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EXHIBITION DATES  January 5th–February 19th, 2006

Jesse Reichek's sources for the 223 works in this series,
done between 1990 and 1994, were

CREATION MYTHS

For Jesse Reichek his painting was research on how to live. His interest in structure and process led him to I Ching and Kabbalah. (One of the earliest Kabbalah texts is the Sefer Yetzerah, or The Book of Creation.) Creation myths describe the original ordering of the universe—the cosmogony of creation. Creation myths reflect how chaos becomes cosmos. The world's creation myths reveal both common themes and wondrous variations—as do these paintings. From 1990 through 1994 Reichek studied the world's myths of creation. By immersing himself in the stories of existence, Reichek continued his inquiry into the relationship of structure and process, a theme which occupied him for over fifty years.

All cultures have creation myths, born of a desire to understand the nature of the world, though some are more interested in issues of creation than others. American Indian and Australian aboriginals speak of the natural origins of creation. Such themes emerge in the Babylonian Emun Elish; the Chinese cosmic egg or the myth of Pan-gu; the Indian Bhagavad Gita; the Buddhist mandala; the Navaho sand drawings; and the Mayan Popu Vuh. In Biblical Genesis there are nearly 50 references to myths of beginning, most of which can be traced to Egyptian or Babylonian origins.

Reichek's paintings do not seek to explain nor even to comment on a particular myth. Rather, they are the result of engaging a myth—they are responses, creations of the painter that continue the process of creation. The birth of each painting is thus connected to the birth of each myth, the birth of humanity, the origins of life, the emergence of the universe, and that which was before. Intentionally moving beyond his experience, his purpose was not to gain understanding but to record the engagement. In his work Reichek would pause at a sentence, at a phrase, at a story, and convey his reactions in paint. The extraordinary variety of form and color, imaginative expression, emotional exuberance and suggestive symbols reveal the wondrous variety of the myths themselves and their mysteries—revealing something of creation which raises the question of our role in extending it.

Reichek's paintings offer a visual encyclopedia of human spiritual emergence.  With each question, each story, each painting, each viewer, humanity becomes a partner in creation.

Barry Weisberg,
Chicago, Illinois, June 2006

and

Rabbi James Brandt
Napa—Oakland, California, Nov. 2005

Click on the thumbnail images below to view at full size.

Creation

Story 1	Story 2	Story 3	Story 4	Story 5
Story 6	Story 7	Story 8	Story 9	Story 10
Story 11	Story 12	Story 13	Story 14	Story 15
Story 16	Story 17	Story 18	Story 19	Story 20
Story 21	Story 22	Story 23	Story 23A	Story 24
Story 25	Story 26	Story 27	Story 28	Story 29
Story 30	Story 31	Story 32	Story 33	Story 34
Story 35	Story 36	Story 37	Story 38	Story 39
Story 40	Story 41	Story 42	Story 43	Story 44
Story 45	Story 46	Story 47	Story 48	Story 49
Story 50	Story 51	Story 52	Story 53	Story 54
Story 55	Story 56	Story 57	Story 58	Story 59
Story 60	Story 61	Story 62	Story 63	Story 64
Story 65	Story 66	Story 67	Story 68	Story 69
Story 70	Story 71	Story 72	Story 73	Story 74
Story 75	Story 76	Story 77	Story 78	Story 79
Story 80	Story 81	Story 82	Story 83	Story 84
Story 85	Story 86	Story 87	Story 88	Story 89
Story 90	Story 91	Story 92	Story 93	Story 94
Story 95	Story 96	Story 97	Story 98	Story 99
Story 100	Story 101	Story 102	Story 103	Story 104
Story 105	Story 106	Story 107	Story 108	Story 109
Story 110	Story 111	Story 112	Story 113	Story 114
Story 115	Story 116	Story 117	Story 118	Story 119
Story 120	Story 121	Story 122	Story 123	Story 124
Story 125	Story 126	Story 127	Story 128	Story 129
Story 130	Story 131	Story 132	Story 133	Story 134
Story 135	Story 136	Story 137	Story 138	Story 139
Story 140	Story 141	Story 142	Story 143	Story 144
Story 145	Story 146	Story 147	Story 148	Story 149
Story 150	Story 151	Story 152	Story 153	Story 154
Story 155	Story 156	Story 157	Story 158	Story 159
Story 160	Story 161	Story 162	Story 163	Story 164
Story 165	Story 166	Story 167	Story 168	Story 169
Story 170	Story 171	Story 172	Story 173	Story 174
Story 175	Story 176	Story 177	Story 178	Story 179
Story 180	Story 181	Story 182	Story 183	Story 184
Story 185	Story 186	Story 187	Story 188	Story 189
Story 190	Story 191	Story 192	Story 193	Story 194
Story 195	Story 196	Story 197	Story 198	Story 199
Story 200	Story 201	Story 202	Story 203	Story 204
Story 205	Story 206	Story 207	Story 208	Story 209
Story 210	Story 211	Story 212	Story 213 Chapter I	Story 213 Chapter II
Story 213 Chapter III	Story 214 A	Story 214 B	Story 214 C	Story 215
Story 216	Story 217	Story 218

Click on the thumbnail images above to view at full size

JESSE REICHEK RETROSPECTIVE — PARTNERS IN CREATION
Works from 1947 to 2005

Creators Equity Foundation
2324 Blake Street   •   Berkeley, CA   •   94704
PHONE:  (510) 514-8188  •  --
email:  reichek@dslextreme.com

website address:   www.reichek.org