I've curated over 200 group art shows in the DC area since the mid 90s, and often I find that the first piece chosen often also speaks about the show as a whole.
My formula for group shows is essentially the same, and a proven, successful, and bordering on brilliant technique: the group show is a pyramid of artists at various points in their artistic career and development - blue chip, well-known artists; a large set of well-known, mid career artists, and the pyramid's wide and powerful base: a set of young (not simply in age, but perhaps also in artistic age - think of a 95 year-old artist who just started painting five years ago) artists who need the exposure and push that a well attended, widely publicized, and wildly successful art show offers their young careers.
In this latter set, I also include artists who are "new" to me. My logic is that if I haven't heard of them, no matter how advanced anyone else thinks they are (or perhaps even the artist her/himself), then they are in need of exposure.
Selena “Noir” Jackson, was born and raised in Washington DC, attended Montgomery College School of Art where she earned her A.F.A. in Studio Arts, and from what I can tell from her website, has not exhibited widely around here or anywhere else.
One of her works, titled "Comparative Anatomy (Petrus Camper)" and illustrated below, is the first piece that I have chosen for the epic "Women Artists of the DMV" survey show.
%20-%2024x36.jpg "Jackson, Selena - Comparative Anatomy (Petrus Camper) - 24x36 by Selena Jackson") |
| Comparative Anatomy (Petrus Camper) - 24x36 by Selena Jackson Courtesy of the Grace McNicolas Collection |
This is an immensely talented painter. A quick walk through her website quickly reveals that Jackson already owns the technical skills of a much more mature painter. Her brush work is impeccable and her texture and color application techniques already at a top level.
I predict great success for this artist.
