Oliver Lee Jackson in person Sunday at the National Gallery of Art

 

Oliver Lee Jackson, No. 7, 2017 (7.27.17), 2017, oil-based paint on panel, courtesy of the artist. Photo M. Lee Fatherree. © Oliver Lee Jackson

On stage and talking about his art and more on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the East Building at the National Gallery of Art will be Oliver Lee Jackson with curator Harry Cooper which will be the last event before the closure of the exhibition, Recent Paintings.

It’s not often that a living artist appears on stage for an audience to hear and see with the curator, an opportunity not to miss.

Oliver Lee Jackson, Painting (5.27.11), 2011, oil-based paint on canvas, courtesy Lucy Goldman. Image courtesy of Rena Bransten Gallery/Photo M. Lee Fatherree. © Oliver Lee Jackson

Oliver Lee Jackson was born in 1935 in St. Louis, Missouri, and can claim professions as a painter, sculptor, draftsman, Army veteran, teacher, and organizer whose works are found in major American museums.

In the exhibition at the National Gallery are about 20 paintings Mr. Jackson has made over the last 15 years, some on view publicly for the first time. 

Oliver Lee Jackson, Painting (10.14.06), 2006, oil-based paint on canvas, courtesy of the artist/Photo M. Lee Fatherree. © Oliver Lee Jackson.  During the middle of the night when I was awakened by the tromping of footsteps above, this painting was immediately evoked by its similarity to the effects from the prison-like yard lights streaming on the inside walls of my unit. There the comparison ends for Mr. Jackson's Painting is much more colorful and cheerful than the dark and grey surroundings of a night with artificial light.

Oliver Lee Jackson, Painting (11.30.10), 2010, water-based paint and metallic enamel paint on canvas, courtesy of the artist/Photo M. Lee Fatherree. © Oliver Lee Jackson  

Oliver Lee Jackson's, Painting (11.4.10), 2010, on the left, and No. 5, 2018 (3.24.18), 2018 on the right/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Oliver Lee Jackson, Painting (11.4.10), 2010, water-based paint, metallic enamel paint, and applied canvas on canvas, courtesy of the artist/Photo M. Lee Fatherree. © Oliver Lee Jackson

The National Gallery says Jackson's works remain "rooted in the human figure while drawing on all the resources of modernist abstraction and expression.”

Guests admire Oliver Lee Jackson's, Painting (8.10.03), 2003, water-based paint and silver leaf on canvas, courtesy of the artist/Photo by Patricia Leslie  

 Oliver Lee Jackson, Triptych (3.20.15, 5.21.15, 6.8.15), 2015, applied felt, chalk, alkyd paint, and mixed media on wood panel, courtesy of the artist/Photo by Patricia Leslie



The works on display are like gigantic silhouettes, puzzles, some parts found in oceans; others, in dreamy states. Bold colors and big designs mark them as Jackson's own. It’s fun to try and decipher their meaning; interpretation lies in the eyes of the beholder. That's what art is all about. Jackson's paintings are contemporary, abstracts without obnoxious, blatant in-your-face messages. 


Unlike Psalm 14: "The fool said in his heart: 'All are corrupt and commit abominable acts; there is none who does any good,'" Mr. Jackson's works present hope that today's state of the world is more than dark and evil, for there is room for growth and optimism like a viewer finds on these walls.

Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art, with Harry Cooper, curator, center, and Oliver Lee Jackson at the opening of Recent Paintings, Washington, D.C. April 11, 2019. Behind them is Jackson's, Painting (10.14.06), 2006/Photo by Patricia Leslie


Mr. Cooper is the senior curator and head of modern art at the National Gallery of Art whose friendship with Mr. Jackson spans several decades and helped Mr. Jackson win an artist-in-residency position at Harvard University in 2002.

Michael Stein from Morgan Stanley, the sponsor of the exhibition, Recent Paintings, with Harry Cooper, curator, center, and Oliver Lee Jackson at the opening at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. April 11, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Oliver Lee Jackson, left, and Harry Cooper at the opening of Recent Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. April 11, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Oliver Lee Jackson, left, and Harry Cooper at the opening of Recent Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. April 11, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Oliver Lee Jackson, center, at the opening of Recent Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. April 11, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Oliver Lee Jackson, center, at the opening of Recent Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. April 11, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

What: Oliver Lee Jackson:  Recent Paintings

When: Now through September 15, 2019




Where: The East Building at the National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall. The National Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. 


How much: No charge.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com