Book 440
Jess: To and From the Printed Page
Ingrid Schaffner
Independent Curators International 2007
Jess Collins, simply known as Jess, was born Burgess Franklin Collins in Long Beach, California, in 1923. This book, published to accompany a traveling exhibition of the artist’s work in 2007-2009, focuses on the intricately imaginative collages and drawings that he created from the 1950s to the 1990s. Jess’s work is difficult to summarize in a short paragraph. For one thing, it changed a great deal. For example, in 1957, he created a 4-page collage book titled “Tricky Cad: Case IV,” a parody of Dick Tracy comic strips made entirely of collaged Dick Tracy comics. In 1964, he painted “Petals in Paint,” a still life of flowers in a vase that resembles something Van Gogh might have painted. Mostly, however, he is best known for his collages, which owe a debt to the Dadaist collages of Max Ernst. So, while difficult to categorize, what ultimately develops is a picture of a highly idiosyncratic and restless artist.
