The Art of Jim Charette: Four Decades of Chaos and Creation

Jim Charette’s vibrant and eclectic artistic journey spans over four decades, marked by a fearless exploration of materials and mediums—from oils and aerosols to recycled vinyl records and pig’s ears. His work, deeply personal and ever-evolving, reflects a dynamic interplay between chaos and order, drawing inspiration from a diverse roster of artists like Frank Zappa and Francis Bacon. In this spotlight, Charette shares insights into his current body of work, the profound connections he’s uncovered across his career, and how his relentless passion for creation continues to shape his life and art.

What materials do you work with?

Over the last 40+ years I’ve experimented with oils, acrylics, aerosol, watercolors, markers, pencil, colored pencils, crayons, charcoal, pastels, digital art, music and video. I’ve worked on paper, canvas of course, wood, drywall, plastic factory window covers, metal, cardboard, old vinyl records, broken toys, bones, unwanted furniture left by the side of the road, skin and a few pig’s ears while learning to tattoo. I have also worked with collage, assemblage and self publishing.

I started using recycled materials back in the early 2000’s. Eventually I began including some of my own older works as raw materials in the mix. I started experimenting with stencils in 2012 which led to my Icons series on old vinyl albums featuring musicians who’ve passed away. I hand painted each album in an abstract fashion and then created a stencil for each. So each was an original piece of art despite using stencils. Now I mostly work with acrylics, aerosols, charcoal and pastels on paper, cardboard and canvas at the moment.

Tell us about your current body of work. What motivated it?

This show is the fourth in a series of shows that I only realized were all connected after the third installation. All three shows would provide the puzzle pieces that I needed to assemble this show.

The first was Sad Little Boys at Bolt Gun Gallery in 2014 at The Abattoir, my studio at Kilburn Mills in New Bedford, MA 2012-2015. The show itself was voted best in the SouthCoast for 2014 by well known art critic Don Wilkinson.

The second was An Orderly Chaos in 2018 at Douglass Gallery, also NBMA. The third was at the Ignition Space, 2023 in Fall River, MA called Still Playing with My Crayons. It was during that show that I found the answer to a question that I’ve been asked a million times, ”What kind of art do you do?”. Should have been an easy answer and I think that for most artists it is. But as I’ve taken many different paths along the way both artistically and career wise— it wasn’t.

One quiet Sunday afternoon while I was sitting at the gallery, I started to see the connections. As I looked at samples from 40+ years of work, I could see all of the shifts in direction the work had taken… Then in my mind’s eye the images began shifting around, moving and coming together as a cohesive body of work. I was seeing it as I never could before. At that moment the answer became clear, simple, and painfully obvious… I make the art of Jim Charette in all of it’s various incarnations.

I’d been searching for this answer since I left Swain School in the late 80’s. I left the gallery that day, went home, started working., and haven’t taken a day off since. I was hit by an immense tidal wave of creativity that still pushes me harder every day.

Do you work full-time as an artist or do you wear other hats?

I’ve worn many hats over the years working professionally as an editorial cartoonist, graphic artist for a few local screen printers and so on. I even worked at Riverside Art in Somerset, MA for a few years where I also did a lot of freelance cartooning and illustrating. In early 2000’s I developed some serious health problems that sidelined me enough that I had to go on disability. Now, I don’t tell you this so that you can feel bad for me because I did it to myself… As I believed that an artist should live life as the sideshow that it is, experiencing the best and the worst of it so that one day you’d have some great stories to tell as fodder for the work.

How do you integrate art into your life and other responsibilities?

Art has been the center of my life since like 3rd grade. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I cared about nothing else, including myself as it were. I did everything in service to the art. All of it.T he bad as well as the good chapters. It was always all for the work. That did change when I met my (sadly now ex)wife and my step tribe of 5 amazing beautiful kids. I loved wearing the family man hat and I still wear the step dad hat proudly and that’s one of all time favorite hats.

How has your art practice evolved over the years?

Making sense of the battle between chaos and order in my work and life led me to allow both to coexist in my studio. There was a time when, if my life was ordered, the work became chaotic and when life got chaotic the work became ordered. Some of those times lasted for months during which I would think that everything I’d been doing was useless and I was starting again. Some of those times were the reason for shifts in my style and career choices. I also finally understand that change is the only true constant, especially in art. Without it there is no growth. I try to listen to my muses and furies equally, regardless of whatever dark corners of myself or the world at large that they might take me to. It all has it’s place in my journey.

What or who inspires you?

I am inspired by any artist that shares the same obsession for art, no matter what level of art education they’ve had or whatever medium they’ve chosen to express themselves with. The self taught, the outsiders, art brutes and the fine folks who I call my fellow Art Barbarians.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Some of my favorite artists are Francis Bacon, Tom Waits, Robert Rauschenberg, Hunter Thompson, William S.Burroughs, Basil Wolverton, Sergio Aragones, Larry Rivers, Eric Fischl, David Lynch, Ralph Steadman, Sex Pistols, Ian Dury, Edward Hopper, Leon Golub, Kurt Schwitters and the Surrealists as a group.

At the top of my list has always been Frank Zappa. He turned his back on corporate pop and decided to start his own company making music for the fine folks who got what he was doing. I have nothing but respect for the man. His music was incredible, which I heard for the first time in grade school and it blew my mind.

How is community important to you as a practicing artist?

A painting, drawing, song, or a story are all just paintings, stories, or songs until someone interacts with them. Whether or not they like it or not isn’t part of the equation to me. It can only become art when somebody experiences it.

I had a show at the Sean Christopher Gallery in Columbus, OH back in 2005. A young gentleman walked into a room dominated by a 10’ wide painting on un-stretched canvas of a businessman screaming and almost jumping off the surface.. The second he encountered it he raised his hands and said, ”Oh NO!”, turned and walked out of the room. Unbeknownst to him and his friend that’d followed him, I was in the corner taking a break and watching the crowd. Also in the room was a video playing a documentary about my work. I started laughing when his friend responded like that. At this point he spotted me there and on screen.

He tried to apologize for his buddy but again I laughed. Holding my own hand up, I told him, ”No dude, that’s the strongest reaction I’ve seen tonight. Anybody can compliment you, that’s easy… but your buddy was honest, and that statement told me that this painting hit him like a punch in the gut… And now it’s art brother.”

What is the biggest challenge you face as an artist?

I would say that the biggest challenge for me personally as an artist, is the business end of it. I’d rather put my energy and time in the studio into the work. I’ve always hated the business end of it. I had an agent for a short while but we eventually decided that it wasn’t a good match. I have, however, been compiling a huge list of galleries and magazines that I’ve begun contacting already and that’s one of my major goals for this year…. So fingers crossed.

What are your goals for the future?

Well I think I answered that in question 9, partly anyway. I’ll spend the rest of this year also finishing a series of art books that have been in the works going back to the early 2000’s. And work on finding a publisher. I will be applying for a grant to do another show in 2026, and try to focus a little more perhaps on getting myself an agent so I can just work. I’ll celebrate every day that I wake up above the dirt. I will make sure that Nicole Cosme knows how much I appreciate having had this opportunity to show here at Groundwork.

Check out Jim Charette’s upcoming art exhibition “All Growed Up” on display at the Groundwork Gallery Aug-Sept 2025. Opening reception Aug 8th 6pm-8pm

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Nicole Cosme

General Manager at Groundwork

Nicole worked in Health & Human Services for over a decade before ending up at Groundwork. She started as the Community Coordinator in Fall River and now oversees operations at both locations.