Current Exhibition

MMGalleries is proud to present the newest works by San Francisco painter Henry Jackson, opening on May 8 and running through June 28, 2008.  In Descendants,  his first solo exhibition at MMGalleries, Henry Jackson explores new pictorial territory with a series of monochromatic black and white paintings, exhibited in conjunction with more colorful oil and pigment canvasses.  Although Jackson is typically known for his use of the human form as his catalyst for exploration, his new paintings suggest further complexity in his figurative ambiguity.

In this brilliant new show, larger works in vivid hues of greens, oranges and yellows are paired with smaller monochromatic pieces that equally derive and distance themselves from the more colorful ones. The medium is in graphite, pigment powder, wax, and oil in both series, but the monochromatic palette underscores the juxtaposition of the rich layers of the medium with the strong graphic compositions.  In the smaller pieces, the plethora of information and the possibilities of interpretation of the larger ones are limited, both in size and in composition. Their sparse architecture affords a quiet, intimate dialogue between viewer and painting, and isolates issues and underlying motives in Jackson's work that are intact throughout the show in a very consistent artistic statement.

Whomever has followed this artist’s career in the past few years will probably remember that San Francisco art critic Kenneth Baker wrote: “Jackson feels most at ease with the picturesque: the kind of abstraction that feels like an image whether it reads that way or not.”  And it’s true -- Jackson’s images display a tendency to be readable as figures, but the upcoming exhibition will show how Jackson’s new work has a more essential component, devoid of devices that might distract from the inherent concepts.

Henry Jackson was born in San Francisco and graduated from the Calfornia College of Arts and Crafts in 1986 with a BFA in painting. He currently resides in San Francisco. Jackson has participated in solo and group shows at Trillium Press in Brisbane, The Broadbent  Gallery in London, and several other art galleries throughout the United States.

Jackson has received a number of prestigious awards, and his works are in several public and private collections.

The artist will be present at the reception held at MMGalleries on May 8, 2008, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.