Education
2002 – MFA; cum laude, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
1993 – BFA; Washington University, St. Louis, MO
1992 – Lorenzo Di Medici Institute, Florence, Italy
Solo Exhibitions
2010 – “Surface Tension”, Linda Warren Gallery, Chicago, IL
2010 – “Passing Through”, Eden Rock Gallery, St Barthelemy, F.W.I
2007 – “Pro•ject”, Linda Warren Gallery, Chicago, IL
Duo Exhibitions
2011 – “Reflections of Memory”, Blank Space Gallery, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012 – “30th Juried Art Show”, Wilmette Public Library, Wimette, IL
2012 – “Narrative Fragments”, Quidley & Company, Boston, MA
2011 – “Juxtaposed”, juried by Alyssa Monks, Six Summit Gallery, Ivoryton, CT
2011 – “Paintworks”, Gowanus Ballroom, curated by Kristin Kunc, Courtney Jordan & Hyeseung Marriage-Song, Brooklyn, NY
2011 – “Space Invaders”, co-curated by Virginia Rose and John Nickle, Rose Contemporary, Portland, ME
2011 – “Cinematic Bodies”, curated by Jamie Adams, Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2010 – “Snow”, XL Projects, Syracuse University Gallery, Syracuse, NY
2010 – “Women Painting Women”, Robert Lange Studios Gallery, Charleston, SC
2010 – “Remnants”, Fuse Gallery, New York, NY
2010 – “Highlights” Island Weiss Gallery, New York, NY
2010 – “Conceptually Sound”, Medialia Rack and Hamper Gallery, New York, NY
2010 – “Chicago Art Fair”, shown by Linda Warren Gallery in Chicago, Illinois
2010 – “Looks good on Paper”, DFN Gallery, New York, NY
2009 – “Water/Bodies”, Eden Rock Gallery, St. Barths, F.W.I.
2009 – “Summer Exhibition 2009”, curated by Eric Fischl, Matthew Flowers, Anne Strauss, New York Academy of Art, NY, NY
2009 – “Old School”, Jack the Pelican, Brooklyn, NY
2009 – Caldwell Snyder, San Francisco, CA
2008 – “Small Works”, Sarah Bain Gallery, Anaheim, CA
2008 – “City Lights”, George Billis Gallery, New York, NY
2008 – “Chicago Art Fair”, shown by Linda Warren Gallery in Chicago, Illinois
2008 – “Take Home a Nude” Art Auction at Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, NY
2007 – “Summer Exhibition 2007”, curated by Eric Fischl, Jenny Saville, Vincent Desiderio, New York Academy of Art, NY, NY
2007 – “Four Handed Lift: Advocacy, Art, Spirit and Community”, Moti Hasson Gallery, New York, NY
2007 – “Small Works”, Sarah Bain Gallery, Anaheim, CA
2008 – “Chicago Art Fair”, shown by Linda Warren Gallery in Chicago, Illinois
2006 – “Contemporary Imaginings, The Howard A. and Judith Tullman Collection”, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama
2006 – “Night of a Thousand Drawings”, Group Show, Artist’s Space, New York, NY
2006 – “AAF”, shown by DFN Gallery, New York, NY
2006 – “Salon 2006”, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2006 – “LA Art Fair”, shown by Linda Warren Gallery in Chicago, Los Angeles, CA
2005 – “New Works”, curated by Eric Fischl, Jane Gallery, St. Barthelemy, F.W.I.
2005 – “A Terrible Beauty: Figurative painting in the 21st Century”, Grey McGear Modern, Santa Monica, CA
2005 – “Small Works”, Sarah Bain Gallery, Brea, CA
2005 – “Cityscapes”, Sarah Bain Gallery, Brea, CA
2005 – “Take Home a Nude” Art Auction at Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, NY
2005 – “Go Figure”, George Billis Gallery, New York, NY
2004 – “Postcards from the Edge, Visual Aids Benefit”, Brent Sikemma Gallery, New York, NY
2004 – “Night of a Thousand Drawings”, Group Show, Artist’s Space, New York, NY
2004 – “Points of Muse”, Linda Warren Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004 – “Separate Visions”, Sarah Bain Gallery, Brea, CA
2004 – “Still Life”, Sarah Bain Gallery, Brea, CA
2004 – “27th Small Works Exhibition”, New York, NY
2003 – “Space Invaders”, curated by Peter Drake, Fish Tank Gallery, New York, NY
2003 – “26th Small Works Exhibition”, New York, NY
2002 – “National Arts Club 26th Annual Student Show”, National Arts Club, New York, NY
Press
2011 – Schroeder, Nicholas, The Portland Pheonix, July 6, 2011
2011 – Bouchard, Sarah, The Bollard, August 9, 2011
2010 – Featured Artist, Poets annd Artists, Fall Edition, 2010
2010 – Featured Interview, Whitewall Magazine, 2010
2010 – Inclusion in Publication of Artists, Studio Visit, Volume 9, 2010
2008 – Inclusion in Publication of Artists, New American Paintings, No. 80., 2009
2008 – Inclusion in Publication of Artists, Studio Visit, Volume 2, 2008
2007 – Artner, Alan, Art: Reviews, Chicago Tribune, June 22, 2007
2007 – Nance, Kevin, Art Review, “How it all happened, or not; New exhibit blurs the line between fact and fantasy” Chicago Sun-Times, June 6, 2007
2007 – Featured Artist CHI #140, Flavorpill: Chicago, May 22, 2007
2007 – “Gallery Shorts”, F News Magazine: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, May 2007
2007 – “Galleries and Museums: Featured Artists”, Chicago Reader, May 18, 2007
2007 – Rose, Joshua, “ Persistence of Memory”, American Art Collector, Issue 19, May 2007
2006 – Duffy, Heather, “Creative Imaginings: The Howard A. and Judith Tullman Collection”, The Vanguard, USA, Nov. 20th, 2006
2006 – Harrison, Thomas, “Artwork, Imagery Provocative in Tullman Show”, Mobile Register, Nov. 2006
2003 – Krenz, Marcel, “Space Invaders: Six Painters & Two Sculptors Reconstruct Representation”, Contemporary, Issue 55
Awards
2009 – First Prize Summer Exhibition 2009, chosen by Eric Fischl, Anne Strauss and Matthew Flowers
2003, 2004, 2006 – Residency Fellowship to attend Vermont Studio Center
2002 – Prince of Wales Fellow
2002 – O. Aldon James, Jr. Award, National Arts Club, New York, NY
2001, 2002 – Merit Scholarship Awards, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
Professional Experience
2008-2011 – Adjunct Instructor; Queensborough Community College
Courses: Color Theory, 2-Dimensional Design in Foundation Program
2003 – Graduate Teaching Assistant; New York Academy of Art
Course: Painting II
With an artistic training in figurative realism and a background in graphic design, my paintings unite my interest in the psyche as expressed through the actual or implied presence of the human form and a personal graphic aesthetic. Thematically, my paintings address the complexity of memory, by blurring and questioning the lines between recollection, projection, and reality. Each painting becomes a psychological landscape or waking dream, examining the notion of “reality”. The shifting environments become a metaphor for the transience of our experience and the indelible impressions they leave in us.
I often use deconstructed depictions of a room – a white cube – as a starting point for my imagery. I transform the room by using projections of various places or figures on the walls, in essence creating a virtual extension of the space. By combining layers of images, I explore how a room can be transformed to create an experience that is multilayered and time-based for the viewer. The movement of the interiors and exteriors overlapping and shifting into one another is meant to mimic the real life experience of memory distorting and influencing the present.
The environments in my work all have personal significance for me and the artworks are typically an amalgamation of images and experiences from the past and present. The rooms and landscapes are places I have been at poignant moments in my life. In these images, there is a longing for times and places that are now gone.
When deciding which images to combine for a painting, I choose those that seem related either in subject, color or mood. I use architectural elements to frame and divide the spaces and line up horizons, and graphic elements. At first glance, I like the image to feel as if it existed exactly as I painted it. I search for that fine line between the strange and familiar, the logical and the incongruous, dreamlike yet plausible enough to engage the viewer and leave an open-ended narrative. A specific perspective is used to create a feeling of looking in at an intimate moment in people’s private lives. In a sense with media today and our obsession with pictorial documentation of events, we have even grown accustomed to watching ourselves from a voyeuristic standpoint. With these paintings, the viewer’s imagination and own experiences plays an important role in the piece, while also being implicated in the voyeurism depicted.
-Jennifer Presant