Shane Lutzk (American, b. 1992) Large Black and White Vessel, 2019 Stoneware Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, 2019.13 Acquired with funds provided by the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Art Acquisition Endowment of the JCCC Foundation Shane Lutzk develops his monumental ceramic vessels by integrating the precision and structural components found in diverse architecture. While traveling abroad, he was greatly influenced by the historical buildings in Kecskemet, Hungary. His sculptures create a spatial connection with the viewer in large works like Blue Dripped Vessel because of the undulating forms and anthropomorphic scale. In addition to the towering symmetrical sculptures that demonstrate the artist's wheel throwing capabilities, Lutzk builds wall installations and free-standing amorphous sculpture, and these smaller objects are also wheel thrown at first - they are created with cross sections of thrown clay. Whether they retain the wheel's geometry or they take on an elastic undulatin g character through manipulation, Lutzk's clay works convey a personal message: at the age of nine, Lutzk was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, and much of his work depicts his struggle with this disease. He wants to bring both the ramifications and the positive outcomes that come from diabetes to the public's attention. In this work, the blue concentric circles signify the international symbol for diabetes awareness. Lutzk earned his MFA at Arizona State University in 2017 and his BFA in ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute in 2014. Kent Monkman (Canadian First Nations, Cree, b. 1965) Sepia Study for The Deposition, 2014 Watercolor and gouache on paper Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, 2017 Kent Monkman’s glamorous, gender-fluid alter-ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, appears in much of his work, including in this study for his painting The Deposition. Central to the composition is Monkman’s self-portrait as Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, recognizable by the stiletto-heeled boot of the dying figure’s left foot that emerges from the shroud draped across his body. In his lap, he cradles a Cubist female figure taken directly from Picasso’s Guernica, painted in response to the devastating bombing of the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War. Like the Picasso figure, the dying Indigenous man appears to have been the victim of violence. Four young First Nations men support his limp body, shown with arms outstretched and head tilted backward. Monkman combines the tragedy of the death of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle with the religious iconography of Renaissance depictions of the deposition of Christ, while the figure draped across his lap brings to mind Michelangelo’s sculpture of the Pietà, in which Mary tenderly holds the body of her dead son. Kent Monkman received an Illustration Diploma from Sheridan College of Applied Art, Ontario, Canada, in 1986. Kent Monkman (Canadian First Nations, Cree, b. 1965) Sepia Study for Death of the Female, 2014 Watercolor and gouache on paper Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, 2017.27 Cree artist Kent Monkman often addresses themes of colonization, sexuality, loss and resilience in his explorations into the complexities of historical and contemporary Indigenous experience. In this figural study, Monkman relies heavily on iconographic images of art history. The central figure of the dying female immediately calls to mind the Cubist renderings of Pablo Picasso. The surrounding figures are arranged in a composition seen in paintings such as The Death of General Wolfe, by Benjamin West, or, moving even further back into the art historical canon, to Renaissance depictions of the deposition of Christ from the cross. The scene, created as a study for a large-scale painting, is filled with drama and intimacy. The Indigenous men attending to the dying woman bend and move with great emotion; their placement and positioning lead the viewer’s eye back toward the dying woman. Although Western artistic sources influence Monkman, his subject matter is informed by the violence often perpetrated against First Nations women. Ronald Jackson • American, b. 1970 in Helena, Arkansas • Studied architecture at Mission Viejo College in California • Served in the Army for 21 years, retired in 2014 • Lives and works in Fredericksburg, Virginia Body of Work Ronald Jackson grew up in the rural Arkansas Delta is self-taught in art. Even though he studied architecture in college, he explained: “I realize that its more about observing things around us, whether its architecture, textures and things, or how colors collaborate together.” Fabric collage is a new aesthetic choice. He said, “I purchased a large piece of upholstery fabric [and] I was so moved by the feel of it and how it looked that I draped it on my wall, and it gave a different feeling to the room. Not just the experience of looking at the fabric, but it changed the environment of the room. And that’s a quality that the material gave to the observing experience.” Jackson’s artwork combines fantastical elements of Realism and the emotional and psychological tropes of Romanticism. In his current work, he subtly references Arkansas rural culture and violent racist history, specifically the Elaine Massacre of 1919. He stated, “After WWI there is an incident that occurred in the small town of Elaine… The Black sharecroppers were organizing, and it was attempted to be stopped. A white man ended up getting killed, and after that point there was a mob of locals, when I say locals I mean the white population, they came from counties, from across the river, from Mississippi, and truckloads began going through and just pillaging the communities of the Blacks and it was open season to just target and violate or do whatever to the black community.” Instead of limiting himself to direct portraiture, Jackson has always felt he was able to render life-like faces, and he seeks creative departures with patterns and objects accompanying the figures. He said, “A number of my paintings incorporate foliage, or flowers, branch with leaves, particularly in the hands of young black men, [they will] have something that is considered non-threatening like rendering an extended olive branch as something that no one would find threatening in the hands of a young black man. Masks have two dual purposes; to hide/conceal or project an ideal. With the mask, I thought it would be an interesting concept to explore and present to the viewer who they are looking at and potentially the message that the portrait is giving to the viewer.” Jackson stated, “May my work compel the viewer to reflect on their own experiences and become a catalyst to trigger the self-discovery of value, beauty, and significance among people who, in some way, may feel marginalized.” In 2010, he entered his first exhibition at the Fredericksburg Center for Creative Arts and received the Best of Show award. In 2011, he had his first solo exhibition at the Libertytown Arts Workshop in Fredericksburg. Subsequent exhibitions include the Gallery Golmok in Seoul, Korea; Elegba Folklore Society in Richmond, Virginia; Target Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia; and Galerie Myrtis in Baltimore, Maryland. His works are in national and international collections including the US Embassy in Gabon and Kenya. Installation image: Pulse, 2018/2019 Ronald Jackson (American, b. 1970) Portrait No. 4 (Colored Folk Tales series), 2019 Fabric, acrylic, and oil on paper Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, 2019.12 Acquired with funds provided by the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Art Acquisition Endowment of the JCCC Foundation Ronald Jackson’s artwork combines fantastical elements of Realism and the emotional and psychological tropes of Romanticism. In his current work, he subtly references Arkansas rural culture and violent racist history through portraits. Jackson has always felt he was able to render life-like faces, but instead of limiting himself to direct portraiture, he seeks creative departures with fabric patterns and objects accompanying the figures and often disguising them. He said, “masks have two dual purposes; to hide/conceal or project an ideal. With the mask, I thought it would be an interesting concept to explore and present to the viewer who they are looking at and potentially the message that the portrait is giving to the viewer.” Jackson stated, “May my work compel the viewer to reflect on their own experiences and become a catalyst to trigger the self- discovery of value, beauty, and significance among people who, in some way, may feel marginalized.” By covering the faces of his characters, Jackson offers seemingly nonthreatening interventions that facilitate and problematize viewers’ relationship to Black bodies. Now based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Ronald Jackson grew up in the rural Arkansas Delta. He studied architecture at Mission Viejo College in California and is self-taught in art. He retired from the military in 2014 after 21 years of service. His Profiles of Color paintings were featured in the Nerman Museum’s 2018/2019 exhibition Pulse. Huma Bhabha • Pakistani, b. 1962 in Karachi, Pakistan • Lives and works in New York • 1989 MFA from Columbia University in New York, 1985 BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence Body of Work Working with found materials and constructed forms, Huma Bhabha reworks the familiarity of everyday objects into creepy inventions. Something between a primitive species and space alien, her Untitled is both ghastly and sympathetic. Set atop an altar- like plinth, Bhabha’s figure prostrates in submissive position. Shrouded in black, hands outstretched as if in prayer, it echoes humility and reverence; its aura of calm perversely interrupted by a rigid tail trailing out from behind. To Bhabha’s chagrin, the press interpreted the piece as a comment of Muslim women when it appeared in the show USA Today at London’s Royal Academy in 2005; the artist sees the piece as sexless, clad in a body bag, not burkha, it’s intended as a disintegrating monument to the hundreds of thousands dead in the Middle East.