Keith Jacobshagen

Feb. 28 - April 9, 1993

Johnson County CommunityCollege • Galleryof Alt Keith Jacobshagen geography and metapho r, but it is also abo ut autob iograph y. It's about those moments in my life when I'm making the painting. The autob iogra phy of my life goes into the painting , but it's not neces­ The followin g interview between Keith Jacobshagen and Melissa sarily there for peop le to read as they would read a book. Rountree took plac e in Jan uary 1993 . MR In the 1988 interview you said, ·'One qf the extraord inaiy MR Your art training was in design. When and bow did you begin things that happens when you 're painting, [fyou 're lucky, is that you paintin g? make a kind of breakthrough into a state of grace at times. Tbal doesn 't happen ve1y often, but it happens sometimes. And at the end KJ I actually began painting - like man y peopl e do - as a kid, and of ii, you sit back in a state of sublime exbaustion and you say to even though I studied design, I was painting during my time in yourse lf; 'I don 't know exactly what bappened, but sometbing ve,y schoo l. I didn 't begin to respond to painting in a really personal, extraordinaiy happened. "7 Would you discuss this aspect ofyour revelatory way until my senior year at the Kansas City Att Institute work? when I took a drawing class from Bill Fuhri, who taught in the night school. His seriousness of purpo se and his attitude toward making KJ That's not something that I consc iously aim for. If I did, it marks was extraordin ary to me. I was introdu ced to something that wo uld scare me to death and I wo uldn 't make anyth ing. I am inter­ seemed to go beyo nd just teaching and into another realm, perhaps ested in the formal structure of how I make these things, but I'm not you might call it the realm of the "other." It conjured up emotion s in interested in a ruthless, systematic, programmed involvement. I don't me that made me decid e to take painting seriously. In grad uate have any set of rules - I just wo rk. I shift things around ; I alter color school at the University of Kansas, although I was there to study and light. At the same time that I'm adjusting these d1ings and mov­ illustration , I pursued painting in classes wid1 Robett Sudlow. Bob ing them around , I also let myself go with the painting. Occasionally, got me to go outside and work directly from the landscape. other things happ en while I'm painting where I'm in a sott of state d1at is such a charged place to be, but it can only come out of work. MR In an interview in 1988, you stated, ''I want there to be a kind I can't do it any other way. It rarely happ ens at the beginning of a of balance between a sense offormal exploration and at the same paintin g. It happe ns alorig midp oint when I've clone a lot of physical time a kind of metaphysical and spiritual exploration . "1 Would you wo rk and I'm somewhat tired and maybe slightly irritable and discuss the formal aspecls qfj 1our painting? maybe starting to lose patience. SuclclenJy something hap pens - it KJ One thing that most attists come to und erstand is that befo re a may be the way in which I make a stroke of paint. It may be some­ painting is a landscape or a still life or a portrait, it is also a sum of thing just so small that I can't even consciously tell you what it is. pa1ts that are abo ut shape and color. The success of any work But it hap pens. To a certain extent, it's like a long-distance runn er depend s upon its forma l abstract dynamics - shape, color, pos itive­ who comes up to the "wall" and either breaks through the wall and negative space and the arrangement of these elements on the picture finishes the marathon or doesn 't. That happ ens to me in making the plane. These things inform and elaborate on the subject matter and painting. The paintings always have the most incredib ly delicate bal­ give a paintin g its energy. When my paintin gs work , they work at a ance betwee n success and failure. It's d1e most interesting when it level that is consciously forma l. I also hop e that the images go a step reaches that state. I can either go too far with it and coun ruin or not futth er into some kind of spiritual realm, but I can't be guaranteed of go far enough. When I sit astride success and ruination, mat's when that. That 's a kind of romant ic wish on my part. If peo ple come to a it seems to be working at its best becaus e of the tension. It's like a painting and they respo nd in a ve1y positive way, then I think that riddle being solved, and yet at the encl when I solve it, I'm not really they respond both to the forma l dynamics of the painting as we ll as sure how I solved it. I guess I don't want to know too much about it. the subject. Let us hop e mey'll have some kind of emotional experi­ MR Your earlier landscapes were painted on location. V(/hen and ence wid1 the painting that will go beyond words and beyond some wby did you move back to the studio? kind of intellectual explanation. I supp ose that it has something to do w ith the spiritual aspect of it. I don 't know if spiritual is the right KJ When I first sta1tecl painting directly from the source in 1966, I word for it. thou ght I wo uld never come back into the studio again. The coun­ ttys icle was my studio. I tried to become immersed in the landscape MR 17Jenit would be appropriate to say tbat you bope to evoke and someh ow make something of that. It was a ve1y exciting experi­ responsesjiwn the viewer on a metapborical or spiritual level as well? ence. I worked directly from the source from 1966 to 1978. KJ There are times when I read the paintin gs in the most practical Occasionally during that time, I would t1y to make a painting in the way and I believe that they are simply abo ut see ing the light falling stud io, and it never see med to wo rk. Standing before the landscape across a space in the landscape in the late afterno on. I know that and nature encouraged me to make the paintings. I was not capable there are also times when I under stand that a painting is about my of going back into the studio and working from imagination. By relationship wim my wife, the rnemo1y of a lover, memories of flying 1977 or 1978, I began to feel that work ing from the source was with my father when I was a kid or conversations with various peo­ becoming a kind of tyranny. I had to get awa y from the landscape to ple. The paintings have to be about my life. I wo uldn 't be interested see it clearly. By painting pa1t of a canvas outside and pa1t of it in in them if they were on ly documenting the land scape . They have to the studio, I could be more involved in the formal aspects of things. go beyond that. Landscape is about geography and topogra ph y. On So, about 1977 or 1978, I began making paintings that were from anoth er level, it becomes a metaphor for other things that I don't memo1y, but I was also bringing paintings in from out-of-doo rs and always und erstand. People have their own sort of symbiosis with a using them for studies in the studio. I discovered that when I was in painting. They bring their ideas about metaphor in a painting to me. the studio, I had a greater freedom to imagine, to change color and Sometimes I'm amazed that I hadn 't thought about what they see, to alter things that I wou ld not have clone if I had been look ing at although what they've see n is ve1y natural. I wonder why I didn 't them directly. recog nize that. To a degree , I'm an old-fashion ed painter and not a MR Do the post-1978 paintin gs represent a syntb esis qf the real and mod ernist painter when I talk this way. I don 't want the painting to the idea/? be only about itself. I want it to be something more. I aspire to that. I'm not always sure exac tly how I reac h it and sometimes I'm not KJ Yes, I think that's what I wo uld call it. Also, I came to feel ve1y abso lutely sure that I reach it at all. For me, the painting is abo ut strongly abo ut what I call the patina of memo1y. The difference Dog Days, Platte Valley, 1989, oil on canvas, 44" x 100", Collection Kansas City A.it Institute, Ma1y and Crosby Kemper Collection Gift of the R.C. Kemper Charitable Trust and Foundation bet\veen direct obse rvation and direct observa tion comb ined with Some people might be surprised to discover that I have looke d at a memo1y began to interest me. Memo1y gets won derfully cluttered lot of people like Willem DeKooning , Mark Rothko and Frank Stella. and builds layer upon layer of expe rience and idea . What is clone in MR How do you see you r work in terms of lcmdscape painting in this the studio is not necessa rily the "ideal" but is something removed centw y? from the direct source of obse1va tion. In the studio , the activity of painting itself beco mes as import ant as the activity of obse1ving the KJ I certainly feel a kinship with man y contempora ry painters, landscape when I'm outside. Outside , I didn 't feel free to alter or to although I don 't have a lot of contact with them. In a way , I chose to leave out or to invent. I still go out four or fiv e times a week and I live in Nebraska because there is a ce1tain kind of sublime isolation draw or make wate rcolors. Most of the oil-on-canvas work is clone in here that I really like. I believe that one can be as sophisticated abo ut the stud io and much of it add resses this idea of obse1vation and what 's going on while living in Lincoln as one can be living in New memo1y - bringing a lot of things toget her at once in one format or York. I feel I'm just a part of this long histo1y of peo ple who have image. paid attention to the landscape and made it a catalyst and excuse for making a painting , which is what subject is really all about. We all MR Tbere are several ofyou rj ourna /s inc/11ded in the exhibition. find something that somehow wo rks in a kind of close symbiosis How do they relate to yo ur work? with our fears and our needs and our desires and our concepts , and KJ The journals relate a great deal to my paintings. Oftentimes, we use that in some way as a catalyst for making paintings. In my whe n I'm working on a painting in the studio, I'm referring back to case , it's the landscape beca use I feel that it has a ve1y broad rep re­ journals. I have also mad e paintings in the studio that came from sentation, almost a kind of international und erstandin g. Eve1yone can reading things in my journals. In fact, clue to the rece nt intense cold, relate to it. Some peop le wo uld find that to be a negative, but I think I haven 't been able to stay out for long periods of time to wo rk. But it is ve1y positive. I app reciate what other peo ple are doing, and I one thing that I do is write in my journals when I get back from the have eno rmous respect for those peop le who have come before me count1y, and I've written seve ral passages that are going to encl up and son of built the road , who have stuck to it. I think specifically of being paintings because the words that I wrote are so rich to me that people who have come before me in the last 50 years, during the they literally conjure up images in my head. Sometin1es, whe n I'm raging Abstract Expressionist movement - during a time whe n wo rking on a painting in the studio and I've come to a point where Cleme nt Greenberg was almost like Jose ph McCanhy. If you didn't the energy of the painting and my energy for making the painting follow his dictation , you just were n't going to be paid attention to. seem to be subsiding, it's not at all unu sual for me to go back and Artists like Jan e Freilicher, Jane Wilson, Wolf Kahn, Paul Resika, Paul loo k through my journa ls. I look at the little paintings that I make in Geo rges , Jack Beal and a whole countless group of people were my jou rnals and read what I've written and sort of energize myself to immensely strong-willed and followed their voice. They stood up for cont inue the painting. The journals are a pan of the process. what they believed in and made it through Abstract Express ionism and were able to maintain their balance throu gh this onslaught of MR \f//Jic/Jpainters /Jave inj1uenced your work? Greenbe rgian criticism. Thes e are the artists who gave me and othe r KJ When I began study ing painting serious ly, I looked at 17th cen­ painters the faith to cont inue and to say that the landscape is a ve1y tu1y Dutch landscape paintings and the 19th centllly English painters valid place to be work ing and making images . I see these people as John Constable and J M.W. Turner. I constant ly look back at great heroes. I would like to think that I'm a ve1y small pan of that. AI11erican painters Frederick Chur ch, Albert Pinkham Ryder and Martin Johnson Heade . In the 20th centu1y , I have a great affection 1. Deeds , Daphne , The Valley Series: Recen t Paintings hy Keith for peop le like Charles Burchfield , Edwa rd Hopper, John Marin and Jacohs/Jagen, Sheldon Memorial A.it Galle1y , Lincoln, Nebraska , 1988. A1thur Dove. Even more contemp ora1y is Wolf Kahn , who mad e a deep impression on me and encouraged me to continu e to wo rk. 2. Deeds, ibid. Biography Keith Jacobshagen w as born in Wi chita, Kansas, in 1941. He is curr ently a professor at the University of ebraska, Linco ln . Education 1968 Univ ersity of Kansas, M .F.A. 1965 Kansas City An Institut e, B.F.A.

Selected Solo Exhibitions 1992 Dony Gates Galle1y, Kansas City, Missouri 1991 Grinn ell College, Grinnell , Iowa 1990 Babcoc k Galleries, New York , New York Don y Gates Galle1y, Kansas City , Missouri Sardoni Museum , Auburn , New York 1989 Roger Ramsay Galle1y , Chicago, Illin ois 1988 Sheldon Memor ial An Galle1y , Lincoln, ebraska The Philbrook Mu seum of An , Tul sa, Ok lahoma 1987 Land fall Press, New York , New Yo rk Peru State College, Peru , Nebraska 1986 Roger Ramsay Galle1y , Chicago , Illin ois 1984 Museum of Fine An s, Utah State University , Salt Lake City No rman R. Eppink An Galle1y , Emporia State University , Empo ria, Kansas 1983 Joslyn An Museum , Omaha , Nebraska

Selected Group Exhibitions 1992 John Pence Gall e1y , American Landscap e Paintin g, Past and Near Ashland, Near Dark, 1990, oil on canvas, 60" x 56", Present, San Francisco, Cali forni a Collection Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Smith Jr., Chicago, Illin ois Tatischeff Galle1y , Under the 111/Zuence, Mentors/ Teachers/Colleagues, Santa Moni ca, California Comdi sco, Rosemont, Illin ois Am erican Academy and In stitut e of Art s and Letters, Federal Rese1ve System, Washingto n, D.C. Hassam and Speicher Purchase Exhibitio n, New York , New York First Nationa l Bank of O maha, Neb raska 1991 Mitchell Museum , Spirito/the Landscape , Mt. Vernon , Illin ois General Mi lls Compan y, Minn eapo lis, Minn esota Wichita Center for the Ans , Publi c Territo1y , Wi chita , Kansas Hallm ark Cards In c., Kansas City, Missou ri 1990 Joslyn A.tt Museum, lVlidland s In vitational 1990, Om aha, Nebraska Joslyn Museum of An , Om aha, Nebraska Kansas City Art In stitut e, Ma,y and Crosby Kemp er Collection, Sioux City A.tt Center, Amer ican Myth, Sioux City, Iowa Kansas City, Missouri 1989 Californi a Palace of the Legion of Honor, Viewpoint Seven: elson-Atkin s Mu seum of Art , Kansas City , Missouri Twen tieth Centuiy Ameri can Landscape Drawings, San Francisco, No non Simon Museum , Pasadena, Californi a Californ ia Pennsylvania Academy of Fine At-rs, Philad elphi a, Pennsylvania Joslyn An Museum , Selected Work.from the Frederick R. Weisman Philb roo k Museu m of A.tt, Tu lsa, Ok lahoma Foundati on, Omah a, Nebraska heldon Memorial Atl Galle,y, Lincoln, Neb raska Sheldon Memorial Att Gallery, Lincoln , Nebraska 1988 Private Choices, Spencer Mu seum of Atl , Lawrence, Kansas 1987 Philbrook A.rt Center, Collector 's Choice, Tulsa , Oklahom a Stinson, Mag and Fizzell, Kansas City, Missouri Federal Rese1ve Board , Artisls Who Teach, Washin gton , D.C. United Missou ri Bancshares, Kansas City, Missouri 1986 Herron Galle1y , Contemporcny Midw est Land scape, Ackno,vledgments Indian apolis Center for Contemp ora1y A.tt, Indi anapo lis, Indi ana We are most gratefu l to Keit h Jacobshagen for his enthu siastic assistance A.tnerican Academy of A.tts and Letters, Chil de Hassam w ith this exhibiti on. Purchase Award, New York , New York John Drisco ll of Babcock Galleries, New Yo rk ; Dony Gates of San Francisco Museum of Modern A.tt, Am erican Realism: Dor ry Gates Galle,y , Kansas City, Missouri ; and Thomas Hatt of the Twentieth Century Dra wings and \.l7atercolors, San Francisco, Roger Ramsay Galle,y, Chicago, we re crucial to d1e presentation of this Californi a show , as we re the num erous private collectors and museums w ho so 1985 Nelson-Atkin s Mu seum of A.tt, Kan sas City Art Institute 's generously loaned wo rks. To them, we are deeply indebted. Fi1'St Century , Kansas City, Missouri Finally, we owe considerabl e thanks to Melissa Rountr ee, associate cura­ Tucson Museum of An , New Vista: Contempora1y Am erican tor, Hallm ark Fine A.tts Collection, for organizing the exhibit. Landsc ape, Tucson, A.t·izona Bru ce Ha,-cman, Dir ector, ]CCC Gallery of A.tl 1983 Kun sthall e, Contempora1y A merican Realism Since 1960, uremberg, Germ any (o rgani zed. by the Pennsylvania Th e artist w ishes to dedi cate d1is exhibiti on to Marguerite and No rman Academy of Fine Ans , Philad elphi a, Pennsylvania) Jacobshagen for their unwave ring suppon and und erstandin g. ioux City A.rt Center, Twelve Midwes tern Realists, Siou x City, Iowa Coue1'.·No 11hR oad. End of Dog Days, 1989, oil on canvas, 56" x 60", Selected Collections Collection Stin son, Mag and Fizzell , Kansas City , Missouri A.tnli Realty Co., Chicago, Illin ois Burlin gton Nonh ern , Kansas City , Missouri Johnson County Community College, Cultur al Education Center Chase Manhattan Bank , New York 12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS 66210-1299