Jenna North: The Weather Series, Paintings. Artist Talk.

Please join Artist Jenna North on Wednesday, 09.23.09 at 6 pm as she discusses her current exhibition of work, The Weather Series, Paintings, at 50 Fremont Street, San Francisco.

Jenna North is officially an MFA

Congratulations to Jenna North, who received her MFA this summer! Jenna's work is currently on exhibition (through October 3) at 50 Fremont Street in San Francisco. Go see. PDF portfolio of Jenna's work is available for download at this link.

Jenna North

Jenna North came by a couple of nights ago, to discuss her recent work in detail. She’s very casual when discussing her work, as if she takes it for granted that because she's lived with it for so long, and knows it so well, we will too as soon as we see it. Her work has such drama and effect, that people love it or hate it, and it's been my case that explaining her process is vital to understanding and appreciating her work. My first experience with Jenna’s work was a series entitled ‘Gray Tones’ which we represented in 2007 at our first art fair in Miami and at a group exhibition with Gerald Cannon and David Yun, entitled ‘Digital Divide.’ The 'Gray Tones' were meticulously hand painted and based on algorithms generated by an antiquated computer program called Mathematica. In the series, Jenna’s premise represented a variation of the patterns generated by sound, as defined by Mathematica. Her process was very controlling, and the resulting paintings, Jenna’s representation of sound waves, was surprisingly effective, drawing the viewer in with mesmerizing effect.

Jenna’s new work, ‘The Weather Pattern’ series is a product of the ‘Gray Tones,’ where control of color and form are still shown with strict, hand painted lines of enamel; organized according to her particular rules for painting. The new element is Jenna’s decision to allow chance, expressionism, and the physicality of the paint to enter her work. She takes on almost every painterly tool available, acrylic, enamel, encaustic, glitter, gravity, heat, and oil paint – for elements of texture and expression - with explosive effect. Her new choice is a big movement away from her earlier study of control, although control remains strongly present in her compositions, use of variegated shades of gray, and collage. Her latest two works in the series, ‘Paleomagnetism’ and ‘Wet Spell,’ are almost wholly expressionistic, showing practically none of her previous control, and her work seems to become purely ruled by chance. Our discussion impressed me with Jenna’s ideas of chance, expression and the physicality of paint, their importance to her in relation to her current work, and how she visually manifests them. While the direction may be founded on modern ideas, as employed by Pollock and Gilhooly, the work is purely Jenna North’s, contemporary and compelling.

Bridge Art Fair|Miami Beach 2008

DECEMBER 4-7, 2008 Catalina Hotel, Room 124 1732 Collins Ave., Miami Beach

Micaëla Gallery presents the work of Gerald Cannon, Peter Foucault, Scott Kiernan, Scott Kildall, Taliaferro Jones, Jenna North, Lorraine Peltz, Tobias Tovera, Anne Yalon and David Yun at Bridge Art Fair|Miami Beach 2008 from Dec 4 through Dec 7. Read more...Current Exhibition Previous exhibition: Stig Persson | The Big Silence: works 2003-2008 Fairs: SOFA Chicago 2008, Bridge Art Fair|Miami Beach 2008 Gallery Calendar Exhibition catalogs are available for purchase.

The Weather Reconnaisance at the Garage Biennale

This evening (cold and foggy), I attended the Weather Reconnaisance show at the Garage Biennale this evening with my new neighbor, George Lawson (Room for Painting Room for Paper). The Weather Reconnaissance show was everything I expected from Jenna North and Peter Foucault - dramatic, edgy and formal - as MFA graduates are taught. Sparely curated, the works by young emerging local artists showed a common atmospheric thread, environmental awareness and hope for socio-political debate that is meaningful and communally enriching. The images shown were extemporaneously taken with an iPhone (apologies for the quality) and meant to share a sense of this short-lived exhibition (4 hours, 1 night only).

Jenna North and Peter Foucault at The Garage Biennale

The Weather Reconnaissance, jointly curated by Jenna North and Peter Foucault
The Garage Biennale, 2830 Pacific Ave. , San Francisco, CA
November 22nd 2008 7PM – 10PM

Artists can tune their antennas like no other species, and the Weather Reconnaissance is an attempt to exhibit a diverse range of creative work in response to both the micro and macro interpretations and influences of this force that affects everything from mood to doom.

Also showing: Angela Baker, Lisa Blatt, Zack Eichelberger, Peter Foucault, Sid Garrison, Jessica Haggenjos, Rachel Jablo, Scott Kiernan, Keira Kotler, Mary Anne Kluth, Yoon Lee, John Melvin, Andrew Mills, Jenna North, Shalo P, Kevin Parks Hauser, Jackson Patterson, David Sanchez Burr, Larry Sheradon, Patrick Wilson

Performances by: Pete Ippel, Dori Latman, Jsun Adrian Mccarty, Bryan Reuter of Cloud Archive

Curated by Jenna North and Peter Foucault