GREG JEZEWSKI
HIGH BALL
September 11 - Novebmer 10, 2011




Two Balls, One Strike
wood, kenitk sculpture, acrylic on wood
37” x 40”
2010
By placing a dime in the slot, a golf ball sized baseball drops down to the pitchers hands and is sent back into the machine.

HIGH BALL, an exhibition of baseball themed kinetic sculpture and multi media paintings by Greg Jezewski, opens at Frank Pictures Gallery on October 9. Jezewski’s work is wildly inventive. It is all about the game, while each piece also becomes a playable game itself. There’s a Wolfman pitcher who tells your fortune with the spin of a wheel, a coin operated “2 Balls One Strike” machine, a catcher’s masked face made of shredded US currency framed in compressed Cracker Jack boxes. “As a boy I was sent to instructional camps because I loved the sport so deeply and found much of the nuances of the game to be mystifying and magical”, says Jezewski, “In my artwork I look for those crossroads and coincidences that can mean two things at once, puns and metaphors cover all the bases.” Jezewski, a former semi pro ballplayer, left the game with his heart broken and his sense of humor in tact. “Remember, American Baseball is the only sport, says Jezewski, “the others are just games, like Monopoly and Parcheesi!” A graduate of Otis, Jezewski began his career at the legendary Zero One Gallery. He has shown with the Downey Museum of Art, the Irvine Arts Center, LA Artcore, L.A.C.E, traveled in a special exhibition in conjunction with Ken Burns’ documentary series “Baseball”, university galleries at Biola and LA City College, the Fred Hoffman Gallery, the Transamerica Center Gallery, Gallery 1:16 and has been exhibited widely in conjunction with the Baseball Reliquary at various institutions and galleries across the Southland. Jezewski’s work is included in many prominent collections including those of Charlie Sheen, Barbie Benton, Edward Boswell and Terry and Mary Cannon.

 


American Diamond,
mosaic collage
19” x 19”
2001



Origin of the species,
acrylic on wood,
84” x 56”
2011


2 B, or not to BE
Acrylic on wood
59” x 35”
2006


Nemesis,
kinetic scuplpture,
acrylic on wood
59” x 25”
1993
When viewing this piece, one may push a button to make the blood circulate through the corpse and
a second button to make the heart in its hand start beating.


Frame Inside of Frame, Jose Conseco
20010
acrylic on wood
19” x 14”




Full Moon,
acrylic on wood, kinetic sculpture
44.5” x 38”
1996
The viewer of this piece can ask it a question, then by pulling a lever on the side the answer is revealed through a glass ball.


Green Fields
acrylic, collage on wood
19” x 19”
1991
This piece is constructed of US currency and compresses Cracker Jack Boxes.


Frame Inside a Frame, Lasorda
acrylic on wood
28” x 24.5”
2010
This piece is a take on Duchamp's "This is not a pipe" the french text translates to "This is not a pitcher"

Artist Statement

Most Americans have been imprinted from a very young age in some form of baseball. They travel from base to base and then finally arrive home, its an American tradition. Many people from the United States even consider themselves experts in the sport. They gravitate toward favorite players and memorize their statistics. I myself as a boy was sent to instructional camps because I loved the sport so deeply and learned the nuances that many found later as I performed to be mystifying or magical. Repeating these acts over and over in a lifetime and going to Art college that didn t have sport teams to subsidize their curriculum I have come to a place where the sport has become a cultural mythology. Producing baseball related artwork since the early 80s , showing at various galleries and institutions I found that many facets in the art world either didn t enjoy baseball or sport in general. The flip side to this being the people I played ball with never showed up at my exhibitions. Traveling this path many years later I found a kindred spirit in The Baseball Reliquary. The Reliquary is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American Art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastimes unparalleled creative possibilities. We quickly became friends and a platform to expose my artwork from. In my artwork I look for those crossroads and coincidences that can mean two things at once. From a kid the coaches impressed upon us to protect ourselves with the proper equipment. I created an artwork that talked about the danger of not wearing a support cup. Only later did I realize the significance of the title "Two balls one Strike". Or in many of my pieces find the beauty of the moment when the configuration of a pack of wolves forms the blueprint of a baseball defensive alignment. In my new work "Neanderball" this hopefully is conveyed. Over the years I revisit these topics and find new ways to express these points of view, strange as they are. When I painted the first "Neanderball" (which was the original baseball themed work) I used Picasso as the head of the caveman emerging from his lair. As I round third and come home this new painting "Neanderball" I have used the portrait of Darwin in a pivotal place where it means something more than just a rendering. Puns and metaphors speak to multiple places and with such little time in our lives using this form of speech hopefully it covers all the bases and we can convey or make our mark as the prehistoric ancestors have and our modern day graffiti artists. Remember, American Baseball "Is" the only sport, the others are just games, like Monopoly and Parcheesi!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXHIBITIONS:

2011 B.B.R. Presents "Not Exactly Cooperstown" Burbank Central Library

2011 "Chain Letter" Shashona Wayne Gallery

2010 B.B.R. Presents Son Of Cardboard Fetish" South Pasadena Library

2010 B.B.R. Presents "Lasorda Palooza" Pomona Public LIbrary

2009 B.B.R. Presents "Love to Hate" Burbank Public Library

2009 B.B.R. Presents "Cardboard Fetish" Pasadena Central Library

2009 "Incognito" Santa Monica Museum of Art

2008 "Incognito" Santa Monica Museum of Art

2008 "Damn Yankees" James Armstrong Theatre

2006 "Winter Ball" Los Angeles City College

2005 B.B.R. Presents "Painting The Black" Pasadena City College

2005 "The Seeing Eyeball" Pasadena Central Library

2003 B.B.R. Presents "In Their Own League" Saddleback College

2001 B.B.R. Presents "The Interior Diamond" Pasadena Central Library

 


PUBLICATIONS:

2003 O.C. Register "Baseball As Art" by Magda Liszewka

2001 The Adirondack Mountain Sun "The Other Side of the Coin"

2001 Gallery Magazine 2001 "Baseball Prediction" (Illustration)

1999 Juxtapose "Monster Ball" by Ray Zone

1991 LA Reader "Funny HA HA" by Thomas Frick

COLLECTORS INCLUDE:

CHARLIE SHEEN, BARBIE BENTON, EDWARD BOSWELL, TERRY & MARY CANNON

 

 

 

 

 
©2011 All Rights Reserved. Frank Pictures Gallery.