The Miller Art Museum debuts a new exhibition of larger-than-life paintings by Midwest realist painter Robert David Jinkins on Saturday, January 14, 2023. The exhibition, Horizon Line, is the first major museum exhibition for the artist and will be complemented with panoramic seascapes by Kaukauna, WI-based artist Lee Mothes on the second floor Ruth Morton Miller Mezzanine. Both exhibitions will be on view through Monday, April 3, 2023.
Jinkins, a Wisconsin native who holds a bachelor's degree in art from the University of Wisconsin Platteville and a master's in fine art from Iowa State University, writes of his work, “It is a eulogy, in a traditional sense, to the inevitable passage of time, exploration of place, and an investigation of personal intergenerational narratives. My pieces are labor intensive and take months to create—using an Apelles-inspired palette of natural earth tones, I use fine-hatching in graphite or delicate washes of acrylic, glazes of inks, traditional acrylics, and hand-mixed paints utilizing potters' pigments to create meticulous works...”
Image credit: Robert David Jinkins, Harvesting the Winter Wheat, Acrylic mixed media.
The artist’s panoramic, striking rural landscapes, inhabited by formidable characters, are depicted in a combination of American Regionalism and Symbolism, illustrating his admiration and reverence for his ancestral land.
“The paintings are less idyllic and more forthright, about the rural environment and its proximity to life and death. Jinkins connects the perimeters of the paintings as an object to the panoramic storytelling, through long panels, diptychs, and triptychs, which provides the viewer a visceral sense of place,” says Miller Art Museum Curator Helen del Guidice.
The public is invited to attend a series of free public programs that will provide additional context for the exhibition:
Member and Volunteer Preview Tour | Horizon Line by Robert David Jinkins
Friday, January 13
4 – 5 pm
Miller Art Museum | 107 S. 4th Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Join Curator of Exhibitions and Collections Helen del Guidice for a sneak peek at the new exhibition Horizon Line before it opens to the public. Enjoy the exhibition without the crowd and hear interesting stories and information directly from the curator. Interested in taking advantage of member benefits? Find more information on becoming a member at https://millerartmuseum.org/membership.
Art/Speaks
Friday, January 27
11 am – 12:15 pm
Miller Art Museum | 107 S. 4th Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Join Write On, Door County’s Carrie Sherrill for a free writing lab that takes place in the main galleries of the Miller Art Museum! All level writers are welcome to attend and write in response to the art on display for Horizon Line by Robert David Jinkins. This event is free and open to the public.
The Studio Door | Robert David Jinkins
Friday, March 3
4 – 5 pm
Miller Art Museum | 107 S. 4th Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Join Curator Helen del Guidice as she sits down in conversation with artist Robert David Jinkins. Join us to learn more about his philosophies, worldviews, and artistic practice. There will be an audience Q&A with Jinkins after the program and an artist reception to follow. This event is free and open to the public.
Artist Reception | Horizon Line by Robert David Jinkins
Friday, March 3
5:30 – 7 pm
Miller Art Museum | 107 S. 4th Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Meet exhibiting artists and enjoy the 17 large-scale paintings on display by Wisconsin-based artist Robert David Jinkins, showcasing works in a combination of American regionalism and Symbolism through depictions of life on the Jinkins family farm. Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.
Together with Horizon Line, the Miller Art Museum presents Oceans and Beaches by Lee Mothes. The exhibition features 11 large-scale, brilliantly colored panoramic seascapes depicting the awe-inspiring experience of the artist’s deep connection with the ocean.
Image credit: Lee Mothes, Pacifica Morning, Acrylic.
Mothes studied art at California State University at Long Beach, at California College of the Arts in Oakland, and then architecture for a period at California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. He received a BA in Art at Western Oregon University in 1980. In 1987, he and his wife moved to the Midwest to raise their three daughters. Finding himself suddenly away from the ocean compelled Mothes to spend a lot more time painting it, creating imagined beaches inspired by those in California, Oregon, and other, further-away places.
“The beauty and power of waves has always captivated me. My goal is to capture exploding ocean surf, crashing waves, or the light reflecting off waves and shining within them. Recreating this energy in acrylic on canvas is a never-ending joy and challenge,” says the artist.
Mothes’ work is included in the Miller Art Museum’s permanent collection with a holding of three works.
“It is important, for the visibility and the long-term relevancy of the collection, that the museum supports artists represented in our collection. Support provided through the exhibition of new work is an extension of the long-term commitment of the museum and its collecting practice; it’s advantageous to keep our audiences connected to those artists that continue to be career-oriented, practicing artists,” says del Guidice.
Culminating the visitor experience to Horizon Line and Oceans and Beaches will be a new installation of Miller’s work in the Gerhard CF Miller Gallery, curated by Robert David Jinkins, and a series of three collection works––mindscapes––by Wisconsin artist John Wilde. The inclusion of these Magical Realist-style works is in honor of Jinkins, whose work is influenced by Wilde.
The public is invited to participate in related programming for Oceans and Beaches:
The Studio Door | Lee Mothes
Monday, March 13
4 – 5 pm
Miller Art Museum: 107 S. 4th Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Join Curator Helen del Guidice as she sits down in conversation with artist Lee Mothes. Join us to learn more about his philosophies, worldviews, and artistic practice. There will be an audience Q&A with Mothes after the program. This event is free and open to the public.
Horizon Line and Oceans and Beaches are supported, in part, by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. The exhibitions will be on display at the Miller Art Museum, located inside the Door County Library’s Sturgeon Bay Branch at 107 S. 4th Avenue through Monday, April 3, 2023. Hours are Mondays 10 am – 7 pm and Tuesday through Saturday 10 am – 5 pm. Closed Sunday. Admission is free but freewill donations are welcomed and encouraged; an elevator is available to access galleries on the Ruth Morton Miller Mezzanine. For more information about the exhibit or the museum call (920) 746-0707 or visit www.millerartmuseum.org.