Twrkv at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

Jack Tworkov "Blue Note," 1959

Mitchell-Innes & Nash announces an upcoming exhibition of paintings by Jack Tworkov from February 20 through March 30, 2007.  Jack Tworkov: Rhythm, 1955-1970 will feature works inspired by the evolving New York jazz and music scene of the 1950s and 60s.  The first exhibition to illuminate the connection between music and Tworkov’s rhythmic brushstroke, paintings on view will include those named for musical styles and venues including the jazz club Five Spot and the legendary music label Blue Note.

In a 1979 interview with Marcia Tucker the artist states: “I remember that in the early Fifties I was attracted to certain types of jazz.  I listened to Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane.  I used to go to the Five Spot a great deal.  There’s something of that freedom and strength that some of the musicians exhibited in their music that had some influence on me.”

With the burgeoning group of Beat writers, Abstract Expressionist painters and jazz scene musicians, the 1950s and early 1960s were an explosive time period for Tworkov and his New York School colleagues.  As a founding member of The Club, the artist collective whose members included Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline, Tworkov was an influential participant in the art world revolution that heralded gestural, non-figurative work.  Tworkov went on to be included in Leo Castelli's inaugural exhibition, the landmark "Ninth Street Show" of 1951, and by 1960, Tworkov was represented by the Leo Castelli Gallery.

Jack Tworkov (1900-1982) was born in Poland and immigrated to the United States when he was 13. He studied English at Columbia University, and art at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League. He taught at several institutions, including the Black Mountain College, Queens College, Pratt Institute, and Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Art Department from 1963 to 1969.