George Adams Gallery

During February and March, George Adams Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new work by James Barsness in the main gallery. Barsness will show six large-scale paintings that continue his exploration of human foibles.

Jim Barsness’s new paintings explore the theme of contemporary spirituality, rendering fantastical, humorous, often erotic scenes filled with characters derived from different world religions. In the painting Weight Loss Jesus (2007), Barsness examines the irony of pursuing material desires under the guise of Christian faith. The composition is dominated by a giant-size Jesus laying across the Virgin Mary, a disgusted look on her face as she struggles to hold him a la pieta, while three saints (Christopher, John and Francis) are molested by eager succubae. In contemporary society is it equally acceptable to pray for spiritual salvation as it is for a little weight loss or the satisfaction of sexual desires?

Other works in the exhibition include Surf’s Up All Souls Green Thumb Buddha (2008), which depicts Buddha surfing on the souls of his followers, and Thank You for the Super Puffy Clouds and Happiness (2007), a view of an ordinary town outfitted as a cathedral literally turned inside out. The exhibition includes six new paintings.

Jim Barsness, born in 1954 in Bozeman, MT, currently lives and works in Athens, GA where he is associate professor at the Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia. His work was recently featured in "More is More: Maximalist Tendencies in Recent American Painting," organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee; and "New Directions," organized by the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA. He is also a recent grant recipient from both the Pollock-Krasner and Golden Foundations.