Jesse Hickman, Defiance 2 (for Douglas), 2016. House paint on wood, 6.5 x 11 x 1 inches.
I’ve been photographing and cataloging my art collection. I find myself wanting to make an occasional series of posts about the artworks I live with and about my cherished friendships with artists around the world.
I’ll start with this piece by Jesse Hickman. He made it in 2016, but the story of it really begins 30 years ago.
The piece is called “Defiance 2 (for Douglas),” house paint on wood, 6.5 x 11 x 1 inches.
I went to a small college in northern Indiana. The closest city, Chicago, was several hours away. The art department made field trips there once or twice a year. On one such trip in the spring of 1990, I saw Jesse Hickman’s exhibition “The County Series” at Klein Art Works, a group of strong, shaped, rectilinear compositions. The dark bands were burned into the surface. On first take, they were black and white...but really they were various organically produced shades blackish-brown, yellowish-white, etc. The titles were names of midwestern US counties.
The card for Jesse’s show went directly on the wall of my room for the next several years. I loved the image on it, a work titled “Defiance.” (Pics 2,3) That show influenced an entire body of my drawings over that time. And it was a strong push for me in the direction of geometric abstraction generally.
I never heard of him again, but I never forgot his name. However in 2014, I noticed his name on an announcement for a small gallery in northern Michigan where I vacation each summer. I inquired a little bit. Sure enough, it was the same Jesse Hickman, now living in northern Michigan. We corresponded for the first time and I told him the story of seeing his show. We arranged to meet that summer when I came to Michigan and our friendship began.
Later, I found a drawing from the summer of 1991 (4). It shows the influence his work had on mine. It’s an abstract interpretation of the view out the window of my bedroom...his exhibition card hung on the wall above my bed that entire summer. I decided to send him the drawing. In return, Jesse made me a miniature “Defiance.”