Imaginary History
Morris Jackson is a Columbus self-taught artist represented by the Lindsay Gallery. He started drawing as a 15-year old in 1978, started exhibiting his work in 1993, and started showing at the Lindsay Gallery in 2006. When I got this commission, I realized this would be by far the largest work I had ever done, so I would need a subject worthy of all the space. The idea that popped into my head was a history of all human civilization. However, knowing my limitations both as artist and as a historian, I realized this could not be an accurate history – hence, “Imaginary History”. The first (top) panel could be titled “Beginnings”. It symbolically represents the origins of religion, community, war, and the state. The second (middle) panel is a very idiosyncratic depiction of the Middle Ages, as a time of magic, transformation, hierarchy, and elaborate, complex art and religion. The third (bottom) panel jumps abruptly to the present with a residential neighborhood, a meadow with large domesticated animals and a city.
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