July at Arts on Douglas June 14 2023
JASON SCHWAB
Speak Soft(er) and Carry a Big Stick
July 1 - August 12, 2023
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 1, 4-7 PM
Artist Talk: Friday, July 7, 11 AM
Image: Jason Schwab, The Fragile, Developing Self-Image of the Young Person Needs all the Support and Enhancement it Can Get, archival pigment prints on board, 14 x 22 x 5 inches each
About the Exhibition:
For this display, St. Augustine photographer and educator, Jason Schwab, explores a range of masculine tropes and archetypes through a collection of photographs and sculptural objects.
Central to this display is a grouping of oversized candy cigarette boxes based on actual package designs that serve as a jumping-off point for a larger conversation around the learned, copied, and lived masculine tropes that many men encounter as children. Accompanying these boxes, Schwab presents a collection of wall mounted photographs that explore various manifestations of male archetypes that record both subtle and overt realities.
Schwab explains that the metaphysical gap in time between the candy cigarette boxes and the evidence provided in the photographs is a space for the viewer to contemplate and play out scenes from their own experiences within this framework. This may include memories of old Western movies, observing bar fights, or being passed by cars racing on the highway. Schwab concludes, “What appears as a harmless cosplay of the men we see in movies, at the park, or possibly in our own home, is an early adoption of a masculine archetype that sits, lingers, and is built upon as we move towards adulthood… perpetuating a corrupted model for another generation to adopt, play with, and if we are lucky, change.”
About the Artist
Jason Schwab was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and currently resides in St. Augustine, Florida. Schwab received his BFA in photography from Kutztown University in 2010 and his MFA from Columbus College of Art & Design in 2014. He currently teaches at Flagler College in the Department of Visual Arts. He is also the President of the Mid-America College Art Association.
Schwab’s exhibition history includes national juried exhibitions, multiple solo exhibitions, numerous group exhibitions, and fellowships. Most notable are, the Visual Arts Fellowship from the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the subsequent exhibition at the Columbus Museum of Art, the Award for Innovations in Imaging from the Society for Photographic Education, Schwab’s two-person exhibition with Leslie Robison titled What a Man, What a Man at the Alexander Brest Gallery, his solo exhibition Remove/ Approve at ROYGBIV Gallery, and the inclusion in Manifest Gallery’s 4th International Photography Annual publication. Schwab has also participated in the Vermont Studio Center artist residency and the Wassaic Artist Residency.
