a juried exhibition held at the NC Museum of Art and had his first one-person show at Raleigh's Olivia Raney Library in 1964. In 1967 Jackson earned a BA in German from Davidson College. He went on to study at Philips Universitat in Marburg, West Germany, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiving a MFA in painting in 1970.

Jackson's abstract painting style features layers upon layers of acrylic paint mixed with pumice, which he then slashes and scrapes to reveal colors underneath. Allowing his paintings to develop, Jackson says he paints with no plan other than being guided by his unconscious. Viewed from afar his works feature broad areas of color that reveal colors within colors, only upon close inspection.

In 1969, Jackson began teaching at Davidson College and is currently the William Williamson Professor of Art, after having chaired the art department for seventeen years. From 1972 to 1976, he ran the National Print and Drawing Competition, the largest works-on-paper competition in the US. Each semester, Jackson teaches two studio classes, where art students learn how to take risks. For twenty-eight years, he has also been director of the art gallery. Jackson also led efforts to build a state-of-the-art visual arts facility for Davidson College, the new Belk Center for the Arts.

The artist has had over a hundred one-person exhibitions in the US and in England, Portugal, Peru, and Canada; his work has been featured in group exhibitions throughout this country and abroad. He is particularly proud that his work was included in the first exhibit of American contemporary paintings presented an the former Soviet Union. Jackson's paintings are in over eighty museum collections, including the British Museum in London and the Brooklyn Museum in NY.

Listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in America Art, Herb Jackson received an NEA/Southern Arts Fellowship in 1988 and a North Carolina Arts Fellowship in 1984.

For more info check our NC Commercial Gallery listings or call 704/892-5312.

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