About

Bio:

Jason Rafferty is a painter and draftsman based in Athens, GA. A recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, he is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Georgia. He holds a BFA degree in painting from UNC Asheville and has pursued classical training in drawing and oil painting in the US and France since 2010. He has studied at Studio Escalier in Paris and Argenton-les-Vallées, France, the Fine Arts League of the Carolinas, and apprenticed with the landscape painter John Mac Kah. His artwork has appeared on the Travel Channel and can be found in private collections across the US and internationally.

Jason has exhibited regularly in group and solo exhibitions in the Southeast US since 2012. In 2016 he was commissioned to create artwork for the Oscar-winning film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. His work was selected as an alternate for the XL Catlin Art Prize exhibit in 2018, a highly competitive US survey of the best student figurative artwork with jurors from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MoMA, the Whitney, and Gagosian Gallery. He was selected to be a featured emerging artist at Four Bridges Art Festival in Chattanooga, TN in 2017, and in 2016 was invited to the Winter Show at Greenhill Art Center, an annual survey of the best artists in North Carolina. Jason also enjoys collaborating with and supporting nonprofits. He has donated artwork to fundraise for organizations including the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, River Link, Open Doors, Western North Carolina Aids Project (WNCAP), Appalachian Wildlife Refuge, and Pisgah Legal. He has taught private art classes since 2015 in Asheville's River Arts District, and is currently mentoring students at UGA as a Graduate Teaching Assistant.

Jason welcomes your inquiries for commissions. He also puts out an email newsletter once every month or two, sharing his latest artwork with an enthusiastic following.

Artist Statement:

I have always favored artists who have an eclectic body of work that displays many interests, and that is my aspiration as an artist. I recently completed a series of contemporary mythological figurative drawings and paintings. These works integrate contemporary discourses about the environment, gender and race into narrative mythological paintings richly allusive to art history. This series was a collaborative process, with friends and acquaintances posing as the deities and bringing props and costume ideas which informed the finished works. Moving into my MFA work, I am experimenting and renewing my process, exploring new themes and methods. Imagery derived from chance encounters within my personal day-to-day experiences, an aesthetic of 'fragmentation' that looks to various strains of modernism, contemporary painters, and digital photo editing are informing my current practice. The subjects of landscape, figure, portrait, still life, and interior will likely continue to show up, albeit with transformed and abstracted appearances. Craftsmanship has always been a key concern for my work as well, and I take pleasure in preparing and working on a variety of traditional and contemporary substrates for paintings. 

C.V.

b. 1991

Education:

2020-23: (Beginning Fall 2020:) MFA, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

2019: BFA, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Painting. 2009-2011, 2016-2019.

2012 - 2015: Studio Escalier, Figure drawing / painting. Winter at the Louvre 2012, Paris, Fr. (8 weeks), Summer Intensive 2013, Argenton-les-Vallées, Fr. (12 weeks), Summer Intensive 2014, Argenton-les-Vallées, Fr. (12 weeks), Spring in Paris 2 Figure Drawing 2015, Paris, Fr. (4 weeks).

2012 - 2015: Apprenticeship with landscape painter John Mac Kah, Riverview Station, 191 Lyman St., Asheville, NC.

2012: Workshop studies with artists Nicholas Raynolds, Rebecca King and Ben Long IV in Asheville, NC.

2009 - 2012: Fine Arts League of the Carolinas, classical approaches to drawing.

Awards / Grants:

2019: Third Place Prize, 52nd Annual UNC Asheville Juried Student Art Exhibition. RAMP gallery, Asheville NC. March 1-16, 2019. (Third place award, Juror: Hayden Wilson)

2018-19: Art Alumni Scholarship, UNC Asheville.

2018: Alternate, XL Caitlin Art Prize Exhibit (Now known as the AXA Art Prize) (Jurors: Carrie Barratt, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jennie Goldstein, Whitney Museum of American Art, Laura Hoptman, The Museum of Modern Art, Kara Vander Weg, Gagosian Gallery)

2018: Best in Show, 16th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Grace Centre Gallery, Mills River, NC. Juror: Virginia Derryberry.

2018: Third Place Prize, 51st Annual UNC Asheville Juried Student Art Exhibition, Asheville, NC. Juror: Robert Tynes

2017-18: Drawing Discourse Scholarship, UNC Asheville.

2017: Featured Emerging Artist, 4 Bridges Arts Festival, Chattanooga, TN. (One of six)

2014: Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant

2014: Waterway Fellowship for Artistic Merit, Studio Escalier, Paris, France.

2013: Waterway Fellowship for Artistic Merit, Studio Escalier, Paris, France.

2009: Excellence in Two-Dimensional Design Award, King Philip High School, Wrentham, Massachusetts.

Exhibitions

Solo:

2019: "Art of Jason Rafferty", Grace Centre Gallery, Mills River, NC.

2019: "Mythic Images", Asheville NC, April 19-30, 2019. Highsmith Gallery, UNC Asheville.

2014: "Art of Jason Rafferty: Second Solo Exhibition", Metro Wines, Asheville, NC.

2012: “Art of Jason Rafferty: Two Dispositions”, Izzy’s Coffee Den, Asheville, NC.

Group:

2020: Artfields 2020, Lake City, South Carolina.

2019: Real People 2019, Old Courthouse Arts Center, Woodstock, IL. (Juror: Joyce Pollance)

2019: UNC Asheville Alumni Invitational Art Exhibit, Blowers Gallery, Asheville, NC.

2019: "Rites of Passage", Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH.

2019: 52nd Annual UNC Asheville Juried Student Art Exhibition. RAMP gallery, Asheville NC. (Third place award, Juror: Hayden Wilson)

2019: BUMP: A Color-Focused Popup Exhibition, The Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design, Asheville, NC. (Juror: Mary Lube)

2018: 16th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Grace Centre Gallery, Mills River, NC, (Best in Show award, Juror: Virginia Derryberry)

2018: New Forms: International Juried Student Exhibition, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (Juror: Beth Cavener) "A unique look into the future of the figure in art."

2018: Of Valley and Ridge, Invitational Exhibition benefiting the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. Zealandia  Castle, Asheville, NC.

2018: Horizon Art Productions Inaugural Exhibit, Invitational Exhibition, Rosewood Cultural Center, Rosewood, NC. (Juror / Producer: Joseph Bounds)

2018: 51st Annual UNC Asheville Juried Student Art Exhibition. Asheville Area Arts Council, (Third place prize, Juror: Robert Tynes)

2017: Four Bridges Art Festival, Chattanooga, TN. Featured Emerging Artist Award.

2017: 50h Annual Juried Student Exhibit, UNC Asheville.

2017: Of Time and the River: Artists Interpret the French Broad, Invitational Exhibition benefitting River Link. Zealandia  Castle, Asheville, NC.

2016: Greenhill Art Center “Winter Show”, Invitational Statewide Exhibition of North Carolina Artists. Greensboro, NC.

2016: Of Time and the River: Artists Interpret the French Broad, Invitational Exhibition benefitting River Link. Zealandia  Castle, Asheville, NC.

2016-2015: Windsor Boutique Hotel, Asheville, NC. Jan. 5th, 2015 - Dec. 31, 2016.

2015: Of Time and the River: Artists Interpret the French Broad, Invitational Exhibition benefitting River Link. Sol’s Reprieve, Asheville, NC.

2015: The Shop at Greenhill, Greensboro, NC.

2015: Alchemy Fine Art Gallery, Asheville, NC.

2015: Art for Justice, benefitting Pisgah Legal. Cottonmill Studios, Asheville, NC.

2014-16: Art Display at Chestnut, Craft Food & Cocktails, Asheville, NC.

2014: Of Time and the River: Artists Interpret the French Broad, Invitational Exhibition benefitting River Link. Sol’s Reprieve, Asheville, NC.

2014: Old Europe Cafe, Asheville, NC 2012 – 2014.

2014: “Twitter Art Exhibit: Orlando”, City Arts Factory, Orlando, Fl.

2014: “Longbranch Studios 14th Anniversary exhibition - featuring John Mac Kah, Alisa Lumbreras, & Jason Rafferty”, Asheville, NC.

2014: “Portrait Drawings & Paintings” Alchemy Fine Art Gallery, Asheville, NC.

2013: “Western Arts Agencies of North Carolina Traveling Exhibit”, Asheville Area Arts Council, Asheville, NC.

2013: Updraft Gallery, Asheville.

2011: “Annual Art Front Members Exhibition”, Highsmith University Gallery, Asheville, NC.

2011:  “UNCA 44th Annual Juried Student Exhibition”, S. Tucker Cooke Gallery, Asheville, NC; (Juror: Kate Silvio)

2011: “Norfolk Cultural Council’s January Art Exhibition”. Norfolk Public Library Gallery, Norfolk, MA.

Notable Private and Corporate Collections:

·        Tom Oreck, Oreck Vacuums, Asheville, NC.

·        Yann Bellier, Galeries Bellier, Paris, France.

·        Cosimo de Pazzi, Pazzi Family Collection, New York, NY.

·        HCA Healthcare, Mission Hospital, Asheville, NC.

Teaching and Professional Experience:

2020 - present: Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

2019 - present: Artistic Advisor, Into Light Project: Erasing the Stigma of Addiction. 

2015 - present: Private studio classes. Introductory to advanced instruction in figure drawing and painting, portrait drawing and painting, still life drawing and painting, drawing from imagination, master copies, landscape drawing and painting. 

2017: Portrait drawing two-day intensive workshop. JMK Studio, Asheville NC.

2016: Guest lecture on materials and craftsmanship of oil painting, Painting II, UNC Asheville, Asheville, NC.

Nonprofit Fundraisers / Donations:

Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, “Of Valley and Ridge”, 2018.

Open Doors of Asheville, “Art Affair”, 2014- 16, 2018. 2016 & 2018: Live Auction.

Quickdraw Waynesville, benefitting local art programs - 2016.

River Link, “Of Time & the River”, Asheville, NC. 2014-17.

WNC Wildlife Sanctuary, “Wild Art”, Leicester, NC, 2016.

Asheville Art in the Park  - 2010-2016.

Western North Carolina Aids Project, “Raise Your Hand”, 2015.

Pisgah Legal Associates - “Art For Justice”, 2015.

Print Publications:

Date TBA: Manifest Exhibition Annual (MEA) Season 15 – Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio.

2020: The Laurel of Asheville, March 2020.

2019:  Into Light: honoring the lives of those who have died from drug addiction. exhibition catalogue. Gormley Gallery, Notre Dame of Maryland University. Oct. 28 – Nov. 22.

2017:  The Current, affiliated with Atlantis Creative Arts Magazine, UNC Wilmington

2017:  Headwaters Creative Arts Magazine, UNC Asheville

2016:   Asheville Citizen Times, October 25, 2016, “Buncombe Officials Seek Public Input on Courthouse Art”.

2016:  Asheville Citizen Times, October 17, 2016, “Celebrate Arts & the River at Zelandia Castle”.

2016:   Asheville Citizen Times - March 24, 2016, “Local Artists’ Artwork Stolen from Riverview Station Studios”.

2016:   Capital at Play - Feb. 21, 2016, “Malt on a Mission”, Magazine cover, feature article p. 8.

https://issuu.com/capitalatplay/docs/cap_v06e03_march-2016_issu.

2014:   Mountain Xpress, October 9, 2014, “Open air art exhibit with French Broad River theme to benefit RiverLink”

2012:  Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 11,

“Fine Art - Interview with Jason Rafferty”

2011:   Headwaters Creative Arts Magazine, UNC Asheville

2011:  The Country Gazette, January 14, 2011. “Art at the Norfolk Library: Jason Rafferty, Rick Tedoldi, Bill Robinsion”

2010:  Metabolism Art & Culture Review, UNC Asheville, Vol. 5, Issue 4.

Radio / Video / TV:

2019: "Dreamers and Doers", 1 hour interview alongside Jazz Musician / Composer Jason DeCristofaro by radio host Carol Anders. Asheville FM 103.3. May 13th.

2016:  Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, contracted for prop artworks for film, May 12, 2016.

2016:  WLOS News 13 - “Buncombe County Commissioners Restart Planning for Public Art Project”, Interview with Jason Rafferty, November 1st, 2016. http://wlos.com/news/local/commissioners-restart-buncombe-county-courthouse-public-art-project

2016:  The Dead Files - sketch artist - Travel Channel. Aired 8/13/2016

2016:  1 Hour Interview at WPVM 103.7 - “Asheville & The Arts”, May 12, 2016.

2016:  WLOS News 13 - “Artwork Stolen from River Arts District Studio”, March 23, 2016.

2014:  Interview at “Of Time & the River” exhibit, WPVM Radio, Asheville, NC, Nov. 7th, 2014.

2011:  Garza, Jonathan, Collective Perspectives. Interview at “The Garage at Biltmore” Asheville, NC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrBBJSYWW-s

Online Publications:

2020: "Quickdraw art auction kicks off June 7" - https://www.themountaineer.com/news/education/quickdraw-art-auction-kicks-off-june-7/article_5196a986-a01f-11ea-9971-177f892b5dce.html

2020:  The Laurel of Asheville - "Conversations - Jason Rafferty, Artist" https://thelaurelofasheville.com/podcasts/conversations-jason-rafferty-artist/

2016:  WLOS News 13, November 1st, 2016. - “Buncombe County Commissioners Restart Planning for Public Art Project”, Interview with Jason Rafferty. http://wlos.com/news/local/commissioners-restart-buncombe-county-courthouse-public-art-project

2016:  Asheville Citizen Times, October 25, 2016, ““Buncombe Officials Seek Public Input on Courthouse Art”. http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/10/25/buncombe-officials-seek-public-input-choosing-art/92720570/?platform=hootsuite

2016:  Asheville Citizen Times, October 17, 2016, “Celebrate Arts & the River at Zelandia Castle” http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/10/17/celebrate-arts-and-river-zealandia-castle/92055756/

2016:  WLOS News 13, March 23rd, 2016. - “Artwork Stolen from Several Studios in the River Arts District”, Interview with Jason Rafferty. http://wlos.com/news/local/commissioners-restart-buncombe-county-courthouse-public-art-project http://wlos.com/news/local/artwork-stolen-from-several-rad-studios

2015: McReynolds, Kay, “Local Artist Jason Rafferty gives back to the community he muses on” Mountain Xpress Blog, 03/12/2015 http://mountainx.com/arts/local-artist-jason-rafferty-gives-back-to-the-community-he-muses-on/

2015:  Basalo, Philip, “How to Collaborate with Nonprofits to Increase Art Sales”, written by Jason Rafferty. The Abundant Artist, 03/11/2015. http://theabundantartist.com/collaborate-nonprofits-increase-art-sales/

2015:  Higgins, Lauryn, “10 Questions with Local Artists Jason Rafferty & Sally Garner” Asheville Grit, 02/12/2015 ashevillegrit.com/10-questions-local-artists-jason-rafferty-sally-garner

2014:  Trippi, Gina, “Jason Rafferty” Art Space: Metro Wines Blog, 10/09/2014 https://www.metrowinesasheville.com/blog/entry/jason-rafferty

2014:  Poirier, Alexander, “Pencil Artist of the Week: Jason Rafferty” The PENCILS Blog, 02/11/2014 http://pencils.com/pencil-artist-jason-rafferty/