In shocking and disturbing contrast, painter Jay Eckstein demands we share his concern with the pathos of human vulnerability and need in brutal circumstances of injury, violence and survival.

His large, dark canvases are filled with slashes and gashes of paint in harshly realistic depictions of ravaged hospital patients, crime victims, Nazi Holocaust survivors, and private hells of torment. More glorious than gory in their honesty and wholly compelling in their pain, Eckstein's paintings expose life's darkest side and in so doing, shed great light.

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"More glorious than gory in their honesty and wholly compelling in their pain, Eckstein's paintings expose life's darkest side and in so doing, shed great light."

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Eckstein has had one-person shows at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, as well as in San Diego, Kansas City, Madison and Harrisburg. His sustained participation in group shows from coast to coast include exhibits at the Gang Gallery in New York, the Veem Gallery in Philadelphia and Resurgam Gallery in Baltimore. He has also won nearly a dozen awards and has work in just as many private collections.

Charles Chamot, Chamot Gallery

My work was included as part of a course curriculum at Duke University.
The following is an excerpt from correspondence by Professor Robinson.

It is so important to engage students with work of artists working outside of their region and and frame of reference. The response to your work is excellent especially from my students this semester.

By Jan Worth
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

What do artists think about? In the aptly named exhibit "Different Strokes by Different Folks" at downtown Flint's Buckham Gallery through July 3, eight painters demonstrate that artists might think about, and make art from, almost anything.

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"Jay Eckstein's four darkly sober canvases dominate the gallery's back wall"

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Viewers to this show will see reflections on the daily life of cows, surreal events, cartoon characters, alien shapes and violence and survival. Two local artists are joined by five out-of-town painters, including three from New York, demonstrating Buckham's lively ability to attract and showcase work of national interest. And while diverse and idiosyncratic in their visions of the world, the eight share an assertive, almost bellicose use of color and a big, bold Texas-scale approach.

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"Eckstein explores human vulnerability and human need in circumstances of injury, violence and survival"

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New Jersey artist Jay Eckstein's four darkly sober canvases dominate the gallery's back wall. In heavy brown, black and gray, Eckstein explores human vulnerability (his male figures are literally exposed, from the waist down) and human need in circumstances of injury, violence and survival.

The disturbing blood splatters; scary teeth and shrieking mouths of several of his figures in Free Man, The Mourners and Survivor Portrait suggest intense, unresolved grief.

As its name suggests, not everything will please every taste, but it is guaranteed to stimulate one's thinking about where art comes from and what it can do. Buckham Gallery, 134 1/2 W. Second St., is open from 11:30 am to 5 pm Wednesdays and Thursdays and 1:30-7pm Fridays.

JAY ECKSTEIN
JayEckstein & Ioana Dactu at Kansas City Artists Coalition - Mallin Gallery
November 7 - November 22, 1997

Both Jay Eckstein and Ioana Dactu explore the human condition in their work. Unfortunately neither represents it in a positive light. Eckstein's grief stricken figures appear almost manic, driven towards the edge, while Dactu's female figures seem to wallow in their own despair, listless and detached from reality.

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"Eckstein's grief stricken figures appear almost manic, driven towards the edge"

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The statement that Jay Eckstein "explores human vulnerability and human need in circumstances of injury, violence and survival" could not be more apparent through his work. In The Graduation, a man dressed in cap and gown stands next to a woman. Even though both are fully clothed, a curled-up fetus can be seen inside the mother's womb and the man's genitals are exposed through his gown. Their clothing and skin are transparent, especially surrounding the mouth, which leaves their horrifying, jagged teeth exposed.

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"Eckstein creates a world full of darkness and uncertainty"

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In Survivor Ceremony*, three people desperately cling to one another as the woman in white bleeds profusely from a gaping wound. All three bare their teeth, adding to the grotesque quality of the picture.

As I looked through this collection of work as whole, it became impossible to visualize life in a positive manner. Jay Eckstein and Ioana Dactu have created a world full of darkness and uncertainty. Each artist portrays this dismal view extremely well - or just extremely.

Heather Knutsen

*ARTIST'S NOTE: The painting the critic is referring to is titled The Mourners

Exhibition of Works by the Winners in the U.S.A. Art Competition 1987
at the
JERRY SOLOMON GALLERY
962 N. LA BREA, LOS ANGELES, CA 90038
Exhibition Dates: June 3-28; 12:00-6:00 p.m.

Exhibiting Artists: Aurbach, Auslender, A. Banana, Bigalow, Bragdon, Cameron, Cavency, Clement, Coyle, Curran, Damast, Davison, Dwyer, Eckstein, Evans, Farrell, Fieber, Ford, Goldenstein, Graham, Hartman, Howard, King, Kwon, Lambrechts, Lee, Levitsky, Marks, McAfee, Martinez, Milosvich, Mottet, Peterson, Roach, Rothman, Scott, Sewelson, Soreff, Valdovino, Wolff, Wood.

Palmer Poroner

An artist who begins with abstraction is Jay Eckstein, whose mixed media paintings (oil, charcoal, pencil) are on view at the LRC Gallery, Passaic County College, Paterson, NJ. This series, from an otherwise figurative painter, is an exercise in color and form. Eckstein displays a command of abstract techniques in these 12 oils of 1985 as he deals with the tensions of loosely geometric forms in space.

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"Eckstein displays a command of abstract techniques in these oils as he deals with the tensions of loosely geometric forms in space"

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In every canvas, each mainly oblong area is different in color and surface handling, some attached to others, but always creating a unified whole. Besides producing stripes of deep red over red or pink, Jay Eckstein may employ pencil drawing over other areas. Meanwhile the areas relate in such a way as to create tension over the surface. Several of the works have strong contrast, and subsequent greater depth, while others are more diffused, with less frontal areas, giving an effect of mood and mystery.

ARTSPEAK A TWICE A MONTH ART EXHIBITION REVIEW

The gallery located at 76 Greene Street, is owned by a former artist, who has a rare sensitivity for young artists. The art of new and established artists can be seen here, and the variety is refreshing. Each exhibit is a new experience.

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"Eckstein's paintings and sculpture provide satirical views of human relationships"

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The last exhibit of the season was no exception. It featured two distinct themes: "Humanity" and "Landscape Paintings." Five artists contributed to the former.

Jay Eckstein was trained as a designer and filmmaker apparently providing an insightful background, and spontaneous use of line, in his oils and sculpture on view. These were satirical and quite entertaining views of human relationships. "All Dolled Up" depicted an absurdly shaped woman attached to a tag and two male torsos. This artist's style here is reminiscent of Luiz Cruz Azacetas. In "Altered Man" an apparent victim of external changes and societal pressures, a man is surrounded by decorative zigzags and arrows, phallic symbols, conjuring up a myriad of images.