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newsletter - fall - 2004
- On a Larger Scale: A.I.R. Jen Levy
- Renee Billingslea March-May Artist In Residence
- Come join us in celebration of YFAC
| On a Larger Scale: A.I.R Jen Levy |
On a Larger Scale:
A.I.R Jen Levy
Gallery-sized installations usually have to go up quickly, often in as
few as two and a half days, leaving little time to go large. However,
the Works/San Jose Artist in Residency program gives artists free use
of a studio space for three months. This relatively relaxed time period
gave San Jose artist Jen Levy the time and space to meditatively expand
on a previous piece – the Unmentionables of Strangers – a
piece about the intimate on display. It consists of women’s pantyhose
of various brown tones, clean, stitched together at the hips, hung from
a line attached to the wall at both ends. Before the A.I.R. program, The
Unmentionables of Strangers only occupied one corner of a gallery.
During
the program, Levy expanded the piece to occupy an entire studio. She used
her A.I.R. space not as a demo area, but as a gallery to show the final
room-sized installation to the public. The new piece displayed an entire
room full of rows of pantyhose, similarly stitched together and hung.
Instead of hanging directly from one wall to the next, however, the hose
rows were attached in one corner of the room in a curve shape. The far
ends were attached in a gradually rising spiral around the rest of the
room.
This
new work is consistent with Levy’s deft mind and concern for the
intimate on display exhibited in past pieces such as Lulu (pictured below).
The mirrors on the black shoes are an allusion to grade school days when
little boys would wear mirrors on their shoes so they could see up the
girls’ skirts.
Levy’s work has been moving away from metal casting – and
the need for facilities and forklifts – toward fabric. When asked
about her future work, Levy indicated an interest in taking something
functional and making it non-functional. She’s intrigued by the
idea of making a lace quilt. Theoretically, a quilt is designed to warm
you, but a lace quilt would be useless for that purpose.
Levy earned her B.F.A. from the University of Georgia with a concentration
in Sculpture, worked for awhile, and then moved to California to attend
San Jose State University, where she earned her M.F.A. with a concentration
in Spatial Arts.
Jennifer Henderson
| Renee Billingslea March-May Artist In Residence |
Renee Billingslea was Works/San Jose’s Artist in Residence (AIR) this spring. Billingslea, who received her MFA in Photography from San Jose State University last year, used her residency at Works to develop a series called Abductions. When finished, Abductions will be a site-specific installation at The San Luis Obispo Art Center, October 23rd through December 5th, 2004.
Detail-Abduction
Three years ago, after learning that a friend’s ex-husband had abducted his children from a local preschool and sent them to Nigeria, Billingslea began saving the “Have You Seen Me” cards, which publicize the faces of missing children. From these, she cut out the faces and added halos, turning the images into tiny religious icons and silhouettes. It is Billingslea’s hope that the installation will give people an opportunity to reconsider the connections and disruptions of family life and society’s responsibility to the all-too-familiar occurrence of brutal divorces leading to child-abductions. These kinds of social/political messages are hallmarks of Billingslea’s work.
Million Man Club
Billingslea’s Open Studio coincided with the reception for Works’ annual member show, Blue, allowing her to get valuable feedback about Abductions from the 300+ artists and art patrons in attendance. While chatting with viewers, Billingslea made and passed out small “fortunes” sealed in plastic baggies. For the Blue show, she created a piece entitled “Million Man Club,” which included tiny paper cut-outs of men from the 1950s, sealed inside small plastic baggies and pinned to the gallery wall in a grid.
For more information about Renee Billingslea, please contact Works/San Jose at 408.295.8378
Sandra Ledesma
| Come join us in celebration of YFAC |
Works/San Jose just finished its second year of Youth and Family Art Connection (YFAC) summer art workshops. YFAC is an educational outreach program that makes monthly hands-on art workshops available to kids. During this summer’s program, we conducted sessions in printmaking, Xerox transfer, collage making, and ink drawing. We are pleased to announce that Works had a 265% increase in youth participation from last year! Thank you to all Works board members, Teen Advisory Board (TAB) members, Pacific Rim artists, and volunteers who helped make this program a success. All workshop participants will have their art on display during our 2nd Annual YFAC Exhibition from November 6th to November 13th. Please come join us for our reception, open to all, on November 13th from 5-7 at Works/San Jose.
Jean Skamra
works/san josé
451 south 1st street • san josé,
california 95112• 408.286.6800
hours: t,w,f,sat 12pm - 4pm and th 12pm - 7pm
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