The Jackleg Testament: part one – Jack & Eve is two remarkable and interrelated bodies of work by Jay Bolotin. It is a portfolio of 40 woodcuts containing all of the visual elements — the subjects, objects, scenery and props — for a 60-minute woodcut motion picture by the same name. The motion picture innovatively combines moving images created from the woodcuts with an operatic play and musical score written by the artist.The Jackleg Testament re-tells the creation stories of Western religion. In Bolotin’s version of events, imagination commingles with literary and biblical references. The character of Jack, portrayed by the mannequin inside a jack-in-the-box, lures Eve away from Adam and the Garden of Eden. Together, they travel to Nobotown where the omnipotent Nobodaddy reigns. Once in Nobotown, Nobodaddy arranges for Jack and Eve to perform in The Theater of the Western Regions – a play within a play, which results in their banishment. Woodcut motion picture voices include opera singers Nigel Robson and Monte Jaffe, vocalist Karin Bergquist (of the band Over the Rhine), and the artist.And other works refers to A Prehistory To That Which Is, by mistake, Called The Fall of Man, a suite of 12 color woodcuts, and Adam and Eve and Oskar, I, II, III, a triptych of three color prints, and other possible works that may be added to this exhibition.The woodcut motion picture premiered at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati in 2005 and has been screened at venues including The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and Pokolenyi Theater, St. Petersburg, Russia. This exhibition marks the recent Samek acquisition of the The Jackleg Testament portfolio. It is the first of a three-part series by this prolific artist, writer, composer, performer, stage and set designer, choreographer, and filmmaker.
