The Campus Chronicle

Volume 3, No. 5
December 6, 2002

M.F.A. candidate Fred Jesser’s installation "Untitled (Fiction)," made of wallpaper, neon and clear globes, was on display during his thesis show "Echolalic Tendencies: Recent Works," Nov. 22-26 at Aquaspace.
Photo by Roger Squires

Painting master’s candidate earns recognition

By Kristalee Owens

Quickly gaining international recognition for his contemporary style of work, 30-year old Frederick Jesser is in the prime of his life. Completing a two-year M.F.A. degree in painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design with an exhibition titled, "Echolalic Tendencies: Recent Works" at Aquaspace, 11 W. York Lane, he said the recognition he’s received is "insane — it blows my mind."

His almost fairy tale success includes winning an international competition to be in the International Young Art 2003 program sponsored by Sotheby’s Artlink and being selected out of 40 other artists by New American Painting’s juried competition to win the southeastern region. He also sold all his work from the opening reception of his thesis exhibition and has upcoming live auctions scheduled in Tel-Aviv and New York.

Jesser’s career in art began in his junior year of high school when he took his first art class. His teacher taught a more traditional style of painting with still life and figure study which Jesser said he found dry and unenjoyable. In his senior year, a new art teacher who had recently finished graduate school, brought a more contemporary influence and energy to the classroom. This experience prompted his decision to make art his chosen path. "I do this because I realized it is the only thing I am good at," he said.

On his route to SCAD, he painted houses and owned his own bicycle shop while working on his art. Jesser said it was not until he started graduate school that he began developing his style. "In grad school you are really forced to explain and rationalize what you are doing with your artwork and why you are doing it," he said. He said he "cleared everything out" and learned that his process for creating artwork is actually quite random. "I don’t usually have any sort of process," he said. "It is pretty much just trial and error or spur of the moment. I usually waste a lot of canvas."

Graduate school is not the only aspect aiding Jesser in developing his style. He attributes learning the importance of craftsmanship to working with renowned installation artist Judy Pfaff. She held an exhibition at Pinnacle Gallery in January 2002 as part of SCAD’s Contemporary Masters Series. Because Jesser was working full-time in the galleries department at SCAD, he had the opportunity to work with Pfaff. "We worked 70 hours together in four days," he said. "She taught me how important it is to build things properly from the beginning." He also mentioned other influences such as Andy Warhol and conceptual artist Tom Friedman. "I have always been attracted to Warhol’s repetition and pattern," he said. "It is very elaborate and most people don’t understand it. Friedman’s work is very, very quiet and subtle."

Jesser describes his work as contemporary. "I combine elements from modernism and post-modernism and throw it all together," he explained. Even though he says he is horrible at painting realistic images and gets frustrated from time to time, he does feel his work is "dynamic and fast, full of patterns and repetition." He uses the word "echolalic" in the title of his exhibition because of it’s meaning in speech therapy. "When special needs children are first learning how to speak, they repeat everything they hear," he said. "Communication is about patterns and repetition."

His work is diverse, utilizing everything from wallpaper to fabric to clear plastic inflatable globes. "The fabric has repeat patterns, the globes are the same, the circles are repeated images and the wallpaper has repeated images in it," he said. He chose "Echolalic Tendencies" as an appropriate theme to his work because "patterns are repeated and images are repeated over and over."

Inspiration often comes to Jesser with ease. "Even I am surprised sometimes at the ideas I come up with," he said. "Every piece brings something new to learn." He said he also strives for unbridled energy. "Many artists put a lot of time and energy into their art, and I want to repeat that."

He said he feels extremely fortunate for his latest recognition and success and wants to give back in some way to help groups such as special needs children. Jesser said it is his way of giving thanks for all his rewards. "This is the best year of my life," he said.

Owens is assistant to the vice president for admission and communications.