The Art of Jason Cytacki

All Tied Up

2012-01-30T15:18:00.001-08:00

Here is the new painting that will be in the "Contemporary Realism" show at the JRB Gallery. I need to get a better (less blurry) photo of this piece, but alas, you can get an idea of what it looks like. If you would like to see it in person, head on over to JRB Art at the Elms this Friday (February 3rd, 2012) between 6-10pm for the opening of the Exhibition!

JRB Art at the Elms

2012-01-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy with the beginning of the semester and wrapping up work for Art Now that I have almost forgot to plug my February show at JRB Art at the Elms, in Oklahoma City. My work will be featured in a four person show entitled: "Contemporary Realism." Not sure how I feel about my work being considered "realism" but in any case I will be showing my Thesis paintings as well as 1 new original painting in that series. I'll be posting an image of it soon. In the meantime, follow the link below to learn more about the show.

http://www.jrbartgallery.com/events/view_event.php?eventsID=162

Upcoming Exhibition: Rockwell Museum

2011-12-19T15:44:00.001-08:00

I wanted to share with everyone a little about my upcoming exhibition this June at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in Corning, New York. It is a solo exhibition that will include a variety of my images chosen by Rockwell Museum curator James Peck. While it is a while off yet, you can follow the link below to read about the show including a great essay about my work written by the curator. I'm really excited about showing at such a great venue - more information and images to come!

http://www.rockwellmuseum.org/Cowboy-Paintings-by-Jason-Cytacki.html

Grin and Bear It

2011-12-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

And I present the last large painting for my upcoming show: Grin and Bear it. This one was a blast to work on with glazes over that drippy and distressed surface.

Grin and Bear it
48" x 36"
Oil on Panel
2011

Detail

Honky Tonk Blues

2011-12-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Here is another new painting destined for the Art Now show. I've been enjoying working on these cowboys at a little larger scale, about 3 x 4 ft. The increased scale has given me opportunities to really push the tension between the areas that are tightly rendered and those that dissolve. In addition, this lets me build up an area, really destroy it and then build it back up again.

"Honky Tonk Blues"
Oil on Panel
48" x 36"
2011

Detail

The Strong Silent Type

2011-12-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

This is another new painting - enjoy.

Strong Silent Type
48" x 36"
Oil on Panel
2011

Art Now 2012

2011-12-14T10:35:00.001-08:00

I'm happy to announce that my paintings will be featured in the exhibition Art Now 2012. Chosen by an independent curator, the exhibition showcases the work of 25 Oklahoma based artists. I will have around 7-8 new paintings in the show including the painting in my previous post. Art Now 2012 will occur at City Arts Center in Oklahoma City on Jan. 20th. The event functions as a fundraiser to enable year-round visual arts exhibitions in the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery to remain free of charge to the public. For more information on Art Now, visit here, or on Facebook here.

Small Works Cowboys

2011-12-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

More new Paintings! This is a group of small cowboy portraits for an upcoming show. As I was creating these, I was thinking about them more as drawings with paint than paintings. As such, I treated the panel as if it was a piece of paper, only using as many marks as needed and trying not to overwork things. In addition the white background works to isolate the cowboy from his environment. They've also been a great way of pulling multiple mark making applications together, impasto, dripping, dry brush, pooling, etc. They all measure between 16" x 12" and 20" x 16". Here they are:

Blue Steel

2011-12-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Here's one of a group of new paintings I have been working on over the past few months. I will be uploading more in the next few days, so be sure to check back!

"Blue Steel"

Oil on Panel
48"x36"
2011

Panels

2011-10-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been constructing a series of masonite panels. These will end up being paintings destined for a couple upcoming shows.

Thesis Posting 3

2011-04-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the final two pieces from the exhibition.

"High Lonesome Throne"
Oil on Canvas
84" x 60"
2011

Thesis Installation Shots

2011-04-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

A couple quick peeks of my Thesis show installed in the Mestrovic Gallery at the Snite Museum of Art. Hopefully I will get some better, Hi-Res shots before the show goes down.

Thesis Paintings, Post 2

2011-04-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

"Don't Look Back"
Oil on Linen
60" x 84"
2011

"Hang 'Em High"

Oil on Canvas
62" x 42"
2011

Thesis Paintings Post 1

2011-04-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

"Don't Fence Me In"

Oil on Canvas
62" x 42"
2011

Shoot for the Stars (detail)

First posting of Thesis paintings finished. I will get a full shot of the bottom painting as well as Hi-Res images of all 5 paintings up on my website soon enough. For now, enjoy these!

Interview:

2011-04-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

This is a video that was created as part of the 2011 MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Snite Museum of Art. It is an interview about my Thesis Project interspersed with installation shots and some images of my paintings. Check it out!

Link

2011-04-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am currently featured on the frontpage of Notre Dame's Art, Art History and Design departmental website. Check it out here:

http://artdept.nd.edu/news/19145/

Thesis Exhibition

2011-03-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

Big News...

2011-03-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that I have accepted a Tenure Track position teaching painting at the University of Oklahoma. I'm extremely excited to have the opportunity to get to know all the staff and students and the city of Norman. It seems like it will be a really interesting place to live and work. I've posted a few pics of the campus below, (thanks google images) and a link to the University's Fine Arts page.

http://www.ou.edu/finearts/

New Website

2010-12-14T18:49:00.001-08:00

I now have an official website as well as an updated visual style for the blog. After a few days of work and some false starts it came together pretty quickly. Let me know your overall thoughts.

The Art of Jason Cytacki

Process

2010-12-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

This image shows a bit of the process I am using to construct me new work. I built this wooden structure this past summer as a place to shoot my dioramas. It's great in that it allows me to control the light and gives me plenty of room away from my paintings to stage my setups and leave them with the ability to come back and tinker with them.

Figurative works from the summer

2010-12-11T18:39:00.000-08:00

I know I've been very behind on uploading new images to the blog, but like I mentioned I have been getting images taken of these paintings recently, so I thought I would share them here. Both are pretty small and were a nice break from the large scale work I have been doing for my upcoming thesis exhibition (I'll post some pics of those pieces soon).

"Self Portrait as Cowboy (Dissolve)"
Oil on Canvas
12" x 14,
2010

"Haley"
Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"
2010

See the USA

2010-11-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

Currently putting together a portfolio website and getting all my paintings photographed and ready to publish online. Here's a painting from last spring I have neglected to upload.gNew work is a little bit of a departure from this, but maintains many of the same elements. I'll post some new images from this Fall soon.

End of Semester- Studio Disaster!

2010-06-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo from the end of the semester...this place is a wreck! Bonus points if you can count the number of disposable coffee containers and or soda cans.

Busy Busy Busy

2010-04-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

Works for a new body of work and new direction this semester. Paper mache, He-Man, Wild Life painting? Having a blast. More images to come.

The Glass

2010-04-07T20:29:00.001-07:00

These are the two works I had hanging in the second year MFA show at the ISIS gallery on the campus of Notre Dame this February.

"Saudade"
Oil on Canvas
42" x 62"
2009

"Bonanza"
22" x 30"
Graphite on Paper
2009

Midwest Museum of Art

2009-11-02T06:21:00.000-08:00

I will have two pieces in the Midwest Museum of Art's 31st annual Juried Regional. The show runs from November 6, 2009 through January 3, 2010. The opening is this friday evening at the Museum, come check it out!

New Work (in progress)

2009-10-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

Shots from the studio...things are growing...

All ink on Paper.

Works on Paper

2009-07-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hard Times Oil on Paper

To Be Young (is to be sad) Oil on Paper

Here are two works for a U.S. Italian exhibition opening at the Thaddeus C. Gallery in Laporte, IN an September 11, 2009. They are both oil on paper.

I will add more info on the exhbition later.

Works in Progress

2009-07-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some paintings in progress for a works on paper show. It's nice getting back in the studio and getting some work done...

Burrito

2009-05-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

This is a painting completed for a show at the Crossroads Gallery at ND downtown. The show focuses on Lationo Folklore and Legends. I approached my piece as filtering and retelling the Catholic Latino story of Our Lady of Guadalupe from a contemporary pop culture American viewpoint.

Dinosaur!

2009-05-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

Clay Feet
Oil on Panel
84 x 48 in

Study for Final Project

2009-05-09T12:34:00.001-07:00

For my final project I envisioned using a series of multiple intense color glazes semi-opaque layers of white to distance the viewer from these cowboy images in essence creating a barrier between them and this nostalgic romanticized past. Here is a study for the project that should be much larger in scale (this image is 8 x 10 in).

Cowboy Portraits

2009-05-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Here are two from an incomplete series of portraits of B-Movie cowboy actors I painted this semester. They focus on visually deconstructing the monolithic hero imagery associated with Western cinema.

Cowboys!

2009-05-09T11:20:00.001-07:00

Here is the first upload of the new work I've been doing this semester focusing on the American West as means of discussing national character and the current social American landscape.

Mixed Media and Oil on Panel (30 x 40)

FOOD!

2009-05-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Mythonomy

2009-05-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Three paintings part of the Group show entitled "Mythonomy" featuring the works of Joel Ottman, a fellow painting MFA at Notre Dame and Timothy Vermulen of Chicago.

Ambush (30 x 40) Oil on Canvas

St. Simon (9 x 12) Oil on Panel

HULK GRILL! (11 x 14) Oil on Panel

Ubernatur Curiousities

2009-05-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

Works Part of the Group show at the Spurious Fugitive Gallery entitled Ubernatur Curiousities. The show also featured works by Justin Miller and Leonard Gridley.

January 2nd - January 28th 2008.

An Apparent Failure of Trajectory (9 x 12) Oil on Canvas

Potentially Profound (18 x 24) Oil on Panel

A Dim Passage (24 x 36) Oil on Panel

Home Sweet Home (8 x 10 ) Oil on Panel

Small Works

2009-05-07T17:51:00.001-07:00

A series of small panels created in 2007

Watermelon Windup (5x5) oil on panel

Ken (4x4) oil on panel

Le Grand Royale (5x5) oil on panel

Ducky (4x4) oil on panel

Toy Paintings (Post 1)

2009-05-07T17:22:00.001-07:00

Domino Optimo Maximo (16 x 20) Oil on Canvas

Operatioin (11 x 14) Oil on Canvas

Danger Lurks (11 x 14) Oil on Canvas

Manifest McDestiny (16 x 20) Oil on Canvas

Betrayal (11 x 14) Oil on Canvas

Prison (11 x 14) Oil on Canvas