James Gayles | JazzMasters: Bay Area Treasures
March 15 - April 13, 2008

This exhibition is supported by the Oakland City Council and City of Oakland's Cultural Funding Program

Artist Reception | Thursday, March 20, 2008, 6-9PM
Performance by Marcus Shelby Quartet and Faye Carol begins at 6:30PM

Photo by Ray Chavez (Oakland Tribune, 2008)

James Gayles, "Marcus Shelby", Mixed Media, 36" x 30" from Jazz Masters Series, 2007

On December 4, 1987, the United States Senate passed a resolution designating Jazz "a rare and valuable national American treasure of international importance". The resolution states that "Jazz has achieved preeminence throughout the world as an indigenous American music and art form, bringing to this country and the world a uniquely American musical synthesis and culture through the African-American experience," among other attributes. Just west of Swarm Gallery, on 7th Street, there was a vibrant stretch of jazz and blues clubs, a cultural mecca that drew musicians and music lovers from all over the country in the 40s and 50s.

The exhibition at Swarm, "Jazz Masters," includes representations of great figures in jazz by artist James Gayles (a musician himself). This series of portaits pays tribute to contemporary and historical jazz practitioners, with an emphasis on the Bay Area's own. The subjects of his works are those who were born, settled or developed their skills in the Bay Area, most residing in Oakland. Some are legends, some are lesser known, and all represent the breadth of musical talent that inhabits our home. James integrates his figures with more abstract backgrounds, playing of many improvisational themes of jazz. He has captured the unique affect of each of his subjects, ranging from Marcus Shelby to John Coltrane.

We are happy to announce a special program in conjunction with the exhibition:

Artist Talk and Panel: Jazz and Visual Art
Thursday, March 27, 2008, 6:30PM

Panel members include:

Angela Wellman - Jazz Musician, Educator
Executive Director, Founder and Dean of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, Leader of the Count Basie Tribute Orchestra

Wanda Sabir - Arts Columnist for Bayview Newspaper and Writer

Duane Deterville - Writer, Visual Artist, Musician
Co-Director and Co-Founder of Sankofa Cultural Center, Organizer for the Sankofa Jazz Symposium series, Co-author of the recently published book "Black Artists in Oakland"

Marcus Shelby - Jazz Musican, Educator
Leader of the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra & the Marcus Shelby Quartet. Has composed jazz scores for theater and the ballet. Recently voted one of the most influential persons in the Bay Area.

Kimara Dixon - Photographer, Jazz Musician

James Gayles - Fine Artist, Musician

Greg Bridges from KCSM and KPFA will moderate this panel.

JAMES GAYLES
Biography

Emmy Award winning artist James Gayles attended Pratt Institute in New York, where he studied under renowned painters Jacob Lawrence and Audrey Flack He simultaneously pursued careers in both fine and commercial art. As a commercial artist he established himself in New York as a Graphic Designer and Illustrator, becoming Assistant Director of Graphics at NewsCenter 4, NBC-TV. At NBC he won a television Emmy Award for design and illustration.

Other awards include the Art Direction magazine award for both the NewsCenter 4 logo design, and editorial illustration for the New York Times, and first place award for illustration at the California Newspaper Publishers' Awards.

In addition to NBC and the New York Times, James has illustrated for McGraw-Hill, Random House, Essence Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine, as well as several advertising agencies on both the East and West coasts.

James' artwork has been represented by galleries throughout the US. Most recently he won a public art commission from the City of Oakland Craft and Cultural Arts Department, in which he transferred his figurative painting technique to ceramic tile murals. In 2003 he was honored at the Art of Living Black by receiving the Jan Hart-Shuyers Award.

He has been selected twice to show at the California Biennial Watercolor exhibit at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara. He was chosen to do a public art project for the City of Oakland, received an Individual Artist Grant from the City of Oakland, and was recently commissioned by the Alameda County Arts Commission to create a series of paintings.

Art critic and curator Adam Mikos had this to say about James' most recent exhibition BluesMasters: "Gayles has focused his talents on fusing sight with sound, cajoling color and line to communicate like guitar strings and piano keys. Gayles clearly has a special touch with watercolors. Each portrait and image in the exhibition shows mastery over different styles of the medium. Dreamy realism, hard-edged contours, and abstraction push and pull on perspective. Gayles' use of color is stunning. These are not the grainy, black and white images many think of as representing the blues. Bright reds, oranges, and blues catch the eye immediately and allow the lyrical quality of the watercolors to lift off the wall."

James Gayles has lived in Oakland, CA for over 25 years and currently works as an Illustrator for the Bay Area Newspapers Group.