Jack Wolfe: Beyond the Known - An American Artist’s Legacy Revisited

Contact Name:
Kendall Murphy
Phone:
415-397-0114
E-mail:
lauren@ckcontemporay.com
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Jack Wolfe: Beyond the Known  

An American Artist’s Legacy Revisited

 

Exhibition opening November 13th, 6pm-9pm

CK Contemporary  

246 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102  

ckcontemporary.com, 415-397-0114  

 

On November 13th, CK Contemporary will open its exhibition “Jack Wolfe: Beyond the  Known”, the first major retrospective for Wolfe since his death in 2007 and the first exhibition  since the gallery’s announcement of its exclusive representation of the Wolfe estate. Wolfe  (1924-2007) was a pioneering American artist who consistently created bold, passionate, and  expressive artwork. Art History’s standard narrative often excludes purists and separatists who  were unwilling or unable to navigate the priorities of the commercial market, and in the case of  Jack Wolfe, it doesn’t fully acknowledge an artist who had a different concept of success. CK  Contemporary is working directly with the Wolfe estate to help bring this artist’s significant  legacy back to light. We feel that it is our duty to tell the story of Jack Wolfe and advocate for  the scholarship and attention his artwork deserves.  

 Wolfe is commonly associated with the Boston Expressionists, however his varied body  of work does not neatly fit into a single category. He combines cubist, abstract expressionist,  and hard-edge techniques with rich colors and an acute sense for emotional pitch. Wolfe  earned early recognition, and in the 1950s, was included in several group and solo museum  exhibitions, with work on display alongside artists such as Pollock, Calder, and Frankenthaler.  With his artwork added to the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art,  the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the deCordova Museum, Wolfe was poised to become a  successful mainstay of the New York art scene. However, after only four months there, Wolfe  became disillusioned with an overtly commercial “art system” to which he was unwilling to  bend his creative vision. He returned to Massachusetts, cleared land in rural Stoughton and  built a home and studio where he began his lifelong commitment to creating a significant body  of work, consisting of expressive and compelling abstractions, emotionally charged portraits  and powerful political paintings.  

Although he refused to pursue a traditional version of fame, Wolfe’s artwork remains a  salient reminder of his unique ability to transform a canvas into a magnificent new universe. As  Wolfe said himself, “It is the quality of adventure that delights me about painting. When I was a  little boy, I wanted to be an explorer, and when you are faced with a canvas six feet by eight  feet, the possibilities for discovering are so great. This is an infinite expanse.”

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Street Address

246 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

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