Philadelphia, PA

Jimmy Clark

The Pennsylvania Convention Center acquired two pieces of artwork from artist Jimmy Clark, Morandi and Ode to a Grecian Urn. Morandi is named after the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi who obsessively painted still lifes throughout his life, of variations of simple forms obtained from everyday existence.  He altered these objects by removing labels and painting their surface to reduce their functionality and call attention to their shape.  This compulsive exploration of form and juxtaposition of forms was partly the inspiration for Clark’s solo exhibition, “Still Lives” held at the Rosenfeld Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2013.  This particular piece demonstrates an abstraction of form in Clark’s work.

Ode to a Grecian Urn reflects Clark’s fascination with both history and literature.  In this instance, ancient Greece and John Keats poem of the same title.  He strives to create forms, inspired by ancient cultures that continue to appeal to contemporary sensibilities and express a universal appeal that crosses over barriers of language and beliefs.  Clark shares Keats’ conviction that a simple object can reflect a wisdom far beyond itself. As Keats concludes his Ode:
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”