"Celebrating Global Diversity" - Paintings by Jason Parris Fitz-Gerald

At the MATV Gallery  
March 3 – April 17, 2008

Public Reception
Wednesday, March 12, 6:30 – 8:30pm

When artist Jason Parris Fitz-Gerald, whose solo show Celebrating Global Diversity is on view at the MATV Gallery March 3 – April 17, takes his paintbrush in hand, he aims to create a work that “celebrates the human family.” Typically painting with acrylics on wood, the artist  may be inspired by a photograph he has taken, a scene from a newspaper or magazine, or perhaps by internal ruminations that he would like to concretize through the art medium. The final paintings, often rendered in bold primary colors and strong brush strokes, draw in viewers with the sense that each of the images has a story to tell.

Jason was born in the South American country Guyana, which offered a colorful backdrop  of people and surroundings to inspire him as a boy. The open equatorial savannahs, comic books, and radio dramas of his childhood all fostered creative imaginings that he attempted to reproduce on paper, initially by drawing comic book heroes. The activity dominated his free time, and eventually he could always be found with his pencil and paper at the ready. Jason’s early creative expressions—including writing and performing theatrical productions with local kids—presaged a lifelong involvement in the arts, with forays into photography, acting, filmmaking, writing, directing, design and music.

Jason’s family eventually moved to Brooklyn, New York, and he attended college in Manhattan. He earned a certificate in photography then a degree in theater and went on to appear in movies and on television and in numerous stage roles both in the US and abroad. Wanting to marry his passions of photography and theatre and to be a filmmaker, he returned to school to earn his certificate in filmmaking from NYU and his master’s in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Along the way he also found the time to study English, and today he works teaching English to immigrants. His formal education was not yet over, however, and he attended UCLA to get a degree in graphic arts, a step that finally brought drawing into the forefront. He also earned a degree in multimedia and web design from the Art Institute in Atlanta and worked as a designer before coming to East Boston in 2003, when his painting efforts began in earnest. He had his own studio and began exhibiting in art shows before taking off to southern Africa, teaching English and art in the countries of Malawi and Namibia.

After two years, in 2006, Jason returned to East Boston to resume his studio work, fresh with images and experiences from Africa to inform his vibrant paintings. His creativity was aided in part by the similarities that he perceived between Africa and Guyana, helping him to feel attuned to that part of the world. Jason hopes that his work reveals to others who he is and what he’s about as he depicts the black experience and celebrates global diversity, meanwhile celebrating all aspects of life—from human suffering throughout the ages to the world’s abundant beauty. He feels fortunate to have lived in different parts of the world, and he strives to capture the feeling of common humanity that he’s experienced, to portray the energy and spirit that he has encountered everywhere in his travels.

Celebrating Global Diversity will be on view from March 3 - through April 17, 2008, and the public is invited to attend the artist’s reception on Wednesday, March 12, from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Exhibit hours are Monday–Thursday, 10am-9pm; Friday, 10am-6pm; and Saturday, 10am-2pm. Handicapped accessible, Malden Access Television is located at 145 Pleasant St. in Malden Square.