Collecting, Creating & Curating - a Confluence: Jim Lennox
- bkeeler
- 6 days ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
An essay on the art and art collection of Jim Lennox by Brian Keeler
I have known Jim Lennox for quite a few years, first meeting a couple of decades ago. Getting to know his art and his amazing collection of other artists' work in recent years has been a real treat. His collection is in his self-created home located on a mountain top not far from the Susquehanna, south of Wilkes-Barre, PA. On a recent visit to his home and studio my appreciation was deepened and our many commonalities were nicely revealed. The focus here is presenting an overview of the depth and breadth of his collection with his creative drive. I have done a series of articles in recent years on collectors who happen to collect my paintings, with the goal of sharing how art is benefited by those who take an active interest and sometimes scholarly involvement. Jim stands out as he is both a full time creator and connoisseur.
Above - Jim Lennox in his home is Shickshinny, PA with some of his collection on the wall and one of his own sculpures on the table.
Art is benefitted by collectors in obvous ways- but the importance of collectors to artists extends in ways that enrich the art but also benefits the legacy of the artists, the community at large and to our cultural heritage. We may think of many collectors in American history or internationally whose passion for collecting formed the basis for musuems. The Frick Museum is in the news recently as they are reopening the Frick Mansion in New York. But others come to mind as well, such as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Guggenheim or even the National Gallery in DC, all of which were formed from the vision and collections of individuals. Jim represents a current example of this venerable practice of art collecting with a passion and exuberance for the art- and with a personal connecton to each piece.
Jim is from Berwick, PA and the son of a high school electronics teacher- where his father taught at Columbia/Montour High. He credits his weaning years on a farm and learning about welding there as important to his work as a sculptor. But it wasn't until his time in the US Air Force while stationed at Rota, a city near Malaga in southern Spain, that he began to draw and think about art. Upon discharge from the Air Force he began formal study with Herb Simon, Laurie Kerrigan, Richard Fuller and Sharon Cosgrove at Wilkes University in Wilkes- Barre, PA. He was a full time art major while at Wilkes and had a varied curriculum of printmaking, drawing, painting, 2-D design and sculpture. In addition to his pursuit of art over the years he has had several full-tme jobs as an administrator at Wilkes University and in Canada.
His collection and the setting
Jim's wide ranging and eclectic collection (of about 300 pieces) is displayed in the incredible house that he designed and built, including all the internal workings of plumbing, electronics, heating and lighting. The house and his nearby 4,000 square feet studio next door are both truly works of art in themselves. In short, the context is in a beautiful seamless relation to the art. The interior colors in his house are vibrant, as the outer colors of barn red and subdued green are controlled and restrained. The interior is somehow reminiscent of (both) the homes of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in Mexico City, which I've visited on a couple of occasions. The exuberance of imagery, color, and furniture that house the art creates an inspiring setting that a visitor can only absorb gradually as there is so much. We think of galleries and museums as usually having neutral color on the wall or deep hues to be a supportive foil for the art. Jim's interior works suprisingly, as it flips that aesthetic.We see model airplanes made by Jim's father that influenced Jim's own plane-inspired metal sculpture. Along with the American Indian arrowheads, pottery, dolls and unique furniture we are in a creative confluence. Even the unique paint application on his kitchen cabinetry is appealing as a kind of process-oriented light blue brushy and raw wood.
Of course, I am honored to have about six of my own pieces in the collection that Jim purchased at the Scranton AFA gallery's annual fundraising auction or at the former Laura Craig Gallery. But the context is certainly part of the appeal to see my paintings with other regional artists who I have known and admired for decades. Among those artists are; Earl Lehman, Nina Davidowitz, Mary Lou Chibirka, Sharon Cosgrove, Dennis Corrigan, Richard Hupp, Trudy Gerlach, Richard Hunt, Marshall Rumbaugh, Lou Pontone, Kathy Kobeleski, Barbara Remington, James Penedos, Ty Welles, Tom Noone, Mark Webber, Rob Letteri, and many others that I discovered for the first time. Jim's wife Hillary is also part of the collecting process here as she was often at the AFA gallery auctions with Jim. Hillary collects work on her own as well. In fact they met at the AFA gallery in a room above the office, which incidentally is shown in the background of a figurative painting of AFA regulars by Mary Lou Chibirka.
I was first at Jim's house at a Christmas party several years ago - but with all the socializing and conviviality of the evening it was only possible to take in the art and setting in an overall impression. During this last visit I spent several hours there and Jim explained about many of the pieces, their background, and how they were acquired. along with anecdotes about the artists and the art. It made for a lively and varied account. As I knew most of the artists, the tales and convoluted histories added to the viewing experience. As a supplement to this review, we recorded four videos of Jim sharing his thoughts about his collection and his art. See the links below.
Where to start? As any one piece could inspire an essay on its own, a mere cursory overview is only practical here. Everything from nudes, still lifes, portraits, cityscapes, landscapes, abstractions and surrealism are part of the mix- and each one beckoning for a relaxed contemplation. Let's take the two large paintings by Mary Lou Chibirka as starting point. Jim likes narrative paintings with content or works that speak to him for a variety of reasons. Mary Lou's painting of a group of gallery goers is brimming with characterizations and painted with wonderful brushwork as she portrays these denizens of the Scranton art scene. I recognized all those portrayed and she captures something special about those characters. Her large portrait of Jim is equally painterly and we can see perhaps her admiration of Lucien Freud in the painterly treatment. Nearby to the left is an allegorical work with figures and series of cube-like forms, perhaps from a quarry, by Sharon Cosgrove. Her tight realism and intriguing imagery is thought provoking and we know it contains a personal significance as well.
Above- the mixed media painting with sculptural extrusions by Jim and assistants depicting the regional performance artist, John Bromberg.
We are taken by the large portrayal of the performance artist, John Bromberg, titled "Portable Pageant" in this same room which was painted as part of a performance by Jim and some young people. This piece includes mobile-like (as in Calder's moving sculptures) add-ons of wheels that move with attached images.
Earl Lehman is represented by one of his large completely abstract paintings along with a lovely landscape that most of us will recognize as his more characteristic work. Jim acquired the abstract piece through a trade.
Above- A carving by Marshall Rumbaugh of a former mayor of Scranton, Jim McNulty.
There is a wonderful figurative wood carving by the late Marshall Rumbaugh of Dallas, PA (shown above) in this same room. The carving depicts the former mayor of Scranton Jim McNulty, in a whimsical pose with a Steamtown toy train and conductor's cap. I have known this work from other exhibits including one that I curated at the Blue Heron Gallery in Wyalusing- years ago.
Jim also collects and makes guitars. I found this fascinating as to construct these electric guitars seems like an incredibly difficult and exacting process. Just think of the precision necessary in crafting the fretboard with the precise intervals required. Jim did all the electronics inside the guitars and added the humbucking pickups to these beautifully finished works with vibrant 50's style colors that make us think of Fiesta ware. Peachy colors and highly-hued finishes give these Stratocaster facsimiles a unique look. Being a guitarist myself, this part of the collection has special appeal.
Above - Jim with one of his guitars. This one was made by a small company in Philadlephia with Jim doing all the electronics, paint and finishing.
Now on to the Studio
When entering Jim's workspace located just behind his house, we are first met with a group of dirt bikes which Jim has collected and ridden for years. Then we notice what was certainly one of the highlights for me- a 1966 Sunbeam (fastback) Tiger. It was of only three fastback Tigers made, as most are convertibles. This one was made in fastback style for the famous race in LeMans. Some of us may know this from the recent movie "Ford Versus Ferrari." The car is painted an almost indescribably green hue. It is certainly not the famous British Racing Green but kind of deep blue- green, again, maybe like a piece of ceramic Fiestaware. The car has been a project of Jim's for years and his huge bevy of fans on Facebook are waiting with bated breath to see progress and completion. Jim is in no hurry. The Tiger has a 302 Ford V-8 engine that is gleaming with a huge four barrel carburetor on top. For racing car buffs we think of the more famous Shelby Cobra which also took a small British sports car and fitted it with a huge Ford 427 engine, supposedly the fastest production car of the era.
Then in Jim's actual workspace we see the tools of his trade where he constructs and forms his sculptural creations. His favorite tool is his English Wheel which smooths out the sheet metal and helps him to bend and manipulate the sheets of steel. In this well-lit workspace we see how a variety of works come into being.
Above- Jim in his studio with his English Wheel, a machine for manipulating sheet metal.
We can see the influence of Frank Stella, the American sculptor whose work widens the envelope by making hybrid works that are at once three dimensional but with aspects of paintings. Stella often displayed his sculptural works on walls as in a recent exhibit at the Whitney Museum. Jim's work also has that genre-defying aspect. And like Stella's work that took delight in breaking the picture plane (as with Caravaggio's painting of the Supper at Emmaus), Jim's work also goes beyond the spatial confines of traditional sculpture. But there is some traditional sculpture of Jim's on display too, a life-size male figure in white plaster is shown seated in his home. This one was done while studying at Wilkes.
Along with the influences mentioned above, Jim credits John Bromberg as an influence to his work. This may not be obvious in the imagery of Jim's work but it is more perhaps in the spirit of not being constrained by tradition. Jim has participated in many of John's performances over the years and there is perhaps an affinity, if at times problematic, relation.
Above- One of the author's paintings in the Lennox collection. This painting a 10" x 26" oil on canvas is titled, "Church and Allstate" a play on the idea of separation of Church and State. The painting depicts a street in Pittston, PA. It was purchased by Jim at one of the AFA Gallery's auctions.
A more complete picture
While visiting Jim's home and studio at the end of the tour we took the time for Jim to sit for an alla prima oil study. It was during this two hour session that we got to converse and share our impressions and memories of many things from politics, art, travel and the gallery scene in the region. We are on the same page politically with our disdain for Trump and the MAGA debacle. Jim's bedroom is delightfully full of Obama posters! We both shared a decades-long following of the career of Todd Rundgren. And there was a romantic relationship in common as well that provided for some, ahem, interesting reminiscing.
-To view a Video of the Portrait- nearing the end of the session- https://youtu.be/cR3O5MOdQoA?si=F_haRA3zOJsBnhW_
The head study - alla prima oil portrait of Jim- done while at this home. A 16" x 20" oil on canvas.
The Denouement
Jim has shown around the region for years but not in commercial galleries. He muses that he could have made marketable keepsakes over the years but his muse alway moved him in more satisfying directions. He had a show in NYC years ago but he regards it as more trouble than it was worth. He did have a solo at the Sordoni Gallery at the Wilkes University about ten years ago. To view more of Jim's work he has a Facebook page but no website, unfortunately.
Part One Video - An interview and tour of the Collection-
Part two- A tour of the colletion of Jim Lennox-
Part Three- Tour of the Yellow Room- Jim Lennox's home art collection.
Part Four- The studio tour-
One of Jim's pieces in his dinning kitchen-
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