Untitled Painting (7.2.81)
1981
On a canvas of immense scale, Oliver Jackson stages a drama with gestural brush strokes and enigmatic figures. When asked about his choices, he said he wanted "an environment expansive and open-ended enough for the figure to breathe and move." At times he has identified some of his figures as dommo, an archetype of the Dogon culture of Mali. Dommo were amorphous deities who brought gifts of civilization and social order to humankind. At other times, the artist cites his association with jazz musicians in his hometown of St. Louis as being a source for "a harmony that exceeds logic."
Oil-based enamel on cotton canvas
108 1/2 x 180 in. (275.59 x 457.2 cm)
Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund
82.158
Provenance: [The Quay Gallery, San Francisco, California]; purchased by the Seattle Art Museum, December 16, 1982
Photo: Paul Macapia