James Beckman Painting

"pipe dreams" @ Helicon Hall, 10.2.2010

2010-10-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

three separate pieces, together titled 'pipe dreams' formed my piece on exhibit for the deadline projects group show, 'neither here nor there'.

- the smallest, armed with a motion detector, warned those who crossed its path of its presence, though for most it took some time for them to realize where the sound was coming from. Mistaken for a doorbell or the door-jingle you might hear when entering your neighborhood 7-eleven, some became clearly annoyed by the sound, wondering "who keeps ringing that damned doorbell", not realizing it was themselves.

- the piece positioned in the middle of the space suggested a dead tree - barely able to support its own emaciated weight, it insisted it could balance quite well on its own, despite wrapping its self vine-like around a ceiling fixture. glowing green 'radioactivity' could be found in two separate areas, one near a deformation growth, and another sapping the life out of some of the last remaining greenery. During the opening, kids could be found running around, wrestling, and laying beneath the tree's gently swaying branches

- the largest of the works bore the markings of the materials - warehouse data, barcodes, and size information could be found stamped along every inch of the structure, and small battery powered lamps weakly lit the ends of the extreme armatures. It balanced itself precariously upon four main posts, and postured itself as though it could fall and hurt someone at any moment. despite all three being of the same materials, this particular piece seems blocky, chunky, and especially man made. in the overall scope of the three pieces together, this piece constitutes the 'bully' of the grouping...

showing a piece in Chicago

2010-09-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

my first time showing work publicly in two years, Deadline Projects has invited me to participate in their fall exhibition.
"Neither Here Nor There" is a one night only show, and it comes as part of the Chicago Artists Month happenings.
Twelve artists will show a mixture of traditional fine arts as well as new media, sound, and conceptual works.

I will be showing an installation/sculpture.

The event is Saturday, October 2nd,
at Helicon Hall Gallery (formerly Happy Dog)
in Wicker Park, Chicago from 6pm till 11pm

More info can be found
at the Deadline Projects website.

small paintings on paper

2008-09-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

here are a few works
on paper. They are
rather small, about
12x16inches
mostly oil and oil pastel
on paper, but also
some gouache,
some watercolour,
some enamel
some acrylic

a few

2008-09-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

I will get some better
pictures of these soon
I just moved to a bigger
studio. Once it is set up
there will be much much
more work posted here

yellow structure

lowlands - about 7' wide

a detail of the lowlands

getaway - about 7' wide

a detail of the grove in getaway

2008-07-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

its been difficult to
get decent photos of these
recent works.. - many of them
have pearlescent or reflective
materials that are only activated
at very specific angles
......................
you'll just have to come
and see them in person

(copper peak)

(detail)

(dawn at a crest)

(detail)

(rolling fog)

(detail)

(Japanese garden)

(detail of the gateway)

I've also been posting some photography on another blog. You can click the picture below to go there - - j.beckman

2008-02-03T18:41:00.000-08:00

covert

2008-01-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

a recently completed painting, around 70 inches wide, 42 inches tall, mixed media on contract proofing paper. the materials give the piece sheens and deep tones that are revealed through changing light sources and angles. i took the pictures at a slight angle so the glare of some sheens would be more subtle...

click on the detail below for a full image

two paintings on paper

2007-12-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

both are mixed media on contract proofing paper. the first is quite a bit smaller than the second. click each picture for the full image

(mixed media on contract proofing paper)

(mixed media on contract proofing paper)

brother, sister

2007-12-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

you can click the pictures for the full view.

- brother and sister are prints of one another - a blue and yellow mass - flipped on one, flopped on the other.
they root to their respective environments uniquely, and while they exist separate from one another, they share the same core.

(brother)

(sister)

2 pieces from the Deadline Projects group show

2007-11-29T12:39:00.001-08:00

i participated in the deadline projects show that opened (and closed) at the beginning of november. here are pictures of the two pieces i had in the exhibit - both works on paper...

('missed connection #14', mixed media and baby powder on paper)

('...in the shadow', mixed media on paper)

Its on the way

2007-11-29T07:58:00.000-08:00

i will start posting here regularly soon....

(wake)

(sister, brother)