Jason Shawn Alexander

Jason Shawn Alexander is a self-described expressionist, figurative painter, whose subjects embody the “vulnerability, fear, and underlying strength that comes from [Alexander’s] rural upbringing” in Tennessee. His painting is characterized by the exaggeration of his subjects’ expressions and proportions, thickly applied paint, murky palette, ethereal presences hiding beneath layers of paint, and the intrusion of text into the illusionistic space of the image. Before he devoted his time to painting, Alexander worked as a draftsman for comic book publishers such as Marvel, DC Comics, and Dark Horse. While he continued to make graphic illustrations, it was not until 2012 that these were shown alongside his paintings. Alexander lists among his influences Francis Bacon, Anselm Kiefer, and Cy Twombly.