R e v i e w  of Solo Exhibition "In Medias Res"
Show Dates: May 20 - June 17, 2008

2008 Show Works | About the Artist

"In Medias Res" is Jeri Ledbetter’s fourth solo exhibition, at Darnell Fine Art this May. Jeri is a Memphis based painter who provides us with depictions of found objects that have endured the essence of time. Her show is titled “In Medias Res” where Jeri continues to explore the delicate balance between immediacy and purpose, finding and connecting, building and scraping. She provides an engaging translation through her unique artistic processes, allowing the allure and seduction of the line to penetrate our hearts and minds.

“In medias res", Latin for "in the middle of things." It usually describes a narrative that begins, not at the start of a story, but somewhere in the middle, usually at some crucial point in the action. The term comes from the ancient Roman poet, Horace, who advised the aspiring poet to go straight to the heart of the story instead of beginning at the beginning.

Being in the middle of a work, instead of stepping quietly into it, keeps me alert; keen to what I want to see as it develops. I relate to being in the process of working and the joy of discovery. Working through intuition is part of my style. It does not allow for planning the outcome, plotting; therefore, my painting nurtures erasures and the evolving nature of the work. Too, it creates surprises. Jumping into it, so to speak, is my joy of painting.

I am drawn to the critical parts of things and select them rather than the whole. I see the sum or essence of a thing in my conception of some of its selected parts. Although I may be drawn to a map, I find that I may relish, and therefore select to paint, only the bend in the road or a clump of sage or a figure kneeling in the distance.”

- Jeri Ledbetter, 2008