Art at the Y presents
New Americans: Our Mutual Improvement & Social Elevation
Works by Jason Patterson
Join us for Jason Patterson’s show opening this Thursday in the Y’s Murphy Gallery, 1001 S. Wright Street, Champaign. Viewing begins at 7pm followed by a talk with the artist himself at 7:30pm.
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The University YMCA is pleased to present New Americans: Our Mutual Improvement & Social Elevation, works by Jason Patterson. Jason Patterson’s art show opening begins at 7pm on Thursday, October 23 in the Y’s Murphy Gallery, 1001 South Wright Street, Champaign, Illinois. Jason will give an artist’s talk at 7:30pm. New Americans: Our Mutual Improvement & Social Elevation will be on view in the Y’s Murphy Gallery through December 2014.
About The Artist: Jason Patterson is a Midwestern American history artist. Working predominantly in portraiture, his work objectively reviews The American Narrative. Jason Patterson was recently named the 2014 Artist ACE winner for his outstanding achievement in impactful and powerful American history portraiture, and for his contributions to the excellence of the arts in Champaign County.
New Americans: Our Mutual Improvement & Social Elevation is a stylized, contemporary examination of images of African Americans emerging from the decades following the Civil War. This collection of portraits is fabricated after tintypes, Daguerreotypes, cartes-de-visite prints, and ambrotypes, and is set in frames modeled after that period’s interior design and architecture. These works are drawings, rendered with chalk or soft pastel and varnished to emulate their photographic source and reference the portrait paintings of the mid to late 19th century, which represented class and standing. This group of objects intends to glorify that new age for African Americans, focusing on the freedom, hope, and happiness many former slaves and free-born Black citizens saw ahead of themselves after the Civil War. This work is not meant to tell a comprehensive history. It is an idealized history. A life that should have been opportune to all, but was only seen by few.
Cover Image: Drawing of an oval bust portrait of a man in four piece suit & bow tie. After a tintype taken by an unknown photographer or studio. From Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library’s Randolph Linsly Simpson Collection. Soft pastel on raw canvas, under clear acrylic & polymer varnish, with acrylic paint & composite gold leaf. 16x20in. 2013-14
Websites: jasonpattersonart.
Additional Information: All Art @ the Y events are free and open to the public. Art @ the Y is an initiative of the University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright Street Champaign
Some of the most profound insight, critique, and creative thinking around the issues which comprise the mission of the Y happen in and around the arts. Art @ the Y seeks to engage issues of social justice, international understanding, environmental activism, faith and cultural understanding through quality arts programming. Art @ the Y includes a revolving exhibition space in Murphy Gallery, featuring artists whose work speaks to the mission of the Y and performing arts events throughout the year.
Parking Nearby:
- Parking lot on 6th between Daniel & Chalmers – Free after 5 p.m.
- Parking garage on 6th & John – Free after 5 p.m.
- Street parking on Wright, Chalmers, & 6th Streets for 75¢ per hour.
- Municipal lot on Green & 5th Streets for $1 per hour.