My retrospective exhibition Captive Coal official opening at the Sharp Museum of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL was on January 19th, 2024 where I gave an Artist Talk to a nice crowd of family, collectors, faculty, students and more than a few folks from the local coal industry. Thanks go out to Wm Weston Stoerger, Curator of Exhibitions, Collectors and Organizers of the Exhibition John and Lucia Hollister, Dean John Politz and my long time partner and wife the artist Jeanne Nemcek. Exhibition runs the full semester until May 10th .
Information on Raw Reckoning Opening and Exhibition →
Opening Reception: 6-9pm, June 7th, 2019
On display from June 7th-August 4th, 2019
Raw Reckoning is veteran Chicago artist Michael K. Paxton’s one-person exhibition of large-scale paintings and works on paper that derive their structure from the study of slide sections of the effect of black lung disease on coalminers. Paxton, a sixth generation West Virginian creates pillar size fields of chalk, charcoal, gesso and acrylic on raw canvas that embrace this ongoing devastation from coal in an effort to point to a place and people not heard from often in contemporary art. Through a well ingrained working process of size and materials, the open-ended approach of how each painting is developed produces a colorful and awkward work of aggressive mark making that refuses to stand still. Pushing hard against expectations an otherness surrounds his work as he looks for the exact point where his bone deep Appalachian heritage can carve out a place for a heart’s desire to speak of something important, personal and yet as common as dirt.
Work At Hand Website and Trailer Now Out →
The website and trailer for the full broadcast length documentary film "Work At Hand Michael K. Paxton" in now online. The website was developed by Jeanne Nemcek and Christina Timmins and features not only the trailer for the film, but bios of the filmmakers Director Peter Hartel and Editor Libi Hake, along with production and post production stills and a contact page for comments and inquires.
Interview by Linda Matney Gallery
I am very pleased to have had a recent phone interview with Ryan Lytle of Linda Matney Gallery about my work as a prelude to the gallery showing my recent pen and ink on drafting film drawings. I want to also thank Director Lee Matney for this opportunity and his ongoing support of my work. Here is a link to the interview.
