Jim Jacob - The Cutting Edge

This exhibition by the American artist Jim Jacob of 50 hand-cut linoleum block-on-paper prints is comprised of work produced between 1977-1997.

In this twenty-year span, many of the prints were produced in an annual end of the year winter solstice ritual, printed in a limited suite and sent to a close circle of friends. In 1991 thirteen of these prints were editioned and compiled in a portfolio entitled The Solstice Suite.

Jacob's linocuts achieve a depth of tonal and textual qualities that have ties to the German Expressionists in their raw energy and directness. Yet, Jacob's is a more poetic vision; these prints reveal a mysterious world of fleeting images. They boldly depict ideas in a collage of elements that range from spinning sailboats to flaming hearts. His created spaces and slightly off kilter objects create a constant movement which challenges the eye. The repetition of geometrical designs takes the form of pyramids, sails, martini glasses and door lintels. Positive and negative compositions and silhouettes shaped like keyhole figures stimulate the viewer to unlock the mysteries within: what is implied, but just out of view; what has happened, but only the evidence remains; what is about to take place, but could take a twist in another direction. These black and white prints urge a fresh perspective of the familiar and the known as well as the elusive and the strange.

Jacob's earlier works have an underlying narrative insistence. These prints, related to Masarell's visual novels from the 1920's, create a dynamic yet elusive story. The architectural interiors are loaded with energy and meaning, establishing a tension in the precariousness of momentarily balanced objects. There is often a sense of vertigo and an element of anxiety in the repeated forms that imply a haunted and obsessive atmosphere.

Jacob's recent work, beginning in 1993, is heavily influenced by Mexican imagery. Many of these prints are finely detailed and executed with an arabesque intricacy reminiscent of Escher. Others are bold renditions of religious icons and themes. They are images of contemplation, of devotion, of a search for meaning in a symbolically charged iconography.

Linocut prints, compared to other graphic media, can often appear primitive and unrefined. Here their success relies on the excellent command of the medium and Jacob's compositional virtuosity. Linocuts have a greater physicality of surface; they retain visible traces of the act of cutting and gouging the block to create the image. The strong diagonal lines and surface details of the block give the prints a forcefulness and a stark beauty. Jacob's career as an artist and art professor has established him as an important painter and printmaker in the New Mexico art scene.

Katherine Slusher de Vilallonga
Exhibition Curator

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Jacob's linocuts achieve a depth of tonal and textual qualities that have ties to the German Expressionists in their raw energy and directness. Yet, Jacob's is a more poetic vision; these prints reveal a mysterious world of fleeting images. They boldly depict ideas in a collage of elements that range from spinning sailboats to flaming hearts. His created spaces and slightly off kilter objects create a constant movement which challenges the eye. The repetition of geometrical designs takes the form of pyramids, sails, martini glasses and door lintels. Positive and negative compositions and silhouettes shaped like keyhole figures stimulate the viewer to unlock the mysteries within: what is implied, but just out of view; what has happened, but only the evidence remains; what is about to take place, but could take a twist in another direction. These black and white prints urge a fresh perspective of the familiar and the known as well as the elusive and the strange.
Jacob's earlier works have an underlying narrative insistence. These prints, related to Masarell's visual novels from the 1920's, create a dynamic yet elusive story. The architectural interiors are loaded with energy and meaning, establishing a tension in the precariousness of momentarily balanced objects. There is often a sense of vertigo and an element of anxiety in the repeated forms that imply a haunted and obsessive atmosphere.
Jacob's recent work, beginning in 1993, is heavily influenced by Mexican imagery. Many of these prints are finely detailed and executed with an arabesque intricacy reminiscent of Escher. Others are bold renditions of religious icons and themes. They are images of contemplation, of devotion, of a search for meaning in a symbolically charged iconography.