James Weeks, Resident Artist Lecture 1971

James Weeks gives a lecture talking about his artistic practice and showing a series of slides of his oil and acrylic paintings. Weeks shares stories of his experience being on the G.I. Bill and the various travels he pursued as an artist. He discusses San Francisco in particular, as a beautiful place for a figurative artist concerned with the landscape. Weeks states how he is interested in the process of translation found in painting, of turning traditional light and space into a high range of color without sacrificing the tonality. Light continues as an exciting formal challenge for Weeks. Weeks then discusses how acrylics have become economically valuable given that the color and surface can be maintained and appear fresh for long periods of time. He describes a personal realization, that unconscious ideas are what endure in his thoughts. This process has allowed him a method to deal with illustrative subjects, as a key subject matter for his work as an artist.