Jared Small grew up in Memphis. He’s familiar with decaying homes and neighborhoods - they fascinate him. He paints those structures (showing the rotting paint, sagging rooflines, and broken windows) in a heartily realistic manner which dissolves into abstraction as it eases toward the edges of his paintings on panel. Keen observation is Small’s greatest talent. Whether a worldly octogenarian or a child on the cusp of adolescence, Small captures each individual’s zeal. He describes his practice as an attempt “to accomplish a dream-like state… I’m imagining other people’s memories – fading, but still there.”
Untitled (White House/Roses)
2020 Oil on panel
