Customer Reviews

Jess: To and From the Printed Page

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...next time you stroll through a museum. You might make a discovery. I did, this morning. The De Young Museum of San Francisco has three paintings by "Jess", two of which I think are staggeringly good, figurative paintings built with almost bas-relief impasto. I bought this book at the museum store, and I've just begun to live with it.

Much to my surprise, I knew this guy Jess years ago in San Francisco. He was the marriage-partner of the poet Robert Duncan. I didn't enjoy Duncan's poetry, and I suppose I let it show. In any case, we were civil but no more, and I completely ignored the partner's art openings.

My loss.

Jess was born in 1923. His birth name was Burgess Collins. He was a brilliant chemist and worked on the Manhatten Project in the production of plutonium. After 1945, he continued in plutonium science with the Hanford Atomic Energy Project. In 1949, he had an epiphany; he found himself conscience-stricken over the destructive powers of nuclear weapons. He abandoned science entirely and turned to art.

Our gain.

I came across one small work by Jess while visiting a small museum recently, and was utterly taken by its mysterious quality, both erotic & ominous, achieved through collage of kitschy figures with more subtle, understated images. I'd never seen anything quite like it & immediately wanted to know more about the man & his work. This volume is the perfect introduction to both.

The longtime companion of poet Robert Duncan, Jess dropped his last name when he cut ties with his disapproving family. Openly gay long before it was common or safe, his art reflects his life -- although sexuality is just one of his subjects. He was clearly a student of surrealism, incorporating it into his art, sometimes for individual pieces, sometimes to illustrate small magazines.

And his interests are definitely wide-ranging! For example, he recreates text in several Dick Tracy comic strips, creating the satiric & thought-provoking new comic strip, "Tricky Cad." Many of his magazine covers & illustrations have an eerie, otherworldly atmosphere drawing upon alchemical & occult sources. All of his work is infused with intelligence & vision.

Some may believe that anyone can create collage, that it requires no real talent. Well, anyone can create bad or inept collage, and all too many do -- formulaic Victorian fluff & dunce caps, alas! But this is collage at its finest, truly raising the bar, demonstrating that it's art. Highly recommended!