Jerry Prettyman infuses his art with blues and jazz. A distinct music is in the colors and patterns of his large mixed-media pieces in his show “Blues Invasion.”
The title refers to the blues as a forebear to jazz and many musical genres, with a nod to the blue hues in the works.
Nine pieces fill the walls at the Feldman Family Artspace, curated by Featherstone Center for the Arts at the M.V. Film Center. Eight are single portraits, and the first piece is a stunning “Variation on a Theme.” Three musicians on sax, drums, and guitar. Set against a solid black background, their bodies mix and overlap, visually making music.
Prettyman explains, “Dark, moody tones evoke the melancholy and sorrow often expressed in blues lyrics, while dynamic brushwork or abstract forms capture the genre’s improvisational spirit and rhythmic energy. Jazz, the global musical and cultural idiom that evolved from blues traditions, is my ultimate artistic muse.”
Prettyman has been an artist for as long as he can recall. “I had military parents, and every three years, you’re in Germany, then you’re in the Netherlands, then you’re in Georgia. The art has always been like a sibling. It was my friend, my big brother, or big sister — something I can always go to and wanted to do.
“As I get older, it’s about how you survive and find a way of fitting in. Art is a way for me to fit in, making a statement on what I feel is important. For me, it’s about the history of jazz and blues, what it means, and its impact on our culture in this country and the world.”
Prettyman has been listening to, collecting, and studying jazz and blues for some 50 years. His love of the music and its icons comes through in the way each work pays tribute to the subject’s artistry.
In “The Source (Miles Davis),” we see him from the side, bent over, blowing into his trumpet pointed down, wrapped in Davis’s body. Three abstract geometric speakers, prevalent at jazz concerts, compose the background.
Prettyman’s style reveals his nearly four decades as a graphic designer and illustrator, emphasizing color, pattern, and composition. Davis’s wild and colorful outfit sits on the surface of the work, emphasizing the art’s inherent two-dimensionality. Here, as in many of the other portraits, he renders a largely black-and-white realism in his subjects’ faces.
This is particularly true in four images from his “Blue Magic Series.” All the musicians either wear glasses or have their eyes closed, with attention to the “tones” of Prettyman’s palette, where the charcoal and mixed-media figures vibrate on a teal background.
Prettyman says, “I explore themes of spirituality, resilience, and hope, creating a visual tribute to enduring musical forms and inviting viewers to immerse themselves in a rich cultural tapestry of artistic storytelling . . . They incorporate vibrant color, dynamic shapes, and evocative imagery that exemplifies the dynamism and revolutionary spirit of jazz.”
He works with an array of materials, integrating acrylics, oils, watercolors, and even colored ink. The result is an arresting articulation in areas such as the musician’s face and hands, seen in “The Innovator (Miles Davis).”
Prettyman starts his process with color drawings, primarily working from photographs. He doesn’t like to do purely formal portraits. “I want the expressiveness and ability to innovate and create, which is what I also like about jazz.” He begins laying down the black backgrounds and other opaque areas with the acrylics, then fills in with more translucent watercolor pigments.
“I don’t have a particular style. Whatever way the wind blows. I’m not an abstract or a figurative artist. I’m just an artist,” he insists. “The art is the boss, not me.”
This is clearly evident in the abstract, neo-Cubist work “Mo Betta Blues,” with its brilliant palette, has a different aesthetic. “I wanted to do an extreme color piece, the boldest and brightest.”
“Blues Invasion” pays homage to the rich cultural heritage and enduring legacy of blues music, history, and iconography, celebrating its contributions to modern music and its resonance with audiences across generations and backgrounds.
“Many of the paintings are created with specific intent to engage the viewer to become totally involved with the art images, which are truly unforgettable. It’s not what I get; it’s what you get. I want people to connect with what they see.”
“Blues Invasion” is on view at the M.V. Film Center’s Feldman Family Artspace through Sept. 8. For more information on the artist, visit prettymangalleryglobal.com.
