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Jackson-Collins
Biography
“I believe who I am as a person is who I am as an artist.
Therefore, my direction in life is not to become rich and famous as an
artist. I would like to be known first and remembered later as a forthright
person that worked really hard to become the best human being he could
become.”
The decision to leave his hometown of Canton,
Mississippi at 16 to pursue a career as
a conceptual artist in Venice,
California came with many
bumps for Jackson-Collins. He
tells his story in stark terms because he believes that his honesty helps
his viewer to better understand who he is and why he paints the way he
does.
His early days in California were spent
painting on the streets and selling his small paintings to the eclectic
crowd that thronged the famed Venice
Beach boardwalk.
His was often a precarious existence. The experiences of those
‘starving artist’ years gave him a lot to reflect on and to
yearn for: things as basic as a warm bed, a place to call his own, stable
relationships, family - themes that have found their way into his work.
But being an artist was never a question of choice for this artist. It
was the only path for him, and the displacement and struggles were all
part of the landscape.
Raw, edgy, and bounding with ideas and emotions, Jackson-Collins’
work defies clear categorization. He has drawn from styles that include
figurative, abstract expressionism and surrealism, but has evolved a
style all his own, characterized by a highly charged brushstroke, daring
distortions of the human form, unorthodox use of color - often monochrome
hues -, and a system of personal symbolism. His work, seemingly chaotic
at times, reflects, on a deeper level, a search for balance, calm, truth
and honesty.
Jackson-Collins has moved from
street artist to gallery artist with exhibitions in Spain, Germany,
England, Paris and the U.S. Last year he had a major
gallery exhibition of his series on American symbols, particularly the
flag, in Philadelphia.
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