Tampa Museum of Art Presents Retrospective of Paul Jenkins art

The Tampa Museum of Art presents “Paul Jenkins: From America’s Heartland to an International Journey”—an exhibition representative of the artistic career of an Abstract Expressionist artist who altered the landscape of modern art. On view from February 9 to June 26, 2022, this exhibition draws from the holdings of the Haskell Collection in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Jenkins Estate to look at the evolution of Paul Jenkins art from his large-scale paintings to works on paper.

The exhibition demonstrates how Paul Jenkins art groundbreaking techniques and imagery helped transform post-war painting. Jenkins found inspiration in his journeys around the world, particularly time spent in Japan. He is celebrated for his unorthodox approach to paint application. In the early 1950s and throughout his life, the artist worked with controlled paint pouring. This method allowed him to create layers of translucent color and render stark contrasts between light and dark.

The curatorial vision of this exhibition was a collaboration between Suzanne Jenkins; Gail Levin, Distinguished Professor of Art History, American Studies, and Women’s Studies at The Graduate Center and Baruch College of the City University of New York; Joanna Robotham, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tampa Museum of Art; and Michael Tomor, the Penny and Jeff Vinik Executive Director of the Tampa Museum of Art.

“Paul Jenkins” builds upon the exploration of American abstraction at TMA, which began in 2019 with the exhibition “Abstract Expressionism” and continued in 2020 with a retrospective of artist Frank Stella.

“I have long admired Jenkins’s art, but seeing his paintings through the lens of the Haskell Collection and the Jenkins Estate has offered me the opportunity to look at his exquisite paintings with fresh eyes,” Tomor said.

Twenty-five influential paintings highlight the artist’s career in the exhibition “Paul Jenkins: From America’s Heartland to an International Journey.” This exhibition traces the evolution of Jenkins’s oeuvre spanning almost sixty years of painting, from 1951 to 2007. Important early works, such as Egyptian Profile (1953), illustrate his unique technique of paint pouring on paper and canvas and foreshadow his lifelong exploration of light, color, and scale, as demonstrated by the paintings Phenomena Continental Divide (1979–80) and Phenomena Tibetan Estuary (1996). Viewed together, the paintings not only offer a glimpse into Jenkins’s creative practice but also reveal his experiences with nature and the world around him.

About the Tampa Museum of Art

Founded in 1920, the Tampa Museum of Art inspires visitors with engaging exhibitions and innovative educational programs that emphasize ancient, modern, and contemporary art. The Museum houses one of the largest Greek and Roman antiquities collections in the southeastern United States. As one of the region’s most prominent museums devoted to the art of our time, the Museum’s permanent collection also embraces sculpture, photography, painting, new media, and more.

Located in the heart of downtown Tampa, the Tampa Museum of Art leads as both a cultural institution and a community museum dedicated to celebrating its home city’s diversity.

In 2021, the Museum embarked on an ambitious renovation to increase exhibition space and education facilities to accommodate growing community partnerships and allow more hands-on, up-close experiences for students and adults. The Museum will remain open to the public throughout the Centennial Renovation, with an expected completion date in the second half of 2022.

General Hours and Information

For tickets and information, visitTampaMuseum.org or call (813) 274-8130.

Located at 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza. Tampa, FL 33602, the Tampa Museum of Art is open seven days a week, Monday–Sunday 10 am–5 pm, and Thursdays from 10 am–8 pm.