From the National Museum of Women in the Arts “Organic Matters — Women to Watch 2015″ exhibition, Jennifer Celio says, “Not in my Backyard!”
In “Organic Matters,” another artist addresses dystopian futures. Jennifer Celio’s pencil drawing “NIMBY (national park)” (2012), which references the phrase “not in my back yard,” depicts a troubling imaginary park where an oil rig, a food truck selling Korean barbecue tacos and an abundance of surveillance equipment blend poorly with nature.
To make the point more blatant, some tourists in the work ignore a real bear climbing a tree to instead photograph a person in a bear costume. And scrawled in enormous letters on a mountain is the phrase “We are the 99%.”
In Celio’s work, and in many other pieces in the two NMWA exhibitions, there is a tension between beautiful and troubling depictions of nature. That reflects what Langa, the AU professor, says is a view in the art world today that important artists make complicated, abstract works, while those who paint beautiful landscapes are valued less. “We don’t see it in Artforum or ARTnews, particularly,” she says. (Washington Post, June 26th)
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Not only is Jennifer Celio getting recognition in Washington DC, she is also in several exhibitions in Southern California.
Jennifer has 3 drawings in “Yesterday’s Future,” curated by Grace K. Anderson, at the Great Park Art Gallery in Irvine, CA.
This exhibition considers the future of innovation and design while celebrating the past.
It uses the influence of William L. Pereira and his modernist master plans for the City of Irvine and UC, Irvine.
The exhibition runs June 6-September 20, 2015.
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2014
8 x 6”
graphite pencil on paper
Brand 43 Works on Paper
The Brand Library Art Gallery
1601 W. Mountain Street
Glendale, CA 91201
Exhibition Dates: September 26th through October 30, 2015
Opening reception September 26th
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2014
23 x 38”
graphite pencil and watercolor on Yupo paper
CA 101 2015
Exhibition dates:
July 31 – August 2 and August 7-9
Opening reception:
Friday July 31 7-10pm
Gallery Hours:
Saturday August 1 and August 8
1-8pm
Friday August 7
5-10pm
Sunday August 2 and August 9
1-6pm
AES Power Plant
1100 N Harbor Drive
Redondo Beach Ca 90277
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Jennifer is also going to be in the upcoming “Wood, Metal, Screw” at Gabba Gallery opening August 22nd through September 19th and “Where the Magic Happens” at Gallery H of Phantom Galleries Los Angeles in Hawthorne in October.
Recent Press:
Divulge Magazine, June 2015
Washington Post, June 2015
Grunion Gazette, June 2015
Broad Strokes, June 2015
Long Beach Post, June 2015
Filling the Negative Space, February 2015
Sneak peak of work in progress…
