Norman Rockwell Museum opens Jarvis Rockwell: Maya, Illusion, and Us an exhibition on view July 13 through October 20, 2013.
Fascinated by material culture and what the objects of mass production have to say about our lives, hopes, and longings, Jarvis Rockwell creates artworks that are at once tangible and transient, reflecting the impermanence of all things. Imbued with a sense of mystery and spiritual curiosity, his sensory structure drawings, Hindu-inspired pyramids assembled with hundreds of toy figurines, and tableau boxes will be on view in this retrospective of the artist’s work―an exploration of his artistic journey and the ideas and questions that continue to drive his work.
The son of famed illustrator, Norman Rockwell, Jarvis Rockwell is a skilled draftsman and a visionary imagemaker who began collecting action figures in 1979. Since then, his collection has grown by hundreds or thousands of pieces per year, and while he appreciates their diversity of design, he is more fascinated by the fictional narratives that are established by their random intersections. The range of the artist’s work―from early examples created as a student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and while in the Air Force, to his most recent drawings and constructions―will be on view. A documentary film about the art of Jarvis Rockwell, created by filmmaker Rachel Victor, will be featured. www.nrm.org