Target the Artist

Jackson takes the classic trompe l’oeil compositional device of hanging an object against a wall and gives it a contemporary twist. Using the colorful crates as backdrop, he brings a pop art sensibility to the subject. Thematically, the painting is both playful and poignant, suggesting the vulnerability of being an artist in the face of critics and the public. In a statement written about this painting, Jackson discusses it as a response to the reaction by critics to Andrew Wyeth’s death, noting that "many of the ensuing art publications extolled him for being a significant American artist, yet, on the other hand, they seemed to have a caveat and to demean the ‘passé’ choice of realism through which he conveyed his art."