Artist Richard John Jenkins Painting More Than Meets the Eye
About Richard
Richard John Jenkins was born in Hollywood, California. As a kid he grew up a block away from the famous Paramount Pictures movie studio which had a profound impact on his life. As a young kid he snagged the coolest newspaper delivery route in the world – none other than Paramount Pictures. Daily he rode his Schwinn Sting Ray bike with its yellow banana seat into the many sound stages filming TV shows like Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Bonanza and countless movies. He fell in love with film production (especially the making of science fiction films) including the story telling aspect – screenwriting.
Films became a huge passion for him including the distribution of films and the showing of films at local Hollywood movie theaters where Richard loved to look at the scintillating animating neon movie marquees. In fact, his love of neon signs and especially movie marquees on theaters prompted him to help famed neon artist Lili Lakich to save many of the classic Hollywood neon signs in a museum Lili and Richard co-founded in 1984 called MONA (Museum Of Neon Art).
Over the years Richard’s other passion has always been producing art: big, bold abstract oil paintings, ethereal pastel portraits of people, table top kinetic stabiles, and hanging art mobiles.
He loves and has been influenced greatly by the Russian and German abstract, expressionist, constructivist painters most of all. Popova, Malevich, Jawlensky, Kandinsky, Marc, Leger are favorites; and of course Alexander Calder for his kinetic stabiles and mobiles. Art movements he identifies with are: Abstract Expressionism, Bauhaus, Constructivism, Cubism, Der Blaue Reiter, Futurism and Kinetic Art.
Close friends and contemporary art mentors, neon artist, Lili Lakich, and photography, and Dada artist, Tom Sewell continue to inspire and influence his work.
Artist Statement
I have always been an artist. I love artwork of all kinds and have been creating works of art starting with cartooning at the age of eight. I’m very attracted to big, bold and colorful abstract and expressionist works of art produced by Russian and German painters in the 1930s; also movie posters and pulp fiction magazine cover illustrations from the same era.
I primarily work in three mediums, chalk pastels for large portraits I do of people who inspire me and oil paints for the large abstract/expressionist paintings I enjoy creating as well.
And as far back as I can remember I have always loved the work of stabile and hanging art mobiles maker Alexander Calder. I recall being mesmerized as a kid by his wonderful, gracefully moving mobile installation in the middle of a large water fountain at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; staring at it for hours. Calder is a huge inspiration for me. I now create Calder inspired Stabiles and Mobiles of my own along with the pastels and oil paintings.
Representation: The Artist Gallery (TAG)
Richard is a full member of the Frederick, Maryland "The Artist Gallery" (TAG). The gallery is entirely run by the 20+ artist. The gallery has changing exhibitions every month. Check out TAG artist work here as well as some of Richard's work on the TAG web site.