Dedicated and restlessly searching, Jack Wilkes is a teacher, painter, and explorer in concrete images and abstract ideas. After studying at the Cleveland Art Institute, Jack finished his BFA in Art Education at Drake which included a Certificate in Art Therapy; and he was both painting and teaching before he completed work for his MFA in painting from Drake in 1983. Teaching at Simpson College, Iowa State University, serving as Artist-in-Residence at the Des Moines Art Center, then Drake, he exhibited the first of his series of paintings and served in residencies, special projects, and workshops, some as far away as New Smyna Beach, Florida and Verenna, Italy.
Skilled in classic drawing and composition, Wilkes, in some of his earliest Midwestern exhibitions, demonstrated his mastery of human anatomy and his interest in allegory. Later, Wilkes’ large architectural paintings focused on historic and esthetically, or socially, significant buildings and places. He has also investigated traditional still life objects such as flowers, fruit, and vases. Wilkes’ landscapes feature the fresh colors of lush trees and rippling bodies of water.
As Wilkes summarizes: My work… has revolved around sign, symbol, allegory, and architecture. I gravitate to… historical, social, and spiritual references in both object and architecture in trying to understand the power these objects… possess and provide. Within the last two decades, Wilkes’ work has appeared in 52 selected exhibitions and been purchased for inclusion in 47 corporate, public, and private collections.