At Squawk Coffeehouse Thursday

By Susie Davidson

CORRESPONDENT

At Squawk Coffeehouse tomorrow evening, visual artist John Jagel will appear with African drummer Jamey Smythe and African dancer Vida Everett in an unusually rich collaboration.

Jagel, a largely acrylic painter whose career spans 40 years, will sketch on canvas to the percussive rhythms by Smythe and traditional Senegalese movements of Everett.

Born in 1929 in New York, Jagel earned a 1955 diploma from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, followed by a bachelor’s in fine arts in 1956 and a master’s in fine arts in 1958 from Yale.

He recently altered the course of his technical persuasion, which for many years had been largely centered on nature scenes, nudes and portraits. Following an illness in 2001 and a six-month inability to paint, he began to work more from a subjectively abstract, intuitive angle. His subsequent efforts convey an expressive, involuntary character that surprises even himself.

“While engaged in the pursuit of visual possibilities I am often astounded by what occurs on the canvas,” he said. “It's as if I am an instrument of some higher power which points the way, a transcendent experience at times irrational and mysterious.”

The recipient of various awards and fellowships, Jagel has shown his work in numerous solo and group exhibits at the Boston Public Library, the Skopje Museum of Art, Yugoslavia University of Wisconsin, the Addison Gallery of American Art and private collections. A solo exhibit at Zeitgiest Gallery in Inman Square is set for this June.

Jagel recently worked at Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum and studied German and Spanish at Lee Riethmuller’s Intercontinental Foreign Language Program at the Christ Church, Zero Garden St. in Harvard Square. He teaches art to private students and remains both dedicated to and awed by his chosen field.

“As with other artists, past and present, I have a passion for paint as paint, color as an important element expressive of emotion and its qualities to give the illusion of form and space,” he said. “After all, painting an image on a flat surface is what it is all about, whether it is illusionistic or abstract.

“A revelation occurs each and every time I face a blank canvas,” he continued. “The task for me is to find the means, the language to create something from nothing; to gain a grip on a concept and follow it to resolution.”

Smythe, who lives in East Cambridge, has been involved in African drumming since his introduction ten years ago to Ibrahima Camara’s drum group. He has performed in Camara's band at schools, festivals, classes and workshops throughout New England including Symphony Hall in Boston, in Washington, D.C. and at the International Black Arts Festival in Atlanta. The group has performed six times in West Africa at the National Theater of Senegal.

“Although I was almost 40 years old when I came to learn the drum, I have immersed himself in the music and culture and in spreading the joy and healing of the drums,” he said. “I am still evolving in my expression with the traditional drum, into more innovative settings and collaborations.”

John Jagel, Jamey Smythe and Vida Everett will appear at Squawk Coffeehouse on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 9 p.m. The Coffeehouse is open every Thursday evening from 9-midnight at the Harvard-Epworth Church, located between Harvard and Porter Squares at 1555 Mass. Ave., next to Harvard Law School's Pound Hall. Squawk is a no-smoke, no-drink venue. For info, visit https://www.angelfire.com/music/squawk/ or call 617-868-3661.