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Schools

Yearbook Art Intrigues Community School Students

Local artist Jay Babcock demonstrates his work at Community School.

Community School recently hosted an exhibit of work in its Haven Art Gallery by local artist Jay Alan Babcock. A native of Louisville, KY, Babcock came to St. Louis to earn a bachelor of fine arts degree from Washington University, and ended up staying.

In conjunction with the exhibit, Babcock also spent time in the art classroom with fourth and sixth grades discussing his work and process. The Community School display and Babcock’s current series are both based on old yearbook photos. 

The students were fascinated by his method, which starts by scanning yearbook pages and making copies. From there, he places the copies over carbon paper to outline images onto a large sheet of paper. He frequently repeats parts of images or reflects an entire image. Many of his images are drawings, but he has expanded the work into paintings as well.

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The students were especially intrigued by the carbon paper (most of them had never seen it before), and they became completely engaged in tracing photos with it.

Community School art teacher David Lang said one of the reasons he brought Babcock in was because of the nature of his work.

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“I was struck by how sophisticated yet accessible Jay’s work is for children," Lang said. "The rhythm and repetition are very clear elements at play. I also like to stretch kids’ perceptions in terms of what they think art is and how they understand art.”

Babcock said he enjoys talking with students about his work.

“If kids can understand the ideas I’m trying to discuss, anyone can. They provide fresh insights and perspectives that adults can’t give me,” he said.

Babcock is frequently asked how he got started with the yearbook photo series.

"I started painting from yearbooks to practice painting portraits, thinking that I might try to win commissions as a portrait artist. I didn't get very far with that, but got interested in the yearbook photos themselves.

"Since the work I'm doing is drawings and paintings of photographs, not of actual people, I feel I have some liberty, or maybe it's a responsibility, to acknowledge the artificiality of my project. That is, if I'm making pictures of pictures, I can, or should, show viewers that I'm making copies—and copying and copying...”

Babcock works from yearbooks people have given him or that he’s picked up at secondhand bookstores. Some of his most recent work includes yearbooks from Ladue, Clayton and Webster Groves, and focuses on group shots, such as the basketball or cheerleading teams.

More of Babcock’s work can be seen on his Facebook page.

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