We were lucky to catch up with Darren Jekel recently and have shared our conversation below.
Darren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I had some amazing teachers who taught and inspired me. I feel like I am the unlikely offspring of two very different artists. Let me say more on this. With Mediterranean colors and agile, sinuous strokes of paint, I am a sensualist. 1) I stole Wayne Thiebaud. I am an artist who depicts landscapes, sometimes with figures – but always while facing a canvas with my brush in hand, maybe with music blaring hypnotically and humbly staring in surrender, I am just an oil painter. I could also say – less simply – that when I paint I feel like an alchemist searching for an unreachable prize, a paradise that I ache and pine for (notice my painted horizons, compelling lit and inviting). But of course, there is no paradise. Facing that truth is where the true focus of much of my work comes through, with pictures that are physical, modern, honest, and don’t allow for much sentimentality. I experiment with materials incessantly, even recklessly. 2) I stole Anselm Kiefer. The most astoundingly deep and existential thrill comes to me when I am finished painting and find that my art is not mine; it just grew on the wall by itself.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My life can be summed up with five digit numbers: the zip codes of the San Francisco Bay Area, starting with 9, then 5, then various combinations of numbers that follow. In 2020, I began painting the iconic landscape of the golden gate- the chaparral and oak savanna, the rocky serpentine soil, the rolling hills brightly lit under Mediterranean blue. My newest oil painting is less narrative, and the irony and cynicism typical of neo-expressionism have been replaced with a meta-modern, earnest love for real places. A survivor of the infamous ‘Valley Fire’, my home still standing after the blackened landscape cooled and the flames died, I am now exploring the new life that has grown in its wake, living on many levels in this fire adapted landscape of rebirth. I am now experimenting with charcoal as I paint the contour lines of rhyming sinuous hills and sensuous figures, the work having a new existential power and perhaps providing a new perspective on “mother” nature.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
My teacher at UC Davis, Wayne Thiebaud used to stress how important it was to learn from the master’s, to learn from the best. He was a modest man and did not include himself in that category. He suggested we pay close attention the the painting of Edgar Degas and Richard Diebenkorn for example. I remember following his advise a few years later when my then girl friend (now wife) and I backpacked all over Europe for four months. I saw a dozen of the best art galleries in the world and still remember how impactful and meaningful it was to see great art in person, not just photos in history books. I have similarly traveled all over the USA visiting great art museums.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I think it is very important to be restless as an artist and not get stuck in too narrow a place artistically. I once was pretty stuck and worked in series for a long time doing abstract work that I did not really care about completely. My work was good but deep down I was bored. It was so difficult changing directions with my painting. I started painting landscapes seemingly out of the blue. But nature is deep to me and the subject ended up being much better for me. I am so glad I took that risk. It was very difficult. I feel that the ‘creator’ and ‘destroyer’ should be equally matched and that they go together. You can’t create with out destroying at the same time. I try to surrender when painting to the subject and let it take me places I did not expect. I need to be surprised in order to be finished with a work of art. The surprise is the adventure. It is why I make art to begin with. Ultimately, its the sudden recognition in my painting of part of myself, my inexpressible reality, that is my existential proof that I exist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://darrenjekel.com/
- Instagram: @darrenjekel