With this body of work Julian Jackson has made a shift in what is described in the press release as, “departing from abstracted interiors and focusing on light as the subject”.  These new paintings do indeed depart from the rectilinear forms he previously employed and the change opens the work to a more cosmic reading with a specific focus on pure luminosity.  What has not changed significantly is the artist’s combination of a range of colorful hues embedded within a soft Gaussian blur.

The new work, like the old, is voluptuous, carefully constructed and creates an ethereal effect.  While these pieces are breathtakingly beautiful each offers a degree of variation to distinguish itself from the others.  Where some present a warmer color scheme others are imbued with one that is cooler.  Some employ a long, ‘landscape’, horizontal format while others are stunted verticals.  As with Sydney Blum’s work (reviewed above) the artist has mastered a particular way of working as to paint handling and color range and to become exceedingly adept in the approach. But I wonder how long the blurred focus and bright palette 

Julian Jackson, Flare, 2007, Oil on Canvas, 74 x 64 in

Julian Jackson, Cloud Light II, 2007, Oil on Canvas, 64 x 56 in

can be further sustained. The variations in color and form are not quite enough to shake an underlying feeling that I’m looking at variations of the same painting.

I can appreciate this as a purposeful, conceptual approach but I’m not totally convinced it is the artist’s intent.  On the other hand, Jackson is an artist who incorporates change in the same way he makes paintings - subtly.  To that extent, style, subject matter, substance and ultimately change are immutably locked together and from this perspective it may be that the body of work, as variations on a them, represents a comprehensive statement beyond individual painitngs.

Julian Jackson, Moment, 2007, Oil on Canvas, 28 x 64 in