Butch Jack
Meredith “Butch” Jack died yesterday on June 28. I can’t remember how I first encountered Jack. The first exhibit of Jack’s work I saw was an exhibit called Back in Black at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in Beaumont in 2012. I had seen individual pieces by Jack before, but this was the first time I had seen a bunch of his work in one room. So why was he being displayed in Beaumont instead of Houston, where he lived? He had ties to the Golden Triangle because he was an art professor at Lamar University in Beaumont.
This is more-or-less how I knew Butch—a wizened little gnome of a man. He was very social and loved to be around people. I can’t remember where we first met in person—it may have been at an art opening, which he frequently attended.
In 2012, Vidor artist Charlie Stagg died. I had never heard of Stagg, but was fascinated by his obituary and his apparently hand-made compound in Vidor. I wrote a short post about Stagg, and Butch contacted me. He had been a collegue of Stagg’s at Lamar, and knew where the compound was. He offered to give me a guided tour, which I eagerly accepted.
Of the two Golden Triangle artists I know, both Jack and Stagg were sculptors. Not just sculptors, but makers of heavy, dangerous objects. With names like “Butch” and “Stagg”, one wouldn’t expect them to specialize in watercolors. But despite the fact that Jack made a lot of sculptures out of steel, he never come across in his work as a macho metal-slinger, like Walter de Maria or Richard Serra.
In the last few years, people visiting Butch’s cool-ass Northside studio would find fewer and fewer steel sculptures. I never asked him why—my assumption was that it was a function of age. A man well into his 70s might find hauling around big pieces of steel a little trickier. So his later sculptures were made out of some lighter material.
The photos above will give the reader an incorrect view of Jack’s art. All these black sculptures appear a little gloomy.
As you can see from this group of brightly painted sculptures, Jack wasn’t just about black. These are light-hearted, colorfully-painted pieces decorating the lawn at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas. Like Anthony Caro, Jack believed in painting his sculptures.
I learned of Butch’s passing from a heartfelt instagram post by Britt Thomas. She had been one of Jack’s students at Lamar, along with Emily Peacock, and she wrote about their 20-year friendship.
[Please consider supporting this publication by becoming a patron, and you can also support it by patronizing our online store. And one more way to support this work is to buy books through The Great God Pan is Dead’s bookstore. ]
I love that picture of Butch smiling you took at our gallery when he opened our new location with Floyd Newsum. It really captures his mischievous spirit. Nicole and I both loved Butch (as did everyone I think) and were honored to show his work for many years. It’s not going to be the same not seeing his name pop up when my phone rings. May his memory remain a blessing to us all.
Thank you 💔