Exhibitions

Peter Jodaitis
Taking Stock
February 4–27, 2016

Reception: February  11, 5-7pm (talk at 6)
Music by Robert Karch + Sharon DeMeyer 

Peter Jodaitis writes:
     In the late 1960s, I began to devote my full energies to art. Nearly 50 years have passed since. At this point, making art has evolved into an obsession. I only know that I need to be in my studio every day. If I weren't able to work, I'd become a lost soul. As Joan Mitchell said: "My mind is like an album of paintings and photographs."
     The mountains of sketchbooks in my studio are testimony to my madness for drawing. They are means for exploration; a place where fear of failure is met, head on. If one does not take risks, one will not advance. Artists must learn to be who they are. Intuition speaks its own riddling truths. And, while I explore many motifs, the female nude exposes vulnerable and unfinished parts of myself.
​     The other mountains in my studio are paintings, using a variety of media on paper. While I follow many different motifs, The main body of my work, and the place I return for inspiration is the female form, which I often see even in landscapes, trees, rocks, hills. The human form reflects all facets of nature; it is where we all live. While I use many media to realize the forms, as De Kooning notes, “oil pigments were invented to paint the nude.”
      My formal education was focused on economics: BA, MA, and finally doctoral studies st The University of Connecticut where my decision to devote myself to art was formed. I abandoned my PhD work and became a house-husband before the word was used. While my children were in school, I modeled for art classes at the University and followed my new “major” indirectly, absorbing what I could from the modeling stand. Several of the art professors allowed me to audit the classes as well, a gift I remember and appreciate to this day.
      In 1982, I moved to California and continued to draw and paint in a number of studios, more or less improvised, until, in Chico, I found, first a studio downtown, and then built my own in the backyard, now crammed full of the gleanings of 50 years of work.
      In this show, and thanks to the extremely open and accepting heros who keep 1078 vital, I am trying to replicate the walls of my studio, a way of representing my working environment and a retrospective as I enter my 80th year of life, a life in art. Hence, the title of the show, Taking Stock.
     SPECIAL NOTE: From February 6 through March 31, 2016, James Snidle Fine Arts will be showing a small selection of  Jodaitis’s notebooks, paintings, and drawings in conjunction with the show at 1078. For more information, contact the gallery: James Snidle Fine Arts, 254 E. 4th Street, Chico, CA 95928. Gallery hours: Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00, Saturday 9:00-2:00 and by appointment (530-343-2930)