The Orbis

(detail from)"Typical Oversight," 11"x11," 2006 [Click to enlarge]

"It is a funny, tender, pretty, considerably small organ and not always hard."

As an emerging Nashville artist and a recent graduate of Watkin's College of Art and Design, Jason Driskill concentrates his provocative digital art on critiquing our cultural gender constructions within a patriarchal society through self-portraiture.

Jason uses his array of striking self-representations to discuss identity, gender and masculinity, male sexuality and homosexuality and "weakening the phallic associations of patriarchal power by revealing un-phallic truths about the penis."

A confessed drawer since the age of three, Jason has long known his desire to be an artist. His artistic endeavors began with train imagery, although he observes that "as a pre-schooler I did not consider the Freudian implications," addressing any of you psychoanalysis enthusiasts searching for phallic references.

Throughout the rest of his pre-undergraduate academic career, Jason found confidence in his highly developed artistic skills and solidified his plans to be an artist, although he admits he had no idea about what constitutes "art."

After high school, however, Jason decided to postpone college and "stabilize my relationship with God" by going to Missions School abroad. Perhaps reinforced by his "radically Christian" family, he found himself in extreme denial of his sexuality. Before immersing himself in the secular realm of art school, Jason hoped "to lay some sort of spiritual foundation that would make me feel more 'normal' (heterosexually confident)."

Ultimately, his goals for heterosexual normality remained unfilled, for he returned to the states and "instead of bringing me greater spiritual understanding, it brought me to a very painful awareness of my sexuality."

His extremely poignant and thoroughly researched work finds its success in its immediate instigation of self-evaluation for the viewer. A multitude of questions ensues . . What does our culture associate with sex and with gender, and more importantly, why? As Jason explains, "I am curious about completely non-sexual associations our society has with gender that overlap into a sexual arena. Like the high-heel shoe." Jason continues, "There's nothing sexual about its primary form or function, and yet I can't think of another icon that is more sexually loaded."

This progressive artist invokes both the Cindy Sherman-esque focus on the exploration of the self through photographic representation as well the Matthew Barney inspired investigation of the erotic undertones of societal habits and norms.

To combat the misogynistic response of discomfort or embarrassment to his art, Jason consciously laces humor in all his images of casual male nudity and gender ambiguity. As depicted in his boy scout-inspired series, Jason comically analyzes the homo-erotic undertones of culturally accepted homosocial spheres.

Fortunately, this artist's work can be found around town, as Jason currently works with eight other artists to maintain exhibition space and the accompanying Secret Show Series (check out www.secretshowseries.com). What luck, dear reader, for the next Secret Show and opportunity to see this talent's work in person, "New Favorite Smell," invades Nashville on Saturday, March 4 at 310 Chestnut. The show will feature about 20 artists from the community.

Furthermore, Jason currently contributes his fine skill, investigative impulse and persistent hard work to the Judy Chicago Multi-Media Project of Discovery that will feature an exhibition of 28 Nashville artists. This surely amazing show will open April 21, at the Cohen Building at Vanderbilt's Peabody campus! Yes!

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