This particular talky-too is about our next artist who will be exhibiting...
JEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN THHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMAAAASS
or for those of you NOT use to bullet-time - Jen Thomas.
So you might be thinking "Joseph. there are many J.T.'s in the world" (not Justin Timberlake) how do I know which one you are talking about. My answer would be "The important, cool one" She's not the one rock climbing in the picture or wearing an entirely too small bikini or twerking. She is the one from Chicago...the one that makes pretty stellar art, whether it be a drawing, a print or a book (or other multi-pollinated things)
(this is her pulp-painting... taken from happyfaceschicago.blogspot.com)
Here is a bitty-bio about her:
Jen Thomas is an
educator, book artist, printmaker, and writer based in Chicago, Illinois. She
earned her B.F.A. in Communication Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University;
studied printmaking at Plymouth University, Exeter, England; and completed her
M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago.
When she’s not drawing medical anomalies and taxidermied animals on handmade
paper, she spends her time editioning etchings of trailer parks under her own
imprint, Veronica Press, and running her new exhibition and workshop space,
werkspace. Jen teaches illustration and graphic design at the American Academy
of Art and Illinois Institute of Art, in addition to community book arts
workshops across Chicago. Her writing has appeared such publications as little bang, The Bonefolder, Punk Planet,
Afterimage, and Blister Packs; her artist’s books are featured in 1000 Artists’ Books: Exploring the Book as
Art.
You may have noticed that bit about her running her own gallery that hosts exhibitions as well as workshops. Welllllllll... you should check out the site too. If you are in Chicago or visiti it with any sense of frequency I would also like to speak very highly of its offerings.
The intrepid collector can also find her work for sale at a little site (maybe you've heard of it) called ETSY.
Ok, ok get on with it. What is this artist all about? Well, how about this:
Spinster
or perhaps just a little bit of this...
Corset 6
I'm not even opposed to show just a tiny bit of, this...
divine mandate
Alright, so we've seen the work, but what the heck does it mean?!?!?! Well, it just so happens that we have an answer for that too:
Over the last ten years, one by one, I have watched nearly all of my friends succumb to their
urges to have children, an urge that I feel pretty certain that I have never felt. Their lives
have changed, presumably for the better, and mine has, too. Now, instead of discussing our
careers, world events, or pop culture, those moms and I discuss the finer points of spit-up,
eating habits, and poop color. I’m fascinated and repulsed simultaneously, certain now that I
need not ever have a child of my own. I can just play with their babies and return them when
their diapers are full, their stomachs are empty, and I need to get back to work. As a woman,
does that make me selfish? Unfulfilled? Inadequate? Incomplete? We should all want to have
children, right?
The work in Nullipara explores the societal ramifications of a woman’s choice not to
have children, as well as the greater historical evolution of pregnancy’s impact on women,
both physically and emotionally. I’ve juxtaposed derogatory words like “spinster” and “old
maid,” originally relatively benign in their meanings, with imagery of now archaic medical
practices. Vice-like maternity corsets, forceps, dead rabbits and mice have all been replaced
by organic cotton and pregnancy tests that require a potential mother-to-be only to urinate
on a plastic stick and wait five minutes. In rethinking both changing medical practices and
ideas about women’s roles, I created pastel drawings on handmade paper sewn with
traditional embroidery stitches—women’s work to pass the time while carrying a child.
These quilted drawings serve to fill that imaginary void in a woman’s life—a void that
doesn’t necessarily need filling.
I think we should end this with the pertinent information that you all so desire.
The Who: Jen Thomas
The What: Nullipara
The When: July 26th - August 30th... The actual Opening will take place on the 26th from 6 pm - 8pm. Lots of food and great dj'ing will accompany.
The Where: The Bakery Gallery: Conveniently located at 1330 E. 12th Street. Davenport, Ia 52803
The Why: To Start it back up.
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