"Interrupting Your Regularly Scheduled Bad News" Exhibition at Fischer Galleries

There are times when art should be challenging.  Sometimes it is necessary for artwork to make us question social norms, to laugh at things which we take too seriously, or to make us take more seriously that which we minimize.  We can even be grateful that at times artwork can be shocking and provocative.  Work such as this can be most powerful during times of social ease.  When things are going well we often need the reminder that times of confusion and strain are right around the corner and those times are already present for some.  

With the exhibition “Interrupting Your Regularly Scheduled Bad News” at Fischer Galleries in Jackson, Mississippi, I want to present the opposing side of that concept.   We are at a unique time of high anxiety for a large portion of the world.  The persistent COVID-19 pandemic and ridiculously divisive politics have affected us all and the arts have an important role to play in response.  

It is true that it would be valid for us to scream through our work about the difficulties we are facing.  But it is all the more powerful for art to remind us of the beauty which embraces us.  There is security in proportions, hope in color, and strength in lines.  

I have chosen to focus my attention on nature for this body of work.  It is certainly the largest group of nature themed paintings I have produced and, as my wife pointed out, the largest group of “pretty paintings” I have produced.  However, making “pretty” things doesn’t fully describe my intention.  It is my hope that any beauty that comes through the work brings with it an easing of the spirit.  I pray that the time spent considering the images brings a calming reassurance that the world is full of things more worthy of our intention than the regularly scheduled bad news.