Jasper Community Arts is pleased to present the work of Plano, Texas mixed media artist Derrock Burnett for the months of June and July at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center.

Burnett has exhibited in Chicago, New York, and Miami. His award-winning work has been featured in Fox’s hit show Empire, season 2, in the magazine New American Paintings, and was also a winner in the 2013 Bombay Sapphire artisan series.

Burnett’s artwork can be defined as mixed media through the use of various materials borrowed from a dayto-day context. Burnett states, “My artwork explores contemporary African– American portraits as a representation of black identity. I build on these images using references to blackness in America and the African diaspora. The work
addresses ideas of diversity in blackness while borrowing from the language of graffiti, abstraction, Africa, the urban environment, and hip-hop. I repurpose materials and juxtapose both images with material on traditional and alternative supports. Through my work I seek to reclaim power back to the black image, searching inward
exposing both the public/private conversations of black culture influenced by the aesthetic we chose for ourselves.”

The materials Burnett selects in his artwork focus on color and texture, they are brought in or found to be reused, remixed, and appropriately altered back into the work.

“Concentrating on the portrait and figure, I can create compositions that are as expressive as they are layered in meaning and material. As my work is evolving the use of materials to create mixed media pieces has manifested, as prints, sculpture, drawings, and paintings. Expanding my media choices has brought me to a multi-layered exploration of imagery in black culture featuring my twist on black portraiture. It is in this, I aim to
explore the under-represented visual history of black art connecting it to past, present and future,” says Burnett.

Derrock Burnett was born and raised in Gary, Indiana. He received his Master’s of Fine Art degree with a concentration in painting from Indiana State University.

Burnett’s solo exhibition will be on display from June 2nd – July 25th, 2022. First Thursday Reception will take place on Thursday, June 2nd from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm. Food will be catered by Schnitzelbank Catering and a cash bar will be provided by The Gaslight Pizza and Grill. The event is free and open to the public.

The galleries at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center, located at 100 3rd Avenue, Suite A, Jasper, IN 47546, are open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, and Sunday from noon to 3:00 pm. School groups, clubs, and students are welcome. Admission is free. Donations appreciated.For more information, please call 812-482-3070.

Jasper Community Arts is a department of the City of Jasper. JCA is supported in part by Friends of the Arts, Inc., the Indiana Arts Commission, The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, and the National Endowment for the Arts