February 8, 2007 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) – New paintings by Jason Craighead will be on view at Somerhill Gallery from February 18 through March 23, with a public opening reception to be held Sunday the 18th from 2-5 p.m.
Craighead, considered one of the leading abstract expressionists in the Southeast, is known for predominantly large-scale canvases that combine acrylic, oil pastel, and graphite in multiple layers of color, lines, and drips. In his most recent work, including the canvases at Somerhill, all but random segments of color and line are “painted out” behind veils of thin white pigment, evoking a sense of peering through the veil to discover what lies within. The remaining marks on the canvas, often inspired by elements of the urban landscape, such as construction cranes, serve as records of spontaneous gestures.
Craighead describes his work as a “purely intuitive process as I’m acting and responding to what appears on the canvas. Each step leads to another. There’s an on-going dialogue – or argument – between my work and me. It’s very improvisational, and each piece is only a small part of this greater vision—of a whole body of work. I’m going to push it and change it a little every time, but each painting sets me up to do another.”
Joseph Rowand, Somerhill’s owner and curator, recently remarked, “I am struck by Jason’s way of simplifying or magnifying a thought or an experience into a comprehensible, imaginable form. With line, emerging forms and juicy painterly passages on canvas, Jason does what a gifted artist is supposed to make us do. And that is to stop us to better ponder what we might not otherwise. In lots of years of artist-watching, I see Jason as that brand of gifted painter, who in a young and concentrated career, is maturing into the artist Somerhill is proud to represent today.”
The artist’s work has been included in solo and group exhibitions throughout the Southeastern United States. He has received numerous awards and served as a juror for various art shows. He has been selected as Signature Artist for charitable art auctions, and his work has been featured in a number of publications, including Artists & Art Galleries of the Southeast (July 2006).
Works by Nick Wade, a mountain landscapes painter from Western North Carolina, will also be featured in this special exhibition.
For more information and images, contact Tim Mainiero at somerhill@mindspring.com (919-968-8868)
