Jennifer PRESANT

Statement
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 human form and a personal graphic aesthetic. Thematically, my paintings address the complexity of memory, by blurring the lines between recollection, projection, and reality. Each painting becomes a psychological landscape or waking dream, reinforcing the fluid relationships between time, memory and place. The projected image as object, and the notion of projection, is the most dominant visual metaphor pervading the compositions and gives my paintings the look of theater, video and installation art. By merging both real and fictitious images in these painted fictional documentaries, I explore the conflation of our media-saturated lives and our lived reality; we live among images and in many ways as images. Our memories of events have become distorted. With media today, we have grown accustomed to watching ourselves and living from a voyeuristic standpoint. With these paintings, the viewer’s imagination plays an important role in the piece, while also being implicated in the voyeurism depicted.
Biography
Born: 1971, New York, NY
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
Professional Experience:
2008 - Present Adjunct Instructor; Queensborough Community College
2003 Graduate Teaching Assistant ; New York Academy of Art
1994 - 1999 Senior Graphic Designer; Scholastic Inc.
Solo Exhibtion:
2007 "Pro•ject", Linda Warren Gallery, Chicago, IL
Group Exhibitions:
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, New York, NY
2007 "Four Handed Lift: Advocacy, Art, Spirit and Community",
Moti Hasson Gallery, New York, NY
2007 "Small Works", Sarah Bain Gallery, Anaheim, CA
2007 "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
2003 "College Art Association MFA Exhibition", Times Square Gallery, New York, NY
2002 "MFA Thesis Exhibition", New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2002 "National Arts Club 26th Annual Student Show", National Arts Club,
New York, NY
Press:
Upcoming Featured Artist Interview, The Huffington Post
2009 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