The Art of Jerry Lee Kirk
About Jerry Lee Kirk
Jerry Kirk is an Expressionist Painter who has won numerous awards, most notable being an Emerging Artist Grant from the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte/Mecklenburg. His work has been exhibited in dozens of galleries throughout the United States, including Ward-Nasse Gallery in NYC, Waterworks Gallery in Salisbury, NC, R.J. Reynolds Gallery in Winston-Salem, NC, Reinert Gallery in Blowing Rock, NC, The Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, NC and Emerald C Gallery in Coronado, California.
His work is included in private collections throughout the world, as well as several corporate collections.
Jerry began his Fine Art career after moving to Charlotte, NC over 30 years ago and has won acclaim for work that addresses political and social concerns as well as his expressionist landscapes of the Carolina coast and mountains. Jerry is also one of the founding fathers of NoDa; Charlotte’s Historic North Davidson Street Art District.
Kirk's first professional job as an artist was as a newspaper editorial cartoonist in Virginia. From there he moved on to work as a graphic designer and illustrator then art director for various advertising agencies, all the while exhibiting and selling his paintings in galleries and festivals. He was also the owner of his own gallery, the short-lived but award winning, ‘Sanctuary Art’.
Kirk works from his home studio in Charlotte, NC, producing paintings of various themes in a unified and unique style of bold colors and hard lines that shows the influence of both German Expressionism and Picasso. Over a decade ago Kirk turned his attention towards landscapes in an attempt to bring a different perspective to a somewhat tired genre and the result has been some of his most dynamic and successful paintings. Using both mountains and coastline as inspiration, Kirk creates meticulously detailed renderings that are alive with vibrant light and deep shadows.
For his own purposes, Kirk relies heavily on the internet to attract most of his business, which includes commissions and the direct sale of art. To accomplish this he uses both a personal website that he designed and maintains; www.jerrykirk.com, which also serves as an online gallery, and his FaceBook Fan Page, titled ‘The Art of Jerry Lee Kirk’ " - (09/2020)