Jason Newsted
Best known as the bassist for Metallica (1986-2001), Jason Newsted’s late-career pivot to the arts channels his limitless energy through multidisciplinary avenues. In his work I First Heard Purple Haze (2018) , Newsted develops the ground with text painted lyrics and sentiment of his experience being inspired by the Jimi Hendrix song, Purple Haze. The guitar parts themselves breath a tension of a beautifully crafted instrument sacrificed for the sake of an explosive performance to a roaring arena of fans. He then memorializes the instrument that he loves into a personified robot from the parts.
Newsted is known for mixing iconography including guitars with more abstract geometric and biomorphic forms, using a raw expressive style reminiscent of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jean Dubuffet, and Willem de Kooning. The artist’s signature involves mixing soil into acrylic paint, resulting in highly textural picture planes. The creatures and figures in his work represent a form of balance, harmony, positive energy and peace to all. Newsted has exhibited in New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Basel. Notable exhibitions include Amelchenko’s THINK IN PICTURES and the Art Miami & Art New York Fairs.
