In Memoriam: Jason Pickleman
By Sarah Shoaf, Staff Writer
Photo credit: @jasonpickleman, previously @pickleman.art on Instagram, taken at Sculpture Milwaukee
Jason Pickleman, whose art is featured in Governors State University’s (GovState) Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park (theNate) and across Chicago, was a prolific graphic designer and artist amongst his many titles in the Chicago area. Pickleman passed away mid-May after a 16-month battle with brain cancer.
Pickleman set himself apart by his effortless ability to move between commercial and contemporary art, a space of utmost importance to him, as an artist, designer, curator and collector.
His work is deeply embedded in Chicago, with many local clients including Millennium Park, avec, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), EXPO Chicago, and the Field Museum.
“To live in Chicago is to encounter Jason Pickleman’s work,” according to the Chicago Tribune's obituary.
Pickleman and his wife, Leslie Bodenstein, founded JNL Graphic Design in 1992. Until they closed their business in 2023, the pair worked with clients from the Prada Foundation to Skinny Pop Popcorn, designing the latter's Warhol-inspired packaging.
Throughout his life, Pickleman and his art were featured in various locations including the 2007 exhibition Young Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is now a part of the institution's permanent collection, as well as the Chicago Cultural Center, the Chicago Design Museum, Ken Saunders Gallery, The Neon & Light Museum, and more.
Just last fall, Pickleman’s “Hand Heart” was installed across the road from GovState’s Prairie Place, becoming a fixture of theNate.
“Hand Heart, when compared to the monumental scale of many works in theNate's collection, is very intimate and personal in scale,” said Jeff Stevenson, Director and Curator of theNate. “Through this contrast and by its siting along the most traveled foot path of GovState's resident students, it is a reminder of our connections as human beings.”
The oversized-red-and-white hand piece addresses the continuity across the history of visual form making, to form a symbol of compassionate empathy that supersedes language to become universally communicative across age, race, gender and culture.
Pickleman was close friends with Susan and the late Lewis Manilow, both rooted in theNate’s history. Pickleman also designed theNate’s logo and some of the sculpture park’s invitations for its annual Sculpture Wine and Dine event.