Robert Coleman Jackson (born October 17, 1964) is an American painter and author based in
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World because mushroom farming in the region produces over 500 million pounds of mushrooms a year, totaling half of the United ...
. He is known for his
realistic still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
paintings.
Biography
Jackson graduated in 1986 from the
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...
with a BS degree in
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
. As an elective during his senior year in college, Jackson took his first painting class. From 1986 to 1990 he worked at
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...
as a systems engineer and designed radio systems. He was an assistant pastor for Cedar Ridge Community Church in the Washington DC suburbs from 1990 to 1996. He has been working full-time as an artist since 1996. Jackson was the
Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science
The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science is a general-interest museum located on the Ohio riverfront in downtown Evansville, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1904, it is one of Southern Indiana's most established and significant cultural ...
's 2012 artist-in-residence.
Career
Jackson's paintings are considered
representational and influenced by
pop art. His usual medium is
oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...
on stretched linen. He primarily works from life, setting up unique arrangements, when possible, in his studio before executing the paintings. His works contain themes of humor and nostalgia.
A monograph about his work was published in 2012 by Philip Eliasoph: “The paintings ... are inescapably a bundle of contradictions, satirical complexities, and witty subterfuge. Essentially, Jackson is a uniquely self-realized painter. His feisty independence is fortified with healthy dosages of non-conforming eccentricity, with a small touch of screwball nuttiness.”
His work has been shown in over 30 solo exhibitions and 100 group exhibitions in the United States and is in numerous private, corporate, and museum collections.
Solo museum exhibits include the
Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science
The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science is a general-interest museum located on the Ohio riverfront in downtown Evansville, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1904, it is one of Southern Indiana's most established and significant cultural ...
and the South Dakota Art Museum.
Group exhibitions include the
Delaware Art Museum
The Delaware Art Museum is an art museum located on the Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, Delaware, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 objects. The museum was founded in 1912 as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in honor of the artis ...
,
Philbrook Museum of Art
Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his wi ...
,
Hunter Museum,
Greenville County Museum of Art
The Greenville County Museum of Art (GCMA) is an art museum located in Greenville, South Carolina. Its collections focus mainly on American art, and its holdings include works by Andrew Wyeth, Josef Albers, Jasper Johns (raised in South Carolina), ...
,
John F. Peto Studio Museum, Islip Art Museum,
Noyes Museum of Art
The Noyes Museum of Art is an art museum. It styles itself as the only fine arts museum in southern New Jersey. The museum opened in 1983 in Galloway Township, New Jersey. Due to lack of funds for needed repairs, the main Galloway building in ...
, and the
Brandywine River Museum
The Brandywine Museum of Art is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. The museum showcases the work of Andrew Wyeth, a major American realist painter, and ...
.
Public collections include the
Brandywine River Museum
The Brandywine Museum of Art is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. The museum showcases the work of Andrew Wyeth, a major American realist painter, and ...
,
New Britain Museum of American Art
The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art.
A total of 72,000 visits were made to the museum in the year ending June 30, 20 ...
,
Delaware Art Museum
The Delaware Art Museum is an art museum located on the Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, Delaware, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 objects. The museum was founded in 1912 as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in honor of the artis ...
, Seven Bridges Foundation, South Dakota Art Museum, and the
Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science
The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science is a general-interest museum located on the Ohio riverfront in downtown Evansville, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1904, it is one of Southern Indiana's most established and significant cultural ...
.
Published works
''Behind the Easel: The Unique Voices of 20 Contemporary Representational Painters'' (2014) The book became the basis for the Delaware Art Museum exhibition “Truth & Vision: 21st Century Realism” in 2016.
Further reading
* ''The World is Your Burger'' (2017)
* ''Object Project: Five Objects, Fifteen Artists'' (2007)
Robert C. Jackson’s Still Lifes Reveal Epic Battles Among Inanimate ObjectsOBJECT Project at the Museum of Outdoor ArtsA Visit With Robert C. Jackson At His Studio In Kennett Square, PAArt Imitates Life in Bob Jackson's Kennett Square Studio
References
External links
*
Artist finds still life is more than just bowls and flowers WHYY-TV
WHYY-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Wilmington, Delaware, United States, serving as the primary PBS member station for the Philadelphia area. It is owned by WHYY, Inc., alongside NPR member station WHYY-FM 90.9. WHYY-TV and ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Robert Coleman
Realist painters
American still life painters
20th-century American painters
21st-century American painters
21st-century American male artists
American male painters
1964 births
Living people
20th-century American male artists