About

Hubert Jackson was born in 1943 in Culpeper, Virginia. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education from Virginia State University in 1965, then moved to Washington, D.C., where he earned his Master's degree in painting from Howard University in 1971.

Jackson taught art in the Washington, D.C. public schools for 34 years before retiring in 1999 and settling in Colonial Beach, Virginia. In 2004 he furthered his studies at the Corcoran School of Art.

Artist Statement

Whether my work is non-objective or representative – or a blend of both – the creative spirit within me remains the same. When I paint, I feel a certain spirituality and a need to express it in a way that leaves a positive and lasting impression.

Some of my recent work deals with the period of American history from its inception throughout the Civil War and in particular the spirits of those who have come and gone but remain anonymous and unaccounted for through war, slavery, poverty or the passage of time. Although they are no longer physically present, their spirits remain with us as they have become one with nature – embodied within the life forms that emerge from the earth.

Much of my work is characterized by the symbolic use of pine bark figures to represent spirits of long forgotten ancestors. The very nature of pine bark – its shape and textures – appears to suggest human forms, especially bark from old growth trees. I feel that by juxtaposing these limbless entities over and about recognizable human figures and scenes, I am connecting with and validating the existence of those whose shoulders we stand on.

The march of humanity from our earliest origins in Africa has at times taken turns that make us forget that we are of one race and we rise and fall as one.

Collections & Exhibitions

Jackson has exhibited extensively, with work held in numerous private collections across the United States. Through the U.S. State Department's Art in Embassies program, his paintings have been shown internationally in Lesotho, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, and New Guinea, as well as at the United States Embassy in Rome, Italy.

His work is also held in the collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.