JEAN BLACKBURN
Jean Blackburn is a Yale MFA graduate who creates ingenious sculptures by deconstructing everyday household items: chairs, tables, chests of drawers, beds and related objects. Using the materials from the deconstructed objects, Blackburns makes elaborate constructions that undermine the basic utilitarian nature of the object. In addition to the deconstructed household objects, Blackburn fabricates ceramic pieces with her signature holes and makes gauche drawings that disguise Ikea catalog imagery in brightly colored modernist styling. All Blackburn’s work is striking in its inventiveness and ingenuity.
Education:
1982 Yale School of Art, Yale University. M.F.A., painting
1979 Rhode Island School of Design, B.F.A., painting, design
Solo Exhibitions:
2002 Caren Golden Fine Art, NYC
1999 Deven Golden Gallery, NYC
1997 Bronwyn Keenan Gallery, NYC
1995 Dahn Gallery, NYC
1994 Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
Group Exhibitions:
2003 Formed to Function, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
2002 Home, Bettcher Gallery, Miami,FL
2001 Cross-Pollination, curated by Mery Lyn McCorkel & Sue Joyce,Holland Tunnel, Brooklyn, NY
2000 The Chasanoff Collection, The Mint Museum of Craft & Design,Charlotte, NC Multiple Sensations, curated by Joe Amrhein, traveling exhibition with
venues: Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY; Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco, CA, Post Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; H & R Block Art Space, Kansas City, MO.
2000 Threshold, curated by Andrea Inselmann, Virginia Center for the Arts,
Virginia Beach, VA (September - November)
Welcome, curated by Jennifer McGregor, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY
1999 Best of The Season, Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT
Threshold: Invoking the Domestic in Contemporary Art, curated by
Andrea Inselmann, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
Rage of Art, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
1998 Working in Brooklyn, curated by Charlotta Kotik, Brooklyn Museum,Brooklyn, NY
Southern Exposure, curated by S. Gelb, Ambrosino Gallery, Miami, FL
Out of the Frying Pan, curated by Linda Gottesfield, Pace University Art Gallery, Pace University, New York City
1997 Redefinitions: A View From Brooklyn, curated by Sue Joyce, Main Art Gallery, Cal State Fullerton, Fullerton, CA
New York Drawers, curated by Shawn Cummins, Gasworks, London, England, and curated by Joe Amrhein, Corner House, Manchester,England
1997 Just What Do You Think You’re Doing, Dave?, curated by Bruce Pierson, Williamsburg Art Center, Brooklyn, NY
Slad, curated by Janice Krasnow and Mary Jones, Apex Art, NYC
1996 A Walk In The Woods, curated by Karen Shaw, Islip Art Museum,East Islip, NY
Downtown Art Exchange, Bronwyn Keenan, New York City
Gramercy International Art Exhibition, Gracie Mansion and Fred Dorfman Art
Projects, Gramercy Park Hotel, New York City
Wish You Were Here, Bronwyn Keenan, New York City
Annual Benefit Show, White Columns, New York City
1995 Multiples, Pierogi 2000, Brooklyn, NY
Way Cool, Biennial Survey Show, Exit Art, The First World, NYC
1994 Furniture, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York City
Backroom, Four Walls, Brooklyn, NY
The New York Biennial of Glass, Robert Lehman Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Photonominal, photo-based sculpture, The Forum Gallery, Jamestown, NY
1993 Boundaries, Light, Paint, and Constructions,148 Gallery, NYC
1992 Body and Soul, curated by Laura Battle and Kiki Smith, Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, NY
Against The Tide, Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY
Travel and Leisure Show, Four Walls, Brooklyn, NY
Neurotic Art Show, Artists Space, New York City
1991 Photo Projects, White Columns, New York City
1990 Manipulation and Photography, The Gallery, New York City
1987 Four Corners of Abstract Painting, curated by Bill Arning, White Columns, New York, NY
Bibliography:
Chasin, Noah. Jean Blackburn: Living Room, Time Out NY, pp. 53 (illus.)
Dailey, Meaghan. Jean Blackburn Art Net, Reviews, April 1997
Douglas, Mary. Allan Chasanoff Ceramic Collecting, permanent collection catalog, Mint Museum of Art and Craft, Charlotte, NC
Felleman, Susan. & Chametzky, Peter. New York Discovered, Zyma- ArtToday, Stuttgart, No.5, (November - December, 1991), pp. 6-15
Fujimori, Manami. Bijutsu Techo, March, 1996
Gibson, Wesley. Jean Blackburn, New Art Examiner, June, 1999
Inselmann, Andrea. Threshold, exhibition pamphlet, John Michael KohlerArts Center, Sheboygen, WI (illus.)
Johnson, Ken. Jean Blackburn, New York Times, (*), April 2, 1999
Johnson, Ken. Domestic Transformations, NY Times, Jan.15, 1999
Klawans, Stuart. The Daily News, June 3, 1995
Kotik, Charlotta. Domestic Transformations, exhibition pamphlet,
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY, 1998 (illus.)
Le Millenium, No.15, Tokyo, Japan, 1996
Levin, Kim. Jean Blackburn, (*), The Village Voice, Nov. 20-26, 2002, pp. 98
The Miami Herald, At the Nash, Dec. 11, 2001 pp. 3E (Illus.)
Pall, Ellen. The Do-it-Yourself Dealers, New York Times Magazine, cover photo, September 1, 1996 (illus.)
Perreault, John. The Newest Biennial: Ideas in Glass, Glass Magazine,November, 1994
Raynor, Vivian. Artistic Visions Make a Case for a Troubled Environment,
The New York Times, June 19, 1992
Servetar, Stuart. Good Ship, Arty Pop, New York Press, Nov. 29, 1995
Servetar, Stuart. Picks by Stuart Servetar, New York Press, Oct. 25-31,1995
Smith, Roberta. Jean Blackburn, The New York Times, April 11, 1997
Wallach, Amy. Young Artists Exploring By Light of imagination, New York Newsday, May 19, 1995
Watkins, Eileen. The Star Ledger, Newark, NJ, June 7, 1991
Wei, Lilly. Jean Blackburn, Art In America, December, 1999
Catalogs:
Allan Chasanoff Ceramic Collection, permanent collection catalog, essay by Mary Douglas, curator, Mint Museum of Art and Craft, Charlotte, NC
Threshold: Invoking the Domestic in Contemporary Art, essay by
Andrea Inselmann, curator, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia,
Virginia Beach, Sept.29 - Nov.26, 2000 (illus. back cover)
Threshold, exhibition pamphlet, essay by Andrea Inselmann, John Michael
Kohler Center, Sheboygen, WI (illus. pp. 1, Between)
Domestic Transformations, exhibition, pamphlet, essay by Charlotta Kotik,
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
Honors and Awards:
1999 New York Foundation for the Arts, sculpture, New York City
1998 Faculty Development Grant, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1989 Symposium Participant, Art & Education, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1988 Massachusetts Council-on-the Arts State Lottery Grant
