A. B. Jackson

Alexander Brooks Jackson (April 18, 1925 – March 23, 1981) was an American painter.

Life and career Jackson was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of a black father and an English mother born in Manchester. He earned BFA and MFA degrees from Yale University, studying with Josef Albers in the mid-1950s. Before entering the teaching field, he spent three years as a designer in the Watson-Manning Advertising Agency in Stratford, Connecticut.

He taught briefly at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1955, before moving to Norfolk, Virginia in 1956. After being denied entry to the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Art show in 1962 because of his race, he won best-in-show there in 1966. His series of paintings "The Porch People" depicts anonymous sitters on their porches in Ghent, the district of Norfolk, Virginia, where he lived. His book As I See Ghent: A Visual Essay was published in 1979.

Personal life Jackson was the maternal grandfather of professional American football quarterback Russell Wilson.