Description:

Jack Whitten is a material artist who focuses on how life events ultimately influence our work. This mini series follows Jack’s life from being growing up in the segregated south, to joining the Tuskegee in WW2, and then eventually developing in the art world. He discusses how it is import for the work we make as “art” should reflect influences from life’s past events, and through this an opportunity to represent larger ideas. For me, I enjoy his personal approach to art, Jack recognizes that art can be perceived as “pretentious”, yet for him he focuses on using material to express his own feelings towards a subject and in doing so representing something with intentional meaning. In terms of his art style, I love how intricate his pieces are, they are simple in graphic nature, Jack describes every piece as a “3 second gesture”. For such simple and direct payoff, I enjoy the detail and careful consideration to detail found in every piece. This inspires me to explore my own art projects not as replicated a known concept but rather explore an idea with my own intentions. I think it is important and critical to any creation that some part of you was put into the piece.

I hope you find this video insightful and interesting!

Reference:

Art 21. “Jack Whitten: An Artist’s Life”.youtube.com, Art 21. Mar.18 2018, https://youtu.be/GFVsd450nCU