The MGCCC Jackson County Fine Arts Gallery is proud to announce the opening of the exhibit “A Retrospective: The Art of Curtis Jaunsen.” The show will open to the public on Tuesday, August 29, and will run through September 29.

There will be an Artist Talk/Q&A in the gallery during the opening Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.

Curtis Jaunsen, a painter, lives in Ocean Springs.  “I came to Ocean Springs with my wife and children from Atlanta, where I had worked as an architect for about 20 years,” he said. “During my years of study at Georgia Tech and after I also pursued an interest in art. Moving to Ocean Springs jumpstarted that interest when I began taking oil painting classes with local artist Magtillt Van Thiel.”

Jaunsen and his family eventually moved to Florence, Italy, so he could study at the Florence Academy of Art. “The academy’s teaching methods are modeled after those of the 19th century French Academy to revive abandoned classical painting methods and craft, the foundation of which is the ability to see and render nature accurately,” he said. “The education I received gave me a much greater appreciation for the beauty and pleasure of art that comes from direct and focused observation.”

Returning home to Ocean Springs, Jaunsen continued painting, but focusing on the sights along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. “In all my work I try to engage the subtle variations of light and form as deeply as I can. However, lately I have also been exploring more abstract attitudes regarding the manipulation of paint on the painting surface.”

His paintings can be found at the Carol Robinson Gallery in New Orleans and the Pink Rooster Gallery in Ocean Springs. It can also be found on his website, curtisjaunsenart.com, Facebook and Instagram.

MGCCC Jackson County Gallery Director Marc Poole says that he is excited to showcase Jaunsen’s work in the JC Fine Arts Gallery. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to share Curtis’ work with not just our campus and community, but particularly to my visual art students,” Poole said. “His work showcases a depth and breadth of experience that will allow them to see what it takes to create not just individual pieces, but a body of work over the span of one’s education and career. The fundamentals and work ethic necessary to build such an evolutionary and diverse portfolio should serve as a point of inspiration and motivation. Additionally, our gallery has seen some major changes over the last year, and this will be a great way of christening these upgrades and get the new school year off to a great start.”

Gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

For questions or more information, contact Marc Poole at marc.poole@mgccc.edu.