{"id":8188,"date":"2026-09-04T12:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T19:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8188"},"modified":"2026-09-04T12:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T19:26:00","slug":"in-an-american-fiction-ronald-jackson-casts-an-imagined-screenplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8188","title":{"rendered":"In \u2018An American Fiction,\u2019 Ronald Jackson Casts an Imagined Screenplay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"In<\/p>\n

In the Oscar-winning film American Fiction<\/a><\/em>, the irritable protagonist Thelonious \u201cMonk\u201d Ellison describes his work as follows: \u201cI just invent little people in my mind and make them have conversations with each other.\u201d The film, which director Cord Jefferson adapted from Percival Everett\u2019s novel Erasure<\/em>, grapples with stereotypes and the ways we\u2019re asked to perform our identities. For Monk, this turns into a satirical quest to write a \u201cBlack\u201d book under a pen name, which plunges him into an outlandish world of tropes.<\/p>\n

American Fiction<\/em> layers farce upon farce and is one of the more searing considerations of the contemporary impulse to leverage identity for nefarious (and capitalist) purposes. In Monk\u2019s world, \u201cinventing little people\u201d becomes a meta exercise that leads to more and more absurdity.<\/p>\n

\"an
\u201cPervis Brown: The Apprentice of Oddly Uncommon Trades, played by Cornelius Dunston in AN AMERICAN FICTION\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 60 \u00d7 48 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The artist Ronald Jackson<\/a> extrapolates the narrative further in his solo presentation opening this week at Galerie Myrtis<\/a>. Known for his vibrant portraiture, Jackson creates a sort of casting list for an imagined screenplay that titles the exhibition: An American Fiction<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Through a suite of new oil paintings, the artist playfully envisions a troupe of figures, their names, and their roles. A portrait of a Black man with dreadlocks and red handkerchief tied around his neck, for example, is titled \u201cPervis Brown: The Apprentice of Oddly Uncommon Trades, played by Cornelius Dunston in AN AMERICAN FICTION.\u201d All of the works are named in this vein, seeding the viewer\u2019s understanding of the imaginary screenplay.<\/p>\n

Jackson is familiar with this witty, cross-disciplinary approach. In an earlier body of work<\/a>, he invented Johnnie Mae King, a recurring character for whom the artist invited the public to imagine a backstory through flash fiction and other writings. This figure also donned Jackson\u2019s signature mask, which frequently appears in An American Fiction<\/em>, too. He writes about the motif:<\/p>\n

\n

I use the mask not to conceal but to signal that a rich, un-excavated narrative exists beneath the surface. It asks the viewer to consider what lies beyond the visible role, prompting a question central to performance: are we admiring the superficial? Do we distinguish between the performer and the character being played? Do we recognize that there is likely a very different reality than the one being presented to us?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A playful, innovative approach to some of the most pressing questions in today\u2019s culture, An American Fiction<\/em> runs from September 5 to October 3 in Baltimore. Find more from Jackson on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"an
\u201cBradley \u2018Ernesto\u2019 Hillman with daughter Arlo: The Orchestrators of Unusual Happenings, played by Samuel Lead and Erica Dewberry in AN AMERICAN FICTION\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 72 \u00d7 60 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cJoy \u2018Louise\u2019 Parker: The Young Widow Who Returned Home, played by Regina Rhodes in AN AMERICAN FICTION\u201d (2026) oil on canvas, 60 \u00d7 48 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cSanford Billings: Shop Owner and Private Investigator, played by Malik Downs in AN AMERICAN FICTION\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 52 \u00d7 46 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cGreyman Dutch: Physician and Collector of Storied Relics, played by Dwight Jamesberry in AN AMERICAN FICTION\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 66 \u00d7 55 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cBarrett Dunnings: Jonesridge Cowboy and hired hand, played by Javon Campbell in AN AMERICAN FICTION\u201d (2026) oil on canvas, 52 \u00d7 46 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cAbraham Jenkins: Rancher and town librarian, played by Dwight Jamesberry in AN AMERICAN FICTION\u201d (2026), oil on canvas, 52 \u00d7 46 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article In \u2018An American Fiction,\u2019 Ronald Jackson Casts an Imagined Screenplay<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Oscar-winning film American Fiction, the irritable protagonist Thelonious \u201cMonk\u201d Ellison describes his work as follows: \u201cI just invent little people in my mind and make them have conversations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}