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On James Seawright and Paul Jenkins

Jason Marrs

This is my "I was there" photo.

James Seawright, Mirror V, 1985, fiberglass, reinforced cement and mirrors, 66-1/2 x 66-1/2 inches. Photographed in situ at the Hunter Museum of American Art.

James Seawright's piece is a unique form of representational art in that it is not just a static simulacrum but instead its immediate representational content is variable. When one approaches the piece, at first the content is perplexing but from a closer vantage point, familiarity sets in as the forms come together. When looking at the form of this piece you can see an intent to grasp the viewer not just in that the piece is of the viewer but that the shape of the piece alone is coming toward the viewer, to wrap the viewer in its depths, to take them inside the piece. The shape of the piece is attractive to the audience. It is concave as the eye is convex; it is the reflection in both form and content.

James Seawright, Mirror V, 1985, fiberglass, reinforced cement and mirrors, 66-1/2 x 66-1/2 inches. http://talesoffloweringfortune.blogspot.com/

 

When looking at this work the viewer sees tiny blips of their self in a multiplicity of compounded images. It seems that the piece is making a statement about its viewers, and maybe society as well, that this is how a man or a woman feels they are seen: that everyone is looking at them and that they are the center of attention. Perhaps this work is making a statement of the self-centeredness of mankind. That each and everyone's reality is that they are the sun and everyone is revolving around them. It seems that this may be an underlying concept behind this image.

Paul Jenkins, Phenomena Royal Violet Visitation, 1977, acrylic on canvas, 55 x 169 inches.

 

This is a non-objective work that calls for contemplation and evokes emotion.

 

At the viewers' first glance of this work its form alters their point of view. It is a large piece, almost spanning an entire wall. Its volume pulls an audience. It makes one wonder at the power of size when they are reveling in its magnitude. With the piece's great size it has great depths. It makes use of an unusually large amount of negative space to keep the eye stable and away from straining to digest the abundance of color. Because of this, the rest area of negative space seems appropriately sized.

 

Looking from the contextual point of view gives the audience some insight on this piece

Jenkins shares some context on the creation of this piece in the wall text to give the audience some insight, he writes:

 

 

The word phenomenon came to me after finishing a painting which happened with no preconceived idea. The sensation of the experience happened within me, not outside me, as though it were done by a "medium."

 

 

When I read this statement it helped me see the piece differently, in that it didn't seem so random as before. Instead, this statement made me think that the piece was a kind of narrative of the artist's experience.

 

After gaining some perspective on the piece the viewer can more easily look into its expressive characteristics. The work's great contrast of value, bold colors, and dynamic lines all appeal to the emotion of the audience. Immense bursts of brilliant color fill the sight of the audience, each one contemplating what the artist means to express with such bold strokes. This piece is the antithesis of apathy. Either way the viewer must experience feeling. Perhaps feeling is all that is meant to be expressed.

 

Juxtaposing these two pieces brought out the contrast of the different experiences of representational and non-objective art for me. When looking at this representational work I feel familiarity and understanding. There is identification going on in my mind. However I feel a somewhat static state after that. Unless I give a particular effort, my mind does not continue to contemplate possible concepts behind the piece. On the other hand, in this non-objective piece my mind grasps for understanding but does not reach it. Therefore, the contemplation persists for a far greater period of time. This mental exercise, in my opinion, balances out the different experiences for each respective type of art so that they each have their benefits and are on a level playing field.