D. Jack Solomon: EXCERPT 2001-2021

Exhibition Dates: June 21 - July 16, 2022

Reception: Thursday, June 23, 5pM - 8pm

The Painting Center is pleased to present EXCERPT 2001 - 2021, a solo exhibition of paintings by D. Jack Solomon curated by Georgia Elrod. The works in this exhibition reflect the artist’s ongoing exploration of composition, forms and vibrant painterly structures. Our eyes travel the surface on a sometimes zany ride into found imagery and collage, cartoon, whimsical shapes, and radiating color. The artist meticulously crafts his paintings, often painting directly over collage. We benefit from Solomon’s skill and expertise over decades of painting to guide us into a state that traverses the comic, tragic, graphic and subtle. David Brickman says of this work, “the master is both of his time and outside his time – he must speak to us in a language we understand, but he must also show us new things we otherwise would never see without his guidance. Solomon is exactly that. He has adopted tropes and tricks from sources as diverse as abstract expressionism, early modernism, ’60s pop, even the current fascination with cartoon imagery, and melded them into a gloriously complex yet unified whole. From this unique style we can derive entertainment, awe, perhaps enlightenment – and always visual excitement.”

We play in these paintings, our eyes dart and weave over imagery and intimate marks. The results of the artist’s creation of form from chaos feel both lyrical and strong. Stephen Westfall says of his work, “given how many different elements coexist in Solomon’s compositions, the serenity and gentleness of the paintings is unexpected. They teem with invention, but don’t feel crowded. A glow suffuses them, like lights coming up on the walls of a theater after the curtain. I think of the various planes that open up into each other in his compositions, or slide out from behind each other like the spread of an abstract deck of cards as curiously suspended between atmosphere and solidity. The paint surfaces are evenly spread and the color gradations cast this hazy indoor light that that casts a spell of ambiguity that unlocks the geometric precision of Solomon’s placement of forms.”

Jack Solomon earned his B.A. from San Diego State College, and M.A. from San Francisco State College. He also served in the Underwater Demolition Team in the U.S. Navy from 1953 – 57. His work has been featured in many solo exhibitions, most recently at Gallery A, Richmond, VA; Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY; Conde Nast Gallery, New York, NY; Clement Art Gallery, Troy, NY; and Albany Center Gallery, Albany, NY. His work has been included in recent group exhibitions at Lockwood Gallery, Kingston, NY; Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham NY; Cross Cotemporary, Saugerties, NY; Scarlet Seven Fine Art Gallery, Troy, NY; and Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA. His works can be found in many public collections, including the Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; and Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA. His awards include grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation; Rensselaer County Council for the Arts; Change, Inc; and a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Grant. Solomon has taught at many colleges and universities, including Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; Brooklyn Museum School of Art, Brooklyn, NY; SUNY Purchase, Purchase, NY; SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY; and 29 years at Parsons School of Design in New York, City, retiring in 2011. He currently lives and works in Hudson, NY with his wife, and fellow artist, Jeannette Fintz.

For more information on the artist, please visit www.djacksolomon.com.