Friedman Fine Art features the marvelous works of Chicago contemporary artist Jay Zerbe. Jay uses color to make the space in his pieces appear deep or shallow, overlapping and breaking up shapes. He starts each piece by drawing or painting on the canvas, using preliminary collages and drawings. He creates the first layer and then sets the drawing aside for color or composition. He adds layers, rotating the painting often.
Zerbe completed a BA from the American University of Beirut, and an MFA in printmaking from Indiana University, Bloomington. Zerbe has worked as a graphic designer for PBS, web designer and virtual world designer for IBM. As a full time artist now, he has gallery representation in Chicago IL, Grand Rapids MI, and Detroit MI.
His work was first shown in Chicago in the 1977 Chicago and Vicinity Exhibition at the Art Institute. In addition to Chicago, his work has also been shown in Atlanta, Lincoln, New York, New Orleans, Novato, Nacogdoches, Omaha, and Santa Fe.