Overview
Jess in his home in San Francisco, 1994; Photo by Leo Holub
Jess (Burgess Franklin Collins) was born in Long Beach, California in 1923 and died in San Francisco in 2004. His 50-year art-making practice centered on appropriation, and included collage, painting, drawing, assemblage and poetry. Synthesizing literature, mythology and the language and images of popular culture, he transformed the everyday into fantastical narratives, creating one of the most original bodies of work to come out of the American 20th Century.
Works
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Jess (Collins)One of the Norns Is Dead, 1955/71oil on canvas in artist's frame33 1/4 x 47 1/4 in
84.5 x 120 cm -
Jess (Collins)Untitled (Four Women on Park Bench), illustration for Caesar's Gate, 1955pasteup8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in
21.6 x 16.5 cm -
Jess (Collins)Untitled (Black Sphere with Rope), illustration for Caesar's Gate, 1955pasteup in artist's frame8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in
21.6 x 16.5 cm -
Jess (Collins)Sea Cove, 1952oil on canvas in artist's velvet wrapped frameframe 19 1/2 x 25 1/2 in / 49.5 x 64.8 cm
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Jess (Collins)Prelude, 1955handmade oil and wax crayon on primed linen32 x 27 in
81.3 x 68.6 cm -
Jess (Collins)Robert Weaving, 1953handmade oil and wax crayon on paper10 x 12 in
25.4 x 30.5 cm -
Jess (Collins)Elegante, 1952oil pastel on paper12 1/2 x 7 1/2 in
31.8 x 19.1 cm -
Jess (Collins)Prison Isle, 1954oil on canvas on board in artist's frameframe 13 x 17 in / 33 x 43.2 cm
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Jess (Collins)Untitled (Lean Mouth), 1953pasteup poem10 3/4 x 8 1/4 in
27.3 x 21 cm -
Jess (Collins)Cover for The Tenth Muse #15, 1967ink on paper11 1/2 x 8 3/4 in
29.2 x 22.2 cm -
Jess (Collins)Unkingd by Affection?, 1963lithograph on paper, issued as part of San Francisco Arts Festival: A Poetry Folio, 1963, which comprised 8 poet/artist broadsides17 x 13 in (sheet)
43.2 x 33 cm -
Jess (Collins)Song of the Borderguard, c. 1955ink on paper13 x 10 1/2 in
33 x 26.7 cm -
Jess (Collins)Untitled (Car and Male Nude), circa 1962-1969pasteup13 1/2 x 9 in
34.3 x 22.9 cm -
Jess (Collins)If Word Wallower Best, n.d.word collage in red and black ink (double-sided)11 1/4 x 17 in
28.6 x 43.2 cm -
Jess (Collins)Cover for Credences 3, 1975pasteup8 1/2 x 14 in
21.6 x 35.6 cm -
Jess (Collins)The Opening of the Field, 1960ink and pasteup16 x 10 1/2 in
40.6 x 26.7 cm -
Jess (Collins)Self-Portrait, early 1950shandmade oil and wax crayon on paper in artist's frameimage 12 x 9 in / 30.5 x 22.9 cm
frame 20 x 16 1/2 in / 50.8 x 41.9 cm -
Jess (Collins)Surrealist Shells, 1966ink on paper27 x 10 3/4 in
68.6 x 27.3 cm -
Jess (Collins)Meadow Sweet, n.d.handmade oil and wax crayon on paperboard in artist's frame6 1/2 x 4 1/4 in
16.5 x 10.8 cm -
Jess (Collins)Share a Party Line?, n.d.pasteup10 3/4 x 8 1/2 in
27.3 x 21.6 cm -
Jess (Collins)Sparrow Spring, n.d.pasteup and ink10 1/2 x 8 1/2 in
26.7 x 21.6 cm -
Jess (Collins)Assembly Lamp Seven, 1963mixed media assemblage29 x 18 x 18 in
73.7 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm -
Jess (Collins)Mystic Writing XI, 1955handmade oil and wax crayon on paper11 x 10 in
27.9 x 25.4 cm -
Jess (Collins)Emblems for Robert Duncan II: #2, "into the troubled childish day", 1989pasteup6 x 5 3/4 in
15.2 x 14.6 cm -
Jess (Collins)Emblems for Robert Duncan II: #6, "To open Night's eye that sleeps in what we know by Day", 1989pasteup6 x 5 3/4 in
15.2 x 14.6 cm
Exhibitions
Press
Events
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Dr. Devin Zuber on Jess
5 Oct 2023Join us for a conversation with Dr. Devin Zuber who will discuss his book-in-progress, Angelheaded Hipsters: Art and Esotericism in Cold War California. The talk...Read more -
Norma Cole on Jess
14 Sep 2023Links to the full recording and full size images of the Mars and Catasters covers can be found below. Join us in the gallery for...Read more