Current Exhibitions

Artist Statement

Jim Hamilton

 

“Art” can mean many things: some people think of music or painting, some think of theatre, happenings, the ART of the DEAL, nude people staging a protest- what have you. But being brought up in the 1930’s in a family with three generations on one side influenced by German Romanticism and the other by British imperialism, I have a tendency to think of “art” primarily as grand opera, symphony orchestras, epic novels and large paintings. Not that other forms lack validity; they just aren’t my cup of tea. Hence the emphasis in my recent work on geometric abstraction.

 

As a pre-adolescent, I was introduced to the work of

Piet Mondrian and Lionel Feininger. Several years later after practicing law for 31 years, I became familiar with the work of Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Klee, Josef Albers, Stella, Rothko et al. After experimenting with semi abstraction and Expressionism, the current form of my work, influenced by these painters, began to emerge. And I find it extremely satisfying: it’s based on a tradition, it incorporates my urge to improvise (see Miles Davis), and it’s intellectually stimulating.

 

My paintings are composed like pieces of music. Instead of notes, I use straight lines and circles drawn on the canvas which are then filled in with colors that play off and complement each other. This creates a painting which acts as a visual composition for the eye, much as a musical composition does for the ear. The purpose is to trigger an emotional, without resource to narrative material or associative images.