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