Direct Impressions: Jim Mott in Conversation

. . . the poetic dialogue—between me, the paint, the surroundings—that for me is what painting is all about.  —Jim Mott

Best known for his Itinerant Artist Project (IAP), which put him on the road averaging about a month per year and took him to over 140 stops in thirty-nine states over the course of twenty years, Rochester artist Jim Mott is undoubtedly an impressionist. He prefers capturing everyday moments—outdoors most of the time—and renders what he sees using stunning, gestural brushwork.

Join Mott as he talks about his work and shares his insights on how making unmediated connections with subjects and people creates meaning. Nancy Norwood, MAG’s Curator of European Art, will moderate the dialogue.

This program is offered in conjunction with Frontiers of Impressionism: Paintings from the Worcester Art Museum.

About the Artist

Nationally recognized artist Jim Mott sees landscape painting as part of “a way of making connections.” In addition to IAP, he developed other projects such as ROC-ART, and Landscape Lottery, for which he would paint at locations that corresponded to randomly picked GPS coordinates. Yellow Trees with Gray Sky, Bozeman MT (2008), one of his IAP paintings, is in MAG’s collection.

Mott earned an MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Michigan School of Art. He has exhibited at venues such as Gelb Gallery, Phillips Academy (Andover, MA), Taylor Art Gallery, Kimball Union Academy (Meriden, NH), and numerous galleries in upstate New York. His media coverage includes the NBC TODAY Show, Out of Bounds Radio Hour, CBC Radio Q, Wall Street Journal, Art Business News, and most recently, Explore Art Magazine.

To submit a request for ASL interpretation, please email access@mag.rochester.edu at least two weeks before the program. 

For questions about this program, please contact Chiyo Ueyama at cueyama@mag.rochester.edu. Ticket sales end on Thursday, November 13, at 7:00 pm. Ticket includes museum admission.

This program is supported by the Robert Lehman Foundation.

Additional support is provided by the Anne Hayden McQuay Endowed Fund and the Arnold and Barbara Mackintosh Lecture Fund.

Image credit: Jim Mott, Gravel Lawns, 2014