Growing up in a small town may seem restrictive to some. For others, it can ignite the imagination. Artist F. Bradley Jessop examines the experience of being young in a small town through his drawings and paintings in an exhibition to be held Jan. 15 through Feb. 13 at Rogers State University.
The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, will be held at Foundations Gallery, located in Baird Hall on the RSU campus in Claremore. An opening reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15.
His work explores the social roles available to young men in the 1960s and 1970s in small towns and suburban areas of the American Midwest in his series of monotypes, drawings and paitings titled “The Artist as Hero,” he said. Most of the work is composed of simple juxtapositions of real, child-like and abstract images.
Jessop is chair of the art department and associate professor of art at East Central University in Ada, where he teaches art education for elementary teachers and a variety of studio art classes. He previously taught art at Ottawa University and Emporia
He received a doctoral degree from Oklahoma State University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Emporia State University.
His work has been featured in a variety of juried exhibitions across the Midwest, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo. He also has participated in several one-person and group exhibitions at galleries and universities in the Midwest.
His work appears at the University Gallery at ECU and in corporate offices such as Specialty Brands in San Francisco and American Banks in Kansas City.
For more information on the exhibition, call (918) 343-7740.