It saddens me deeply to report that artist Jack Hartigan has passed away.
Jack exhibited his large photographic works at the IUPUI Cultural Arts Gallery last year (where I am the curator) and was scheduled to do so again this winter. At Jack's request, his show was tentatively rescheduled for this spring because of his struggle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma which sadly took his life this week. He was at peace.
Jack had amazing vision with his photographic works that were politically poignant delving into the touchy subjects of contemporary civil rights issues while all the while being very elegant and intelligent. Few artists in this city have had the depth of intellect and the artistic aptitude to not just tackle sensitive topic matter, but to make it approachable and beautiful.
It was an honor to work with someone so gracious and thorough, and also to host the fruition of his ideas. I'm thrilled IUPUI hosted his challenging work. The angel piece above was on the lighter side and features Erin Elizabeth Finn, a friend, as model. IUPUI had even discussed making Jack the "resident artist" at the Cultural Arts Gallery because of his abilities, his standards, his personality. And, Jack liked the idea too. We had discussed transforming his photos into installations and performance pieces...we discussed a lot of ideas. Jack was always very inspired (thus inspiring me), so ideas were always forthcoming.
Jack's funeral will take place this Saturday, January 14, 1 p.m. at St. Matthews Catholic Church.
An exhibition of his work (venue to be determined) will be later this spring, with sales benefiting the Damien Center.
I wish I could have known him better, but I admired and respected the person I did know. Thank you Loral Tansy for being an angel.
May his memory be eternal.
