Saturday, January 14, 2017
11:30 AM–12:15 PM
The Donna and Jim Barksdale Galleries for Changing Exhibitions at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson
Join Mississippi Invitational artist Philip R. Jackson, associate professor of art and winner of the Jane Crater Hiatt Artist Fellowship awarded to one artist in each Mississippi Invitational biennial exhibition, for a casual, conversational gallery experience. Jackson shares personal reflections and connections on his own work as well as on those of other artists featured in the 2016 Mississippi Invitational.
“Through my paintings I am attempting to redefine an objects’ natural purposes, placing emphasis on the orchestrated exchange between them,” Jackson said. “Bathed in light, each one reveals its own mysteries. The details of their surface reveal signs of a life lived: dents, bruises and more. It is as if they were having a conversation of their own long before we approached the picture.”
Cost: $10, $5 for Members (ticket includes admission to the exhibition).
Initiated in 1997, the Mississippi Invitational surveys recent developments by contemporary visual artists living and working across the state, and includes work in diverse mediums. The 2016 exhibition marks the eleventh iteration and is on view from December 17, 2016–March 11, 2017. Cost: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for students. Free admission for children under the age of five and Museum members.
The Jane Crater Hiatt Artist Fellowship was created in 2005 by Jane and Wood Hiatt in response to the need to nurture and invigorate the arts. A grant of up to $15,000 is awarded to one of the exhibiting artists who may use it for study with an individual artist or in a studio, workshop, or residency setting; to purchase supplies and equipment; to conduct research; and to travel. The artist is then required to donate one original work of art to the Museum from at least five works created during the two-year period.
The Invitational is housed in the Donna and Jim Barksdale Galleries for Changing Exhibitions and reflects current directions in Mississippi art.
The 18 artists selected for inclusion in the 2016 Mississippi Invitational exhibition are Gregory Martin, Starkville; George Lee Miles, Jr., Jackson; Rod Moorhead (BA English and mathematics), Oxford; Jerrod Partridge, Ocean Springs; Jaime Erin Johnson (BFA art), adjunct instructor of art, Oxford; Mathew Grant Puckett, Jackson; Jennifer Torres, Hattiesburg; Michael Richardson, Gulfport; Gerard Howard, Jackson; Bill Jackson, Drew; Critz Campbell, West Point; Charles W. Carraway, Terry; Nate Theisen, Jackson; Joey Rice, Ocean Springs; Megan Hitt, Ridgeland; Myra Meade, Hattiesburg; Obie Earl Clark (MFA art ’88), Taylor; and Philip R. Jackson, Oxford.
This year’s process began with the Museum’s call to artists for sample images of their work. One hundred fifteen submissions were considered by guest curator Marisa J. Pascucci, an experienced art curator, speaker and educator.
An opening reception for Mississippi Invitational artists, special guests and Museum members is scheduled for Friday, January 13, 2017, from 5:30 until 8:30 PM.
On Saturday, January 14, 2017, at 2 PM, guest curator Marisa J. Pascucci will be joined by Hiatt and the recipient of the 2016 Hiatt Artist Fellowship for a panel discussion moderated by Roger Ward. The event is free and open to the public.
A full-color catalogue will be available for purchase in The Museum Store. The Mississippi Invitational exhibition and catalogue are supported in part by the Hiatt-Ingram Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson/Jane Hiatt.
The tenor feature of Philip R. Jackson’s work is his ability to take the common object and elevate it to an object of wonder. Jackson’s still life paintings have a pervasive sense of classicism in his deftly controlled and elegant arrangements, imbuing them with heightened worth and poetic presence.
An emerging force in contemporary realist painting, Philip R. Jackson’s work has been shown in many national and international juried, group, and solo exhibitions in more than nineteen states, is part of the permanent collections of art museums in Evansville and Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is in over thirty private collections nationwide.
His still life paintings have been featured in a number of premiere magazines, including, Art in America, Southwest Art, American Art Collector, and twice featured in American Artist, first as a cover story and recently in their Highlights issue.
Jackson has received numerous awards for his paintings, in 2001, he received an international juried fellowship from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation in Montreal, Canada, and in 2008, he received an individual artist grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission, and a faculty research grant from The University of Mississippi. He recently celebrated his first major survey of paintings as the Martha and Merritt DeJong Memorial Artist-in-Residence at the Evansville Museum of Art in Evansville, Indiana.
Jackson received his BFA from the Columbus College of Art & Design in Columbus, Ohio and his MFA from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, and in 2001, he attended a summer study at (SACI) Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. His work is represented by the McMurtrey Gallery in Houston, Texas and the Hammond Harkins Gallery in Columbus, Ohio.