If you don’t know Jack, you should and here’s how.
This fall, The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University features the earlier works of Jack Whitten, an American artist whose work is based on Abstract Expressionism, a post-WWII art movement that helped define and bring new life to the art scene in New York City. This exhibition is the pioneering artist’s first solo exhibition in New England, and features several never-before exhibited monumental canvases from the early 1970s.
Photograph by Mike Lovett
Access to an exhibition like Light Years is part of what makes Brandeis University an experience for students that is second to none. Offering a program of learning that emphasizes an in interdisciplinary approach to knowledge and the solution of real-life problems is what helps develop the leaders of tomorrow. Jack Whitten left Alabama in the 1960s amidst a backdrop of civil rights turmoil to pursue his new truth and become an innovator in his field.
In the 1994 summer issue of BOMB, an art magazine written and edited by artists, Jack Whitten is interviewed Kenneth Goldsmith. Whitten says, “Transformation is very important. Materials are just raw materials, that’s all. It’s like a word, anybody can have access to the same word, but a word in your mouth is totally different from a word in mine.” In his work on display at the Rose Art Gallery, Whitten speaks to new audiences by adding depth to the canvas and removing gesture from stroke. He moves into a space of his own, defining his work for himself and presenting it to the masses.
If you don’t know Jack yet, you should, and find the inspiration to master the power of your words before Light Years closes on December 15, 2013. The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University is always free and open to the public, Tuesdays – Sundays, 12-5pm.
