JERALD IEANS

Ieans masterfully melds color, form and technique to create sensuous, yet precise, organic abstractions that recall his early interest in color-field painting and minimalism. Working in oil on canvas on wood, Ieans overlays large biomorphic shapes executed in colors that evoke personal meaning for him. Textured brushstrokes activate the composition and the forms appear to morph and shift within the confines of the strong rectangle of the support structure. In 2001, Ieans's paintings were seen in Thelma Golden's Freestyle exhibition at The Studio Museum in Harlem, and in the January 2002 Artforum, Ieans was introduced by Robert Storr, Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, as a young artist who "shows special promise for the year ahead."

Jerald Ieans chose to bypass art school in favor of painting daily in his studio, reading about art and visiting the Saint Louis Art Museum where he studied their collection of modern and contemporary masters. By the age of twenty-four, Ieans's distinctive style garnered him the honor of being the youngest artist ever to be given a solo exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum in their "Currents" series.
At first glance, the paintings of Jerald Ieans are striking, and enigmatic. Large colorful, seemingly spontaneous abstractions float inside the confines of each canvas. The images are easy on the eye. Light and dark sway together and around each other; shapes curl and dance like foam on the tip of a wave. Juxtaposing tones create a sense of depth and differentiation, and amorphous forms in often innocent hues combine to recall pop culture influences of the late sixties. The overall effect is pleasurable, and at times vaguely nostalgic.
Jerald Ieans's work can be found in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the St. Louis Art museum, the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and the UBS Art Collection Los Angeles.