Last Light 

Jeff Jamison made this painting, Last Light, using oil paint, a material that has a long, long history in Western art. The thick texture of the paint here shows the artist’s process, each brushstroke carefully laid down. The very idea of using globs of pigment to capture a scene relates to the rise of industrial capitalism, and tubes of paint became available to buy ready-made. Think about the social rituals implied here: leisure time at the beach, and the ability to observe and record this in paint. Jamison engages with the tradition of plein air painting, taking his practice out of the studio and directly into the landscape. This approach, coupled with the direct handling of the paint, imbues the work with a sense of immediacy and authenticity. It’s easy to think that painting is a rarefied activity, but even this artwork is inseparable from the culture of labor, materials, and consumption.