Poet-turned-artist Jamel Robinson paints every day. He reiterated this fact multiple times as I spoke with him during his opening reception for ‘Jamel Robinson: Paintings’, an exhibition curated by Ivy Brown Gallery and hosted at The OUT Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s part of his mediation, he tells me, it’s his way of keeping his hand at work. Initially spurred by a request to ‘paint his poems’ after a personal loss in 2011, Jamel moved fluidly and logically from pen to paint, first incorporating words from his poems, to eventually completely reimagining his written works as fantastical visual displays. But without formal training, Robinson was fully aware his works must be perfected through nothing but focused effort. Across the curated collection, the work is heavy, worn and messy, but never feels particularly cold or grungy or dirty. It feels innocent and clean- it feels natural.
Importantly, Robinson’s signature style stemmed from a mistake – a misstep in a journey towards a particular effect. The style is unassuming and plain from first glance, then closer examination reveals child-like circles and upon even further scrutiny, one can make out distinct features, shapes, even words. Changing your position relative to the work can be incredibly fruitful, revealing missed details. These works of detail are actually self-portraits, and they fill the space. Think about it: Robinson is churning these out daily. To have such incredible variation, even within the ‘Electric Wind’ series, which reserves it’s color palette to blue, white, black, red and gold.
All of this makes Jamel Robinson a great first step into the world abstract portraiture. Take ‘Electric Wind #430’ as example. A black bezel surrounds a canvas covered in gold metallic paint. Moving closer, the raised swirls become evident, a bow tie and eyeglasses can be made out. This is a formal piece. Things make sense now- the gold, the bezel – it’s reasonable and logical. This small journey occurs with every Robinson piece. Like a great poem, returning to it again is a pleasure. And with each view, something new appears. Sifting through a pile of his recent portraits, it becomes clear: everything is necessary- the scrapes, the scratches, the worn quality of the work.
In a similar way, there is a certainty – and permanenc e- in the weightiness of the scribbles, the child-like stick figures, the cartoon suns and moons and cheeky grins. It all feels so irrevocable and confirmed, coated under layers of paint, dragged through sandpaper and whatever else the works might encounter. Remember, Jamel is dealing with loss- something irreversible. You can’t ‘fix’ these works, a mistake must remain on the canvas. His style vocalizes something fundamental- everything one does is permanent. Even if no one saw it happen. Those moments add up. The ‘mess’ is clarity.
Slowly, Jamel is merging his poetry and painting into something much more unified and singular. He’ll be producing a book in the coming year, with pieces of poetry and paintings respectively associated with each. The ‘Jamel Robinson: Paintings’ will be on view from September 30th 2014 to December 31st, 2014 at The OUT Hotel (510 W. 42nd St, NYC). Works can be purchased and range from $2,000-$15,000 (contact kenneths@theoutnyc.com for inquiries). Jamel’s Instagram: @creativeink
-Benjamin Schmidt
