Alexander Brooks Jackson

Alexander Brooks Jackson (April 18, 1925 – March 23, 1981)[1] was an American painter.

Life and career

Jackson was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of a black father and an English mother who was born in Manchester, England.[2][3] He earned BFA and MFA degrees from Yale University, studying with Josef Albers[4] in the mid-1950s. Before entering the teaching field, he spent three years as a designer in the Watson-Manning Advertising Agency in Stratford, Connecticut.

He taught briefly at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1955, before moving to Norfolk, Virginia in 1956.[1] In 1967, after teaching 10 years at Norfolk State, he joined Old Dominion University (ODU) as a full professor and its first black faculty member.

During his teaching years, Jackson also exhibited his art in many local and neighboring venues.[5] After being denied entry to the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Art show in 1962 because of his race, he won best-in-show there in 1966.[3] He received significant attention in 1968 when several of his drawings were included in a Smithsonian Institution traveling art exhibition.[5]

Influenced by Rembrandt, Jackson worked in a range of materials, including watercolors, pastels, charcoal and acrylic.[6] His series of paintings "The Porch People" depicts anonymous sitters on their porches in Ghent, the district of Norfolk, Virginia, where he lived. His book As I See Ghent: A Visual Essay was published in 1979.[1][3]

Jackson died in 1981 at the age of 55.

He is represented in the permanent collections of:

Legacy

Passerby: An A.B. Jackson Retrospective showed at ODU's Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries from May 23 to August 2, 2015.[7]

Personal life

Jackson was the maternal grandfather of professional American football quarterback Russell Wilson.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Papers of A.B. Jackson: Biography", Special Collections & University Archives, Old Dominion University.
  2. 1 2 Russell Wilson with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at The Richmond Forum. April 18, 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved April 18, 2016 – via YouTube.
  3. 1 2 3 "A.B. Jackson" Archived 2015-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, Quest, Old Dominion University.
  4. ↑ Kathryn Waggener McGuire, "A. B. Jackson and the 'black art' paradigm" Archived 2015-02-11 at the Wayback Machine, Visual Inquiry: Learning & Teaching Art, Volume 2, Issue 3, September 2013. Published by Intellect.
  5. 1 2 George Paaswell, "Exhibit Offers Study Of A Vanishing Culture; Works Of A.b. Jackson At Suffolk Museum", Daily Press, February 2, 1990.
  6. ↑ "NCCU Art Museum Receives Major Donation Of A.B. Jackson Works" (press release), North Carolina Central University Art Museum, June 25, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Upcoming events", The Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University.
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