Jason Shawn Alexander (B. 1975) Painter and draftsman from Tennessee, currently resides and works in Los Angeles, California. Though modern in its subject matter, Alexander’s work pulls, still, from the vulnerability, fear, and underlying strength that come from his rural upbringing. Much like good Delta Blues, his work maintains a sense of pain and passion which steers Alexander away from the standard “isms” that, in his words, “tend to muddy up what’s really important”. The result is something heartbreakingly genuine.
"It’s probably not a coincidence that Jason Shawn Alexander, in his bio, mentions the Blues, and that when I first saw his paintings I immediately got a Muddy Waters song in my head. Alexander’s work just looks like it hums along a sweaty slide guitar chord, singing its pain and prosperity through a haze of smoke. You can tell that something bad is happening to or around his subjects, but also that they’re just people so it can’t be bad forever. His gritty, drippy, and dark style lends an ominous air, like a fresh grave, and the subject’s poses humanize the whole thing. This is the whole package."
--Brad Martin, contributing writer for Juxtapoz magazine and author of secretstill.com
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