Jess

Jess Collins, more commonly known as "Jess" was born in 1923 in Long Beach, California.  In 1949, he enrolled at the California School of the Arts. His work primarily consists of a series of collages and paintings with thematic incorporations of occult symbolism, alchemy, and male beauty. His work is included in the collections at the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the national Gallery of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In 1951, Jess met poet Robert Duncan, a meeting that would eventually lead to an intimate relationship lasting until Duncan's death in 1988. Jess passed away in 2004.

Jess is featured in Edition: Guest Editor, Bryan Leitgeb

Cover for "Caesar's Gate Poems" by Robert Duncan (1949-50)