For decades, Jack Barrett pursued the feminine mystique through artwork ranging from deep, psychologically complex portraits to expressive gestural studies. This selection of the artist's paintings and drawings offers an extensive look at his ongoing celebration of the power of femininity.

Barrett was a prominent illustrator for the St. Petersburg Times & the Evening Independent for over twenty years. He studied at the Carnegie Institute and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and taught figure drawing at St. Petersburg College and the Morean Arts Center. His work has been published extensively, and he is the recipient of many awards and honors including recognition for his remarkable newspaper illustration. He was a prolific artist, exhibited his work throughout the U.S., and is included in many prestigious art collections including Raymond James Financial, St. Petersburg College, Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, and the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art.

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INFO ABOUT THE ARTIST JACK BARRETT

When considering an artist's work, most people tend to compare it to another artist or categorize it by style. It is more comfortable to relate to something familiar instead of experiencing a completely new and possibly innovative work of art. Jack Barrett is difficult to classify and yet his style is instantly recognizable. Lennie Bennett, a St. Petersburg Times art critic once wrote, "We see the roll call of recurring images: jesters, clowns, doves; the mysterious tangles of people; the bold fields of color that isolate or contain the figures. But just when you think you have him pegged, he breaks out another trick from his immense stylistic bag and you stop thinking of Matisse or Chagall and begin considering Schiele or De Kooning, or any number of other artists whose influence might flicker through by never dominate Barrett's unique vision and visual vocabulary."

Jack was adept at using texture and color to create a totally unique composition while at the same time retaining his individuality. He was fond of experimenting and trying new techniques, but always retained the Barrett signature. He could be abstract or capture the exact likeness of a subject; he was comfortable a either end of the spectrum. His paintings are playful and masterfully executed works of color, composition, shapes, forms and, almost always, figures. Jack's wife Louise loves to relate tales of Jack's vivid imagination and describes the various creatures that would inhabit the house or the studio and eventually end up on his canvas. Jack's characters are unmistakable. Always dancing, playing, flying or creating pandemonium, wearing strange hats and outrageous clothing, they animate much of his work and are a joy to behold.

On February 3, 2008, the world became a little less colorful, a little less whimsical and a little less wonderful, Jack Barrett passed away. An admired artist for over 40 years, Jack left behind a huge collection of paintings, drawings, pastels and sketches.

What followed were posthumous exhibitions at the Morean Arts Center (2008), the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art (2014), and the Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersburg (2017).

The complete collection of Jack Barrett's works are now represented by ARTicles Art Gallery and an exhibition of selected paintings and drawings, Legendary Beauty, has been organized for their special exhibition space, The Leslie Curran Gallery.