Artist: Robert C. Jackson

Gallery Henoch presents It’s a Colorful Life, Robert C. Jackson’s eighth solo exhibition with the gallery. His new series of paintings continues to infuse humor into the still life genre, blending nostalgia with comedy. The show coincides with the release of the artist’s book of the same title.

In this collection of paintings, Robert C. Jackson’s signature characters return to play a central role in the artist’s storytelling. Bringing forth entertaining new ideas, Jackson paints still lifes that brim with potential movement and witty punchlines. Scavenging through vintage stores for the perfect items Jackson says, “I’m a fan of nostalgia. I love leaning into the warm fuzzies that people get when they have a fond memory of something; those feelings help them connect to the messages in my paintings.” His soda box still lifes like Philosophy 101 and Always One highlight Jackson’s ability to meld comical figurines and elements with relatable situations.

In pieces like Scoops and Donut Stackers Jackson presents his iconic balloon dogs in anthropomorphized scenes of debauchery. Breaking the fourth wall, certain dogs cheekily face the viewer, seemingly inviting us in on the joke. Jackson says, “Funny is hard work. I’ve always loved the phrase “seriously funny” and often have written it in my sketchbook. It is my hope that my paintings will find a home and will hang on that wall for a long time, so I want to create paintings that make people smile again and again. I challenge myself to create punchlines that are eternally funny, I want a painting to have legs and last beyond simple, pithy statements.”

Jackson has exhibited at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, the Butler Art Institute, the Greenville Museum, the Brandywine River Museum of Art, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Delaware Art Museum, the Evansville Museum of Art, the Philbrook Museum, the South Dakota Museum of Art, the Islip Art Museum, and the Hunter Museum. He lives and works in Kennett Square, PA.