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Artist Statement
As a former dancer turned painter, I understand the sympathetic magic involved in mimesis performatively and therefore frequently appear as an actor in my work. As a painter who also has a practice as a writer, I understand the restaging involved in description temporally and therefore frequently reuse images in my work—making previous paintings the material and sometimes even literal backdrop for subsequent works.
My recent work pulls text from virtual contexts—an email, a search page—and represents them, with slapstick exaggeration, as something physical. The labor of writing is usually described as cognitive, any physical activity it might require is deemed beside the point, yet, how we recognize and value labor has tremendous political import—from the feminist movement’s reexamination of “woman’s work,” to more recent debates about the nature of immaterial labor. Hemmingway wrote standing up; Proust wrote lying in bed—as a writer, I have a hard time not using the insistence on material particulars that is the best lesson of my first trade to scrutinize the invisibility of physical gesture and process that is the given of my second. To this end, my video “Typing” imagines using a keyboard as a series of gestures that require the whole body, and my paintings that reconstruct Google’s search page and my video “Letter C” picture the formal concerns involved in my deciding how to sign off an email or search for information online as a physical process enacted on tangible objects.
In “History and Literary History: The Case of Mass Culture,” Richard Ohmann gives a definition of mass media as, “produced at a distance by strangers.” Conversely, to a modern audience painting has come to be seen as an act of great intimacy, lending the status of fraught personal drama to the history of this medium. My work asserts the mutability of mediated texts by staging their forms in painting and placing myself within them.
As a former dancer turned painter, I understand the sympathetic magic involved in mimesis performatively and therefore frequently appear as an actor in my work. As a painter who also has a practice as a writer, I understand the restaging involved in description temporally and therefore frequently reuse images in my work—making previous paintings the material and sometimes even literal backdrop for subsequent works.
My recent work pulls text from virtual contexts—an email, a search page—and represents them, with slapstick exaggeration, as something physical. The labor of writing is usually described as cognitive, any physical activity it might require is deemed beside the point, yet, how we recognize and value labor has tremendous political import—from the feminist movement’s reexamination of “woman’s work,” to more recent debates about the nature of immaterial labor. Hemmingway wrote standing up; Proust wrote lying in bed—as a writer, I have a hard time not using the insistence on material particulars that is the best lesson of my first trade to scrutinize the invisibility of physical gesture and process that is the given of my second. To this end, my video “Typing” imagines using a keyboard as a series of gestures that require the whole body, and my paintings that reconstruct Google’s search page and my video “Letter C” picture the formal concerns involved in my deciding how to sign off an email or search for information online as a physical process enacted on tangible objects.
In “History and Literary History: The Case of Mass Culture,” Richard Ohmann gives a definition of mass media as, “produced at a distance by strangers.” Conversely, to a modern audience painting has come to be seen as an act of great intimacy, lending the status of fraught personal drama to the history of this medium. My work asserts the mutability of mediated texts by staging their forms in painting and placing myself within them.
CV
EDUCATION
Residency, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, 2006
MFA, Yale University, 2004
BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, 2002
SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
“Touché,” two-person exhibition with Ted Mineo, APF Lab, New York, NY, 2010
“The Trial,” Steven Wolf Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, 2007
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
“Chain Letter,” Samson Projects, Boston, MA, 2011
“Culturehall,” curated by David Andrew Frey, The Big Screen Project, New York, NY, 2011
“2-UP,” The Dependent, New York, NY, 2011
“Wish You Were Here,” curated by Joe Winter, Westchester Gallery, White Plains, NY, 2011
“Out of Hand,” curated by Ethan Greenbaum, Culturehall, NADA Art Fair, Miami, FL, 2010
“Big Picture,” Priska C. Juschka Fina Art, New York, NY, 2010
“Structures Within an Intervention,” curated by Parlour, Guild Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“Moonlighting,” curated by Baseera Khan, Hosfelt Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“Prestidigitation,” curated by Katie Zien, nocommercialvalue.org, 2010
“El Gogo,” curated by Ted Mineo, Add-Art, online Eyebeam project, 2010
“Untitled Project,” curated by Meenakshi Thirukode, OED Gallery, Cochin, India, 2010
“Buy What You Love,” Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“All Through the House,” Parlour, Brooklyn, NY, 2009
“Fan Letter,” Herb Lubalin Gallery, New York, NY, 2009
“Marginalia,” curated by James Riordan and Leslie Rosa-Stumpf, MTS Gallery, Anchorage, AK, 2009
“Image Search,” curated by Jamie Sterns, P.P.O.W Gallery, New York, NY, 2009
“Life Goes On,” Parlour, Brooklyn, NY, 2009
“Put on,” Circus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2009
“Continuing Threads and New Voices,” Pascal Gallery, Ramapo College, Ramapo, NJ, 2009
“Aqua Art Miami,” Steven Wolf Fine Arts, Aqua Hotel, Miami, FL, 2008
“Conceptual Figures,” Deitch Projects, New York, NY, 2008
“Aqua Art Miami,” Steven Wolf Fine Arts, Wynwood Aqua, Miami, FL, 2007
“Pulse Art Fair,” P.P.O.W. Gallery, London, 2007
“Vision Request,” curated by Andrea Zittel, A-Z West, Joshua Tree, CA, 2007
“Free Frisbee Poster Project in Los Angeles!,” curated by Anat Ebgi and Jen DeNike, Circus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2007
“Bridge Art Fair,” Gescheidle Gallery, Miami, FL, 2006
“Casting Off: Eyes on the Horizon,” curated by Annie Simpson and Shanti Matulewski, Lyndon Event Space, Austin, TX, 2006
“Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!,” curated by Anat Ebgi and Jose Carlos Diaz, Gescheidle Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2006
“Reality Unchecked,” P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, NY, 2006
The Seventh Side of the Die, curated by Anat Ebgi and Tom Brauer, Alona Kagan Gallery, New York, NY, 2006
“PR*NC*SS,” Outrageous Look, Brooklyn, NY, 2005
“SHAZAM! Contemporary Artists Influenced by Comics,” Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD, 2004
“Women Beware Women,” curated by David Rimanelli, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, 2003
“Emerging Artists,” Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD, 2002
Selected Bibliography
Sutton, Ben, thelmagazine.com, “Armory Week 2011: Photos from The Dependent’s One-Night Takeover at the Chelsea Sheraton,” March 7th, 2011
Lynn, Maliszewski, whitewallmag.com, “The Dependent,” March 7th, 2011
Sutton, Kate, artforum.com, “Scene & Heard: Jane Champions,” March 7th, 2011
Rosman, Janie, tarrytown.patch.com, “Another Time and Space Convene at Arts Center: “Wish You Were Here” reproduces the past within the present,” January 19, 2011
Squibb, Stephen, theidiommag.com, “Macho, MotherMan, Men: Rethinking Masculinity,” January 2011
Grabner, Michelle, Proximity, “Interview with Colleen Asper,” Issue 008, December 2010
Indrisek, Scott, Modern Painters, “Big Picture,” P. 72, October 2010
Surekha, K, The Indian Express, “A New Breed of Artists,” March 9, 2010
Johnson, Ken, The New York Times, “Image Search,” July 10, 2009
Davis, Ben, artnet.com, “Artnet News,” October 2008
Slaven, Jessica, Paper Monument, “Conceptual Figures,” October 2008
Stark, Marianna, Stark Guide, “Steven Wolf Fine Arts: Journalist’s Sensibility Pervades Artistic Choices,” October 16, 2007
Dodd, Terri, American Art Collector, “You’ll Have To Stand In Line For The Work Of These Hot Young Yale Artists,” P. 60-67, January 2007
Dodd, Terri and Rose, Joshua, American Art Collector, “The Tullman Collector,” P. 80, October 2006
Copenhaver, Katie, Chicago Artists Coalition, “Summer Gallery Scene Brings a ‘Vision’ of Chicago Art’s Future,” September 2006
Staff, Flavorpill Chicago, “Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!,” July 2006
Lopez, Ruth, Time Out Chicago, “Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!,” August 2006
Workman, Michael, Newcity Chicago, “Original Voice,” August 15, 2006
Johnson, Ken, The New York Times, “Reality Unchecked,” July 28, 2006
Brauer, Tom and Ebgi, Anat, “The Seventh Side of the Die,” catalog, P. 7, March 2006
Rimanelli, David, “Women Beware Women,” catalog, February 2004
Staff, The New Yorker, “Goings On About Town,” P.24, December 1, 2003
Schwendener, Martha, Time Out New York, “Women Beware Women,” December 2003
Projects
“A True Story,” an evening of performances and readings organized as Ad Hoc Vox, Eleven Rivington Gallery, New York, NY, 2011
“Two Fold,” co-curator with Ethan Greenbaum, Suburban, Oak Park, IL, 2011
“The Review Panel: Colleen Asper, Jeffrey Kastner, Ariella Budick,” panelist, artcritical.com at The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2011
“meanwhile…,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Foxy Production, New York, NY, 2011
“Macho Man, Mother Man: Rethinking Masculinity,” panel moderator, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“Then Again,” panel organizer and panelist as Ad Hoc Vox, CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY, 2010
“The Type,” panel organizer as Ad Hoc Vox, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“Working With Others,” panelist, organized by the Joan Mitchell Foundation at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA, 2010
“2-UP: Colleen Asper and Davina Semo,” launch for poster made as part of collaborative edition project called 2-UP, P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, NY 2010
“The Silver Lining: Pop-Up Exhibition & Work Spaces,” panel moderator, CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY
“On Time,” panel organizer as Ad Hoc Vox, Galerie Zurcher, New York, NY, 2010
“Are We Doing Enough to Encourage Artists to Live & Work in NYC?,” panel moderator, NYC:SOTA, New York, NY, 2010
“Art School: Every Man in an Island,” panelist, Columbia University, New York, NY, 2010
“Art Education: A Study,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Cabinet, Brooklyn, NY, 2010
“I’m Feeling Lucky,” an evening of performances organized as Ad Hoc Vox, P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, NY, 2009
“Half Priced Banners,” curator, Add-Art, online Eyebeam project, 2009
“1984-2001: Science Fiction,” panel organizer as Ad Hoc Vox, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY, 2009
“Artist at the Helm: Creative Survival Skills for Navigation,” panelist, The CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY, 2009
“Through Biography,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Drawing Center, New York, NY, 2009
“The Review Panel: Younger than Pontius Pilate,” panelist, artcritical.com at The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2009
“Art and Value,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY, 2009
“The De-centered Practice,” panel organizer and panelist as Ad Hoc Vox, CAA Conference, Los Angeles, CA, 2009
“Representing Modernism: Architecture in Contemporary Art,” panel organizer as Ad Hoc Vox, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
“On Criticism,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Guild and Greyshkul Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
“The Figure in the Carpet,” curator, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
“Conceptual Figures,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, 2008
“Avatar,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Bellwether Gallery, New York, NY, 2007
“Double X Art,” organizer and moderator (First in an ongoing series of panel discussions on a wide range of issues in contemporary art, under the moniker Ad Hoc Vox, co-founded with Jennifer Dudley), Brooklyn Fire Proof, Brooklyn, NY, 2007
SELECTED WRITING
“Lynda Benglis Interviewed by Colleen Asper,” The Believer, October 2011 (upcoming)
“Colleen Asper and Justin Lieberman in Conversation,” thehighlights.com, May 2010
“Grey,” Possible Press, Issue 1, May 2010
“Studio Visit: The Many Showrooms of Justin Lieberman,” Art in America, October 2009
“Recession Era: The Non-Profit Responses,” Art in America, August 2009
“Interview with Matt Borruso,” thehighlights.com, August 2008
“The Analyst,” catalog essay published through Ramapo College, July 2008
“In Conversation: Judith Donath with Colleen Asper”, The Brooklyn Rail, June 2008
“In Conversation: David Shankbone with Colleen Asper”, The Brooklyn Rail, April 2008
“Dressing the President,” metaphysicalpoll.com, March 2008
Regular Contributor, artcritical.com, 2008 – 2009
Regular Contributor, Beautiful/Decay Magazine, 2006 – 2009
AWARDS AND HONORS
Helen Winternitz Award, 2004
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, 2002
Maryland State Grant, 2000
EDUCATION
Residency, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, 2006
MFA, Yale University, 2004
BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, 2002
SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
“Touché,” two-person exhibition with Ted Mineo, APF Lab, New York, NY, 2010
“The Trial,” Steven Wolf Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, 2007
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
“Chain Letter,” Samson Projects, Boston, MA, 2011
“Culturehall,” curated by David Andrew Frey, The Big Screen Project, New York, NY, 2011
“2-UP,” The Dependent, New York, NY, 2011
“Wish You Were Here,” curated by Joe Winter, Westchester Gallery, White Plains, NY, 2011
“Out of Hand,” curated by Ethan Greenbaum, Culturehall, NADA Art Fair, Miami, FL, 2010
“Big Picture,” Priska C. Juschka Fina Art, New York, NY, 2010
“Structures Within an Intervention,” curated by Parlour, Guild Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“Moonlighting,” curated by Baseera Khan, Hosfelt Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“Prestidigitation,” curated by Katie Zien, nocommercialvalue.org, 2010
“El Gogo,” curated by Ted Mineo, Add-Art, online Eyebeam project, 2010
“Untitled Project,” curated by Meenakshi Thirukode, OED Gallery, Cochin, India, 2010
“Buy What You Love,” Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“All Through the House,” Parlour, Brooklyn, NY, 2009
“Fan Letter,” Herb Lubalin Gallery, New York, NY, 2009
“Marginalia,” curated by James Riordan and Leslie Rosa-Stumpf, MTS Gallery, Anchorage, AK, 2009
“Image Search,” curated by Jamie Sterns, P.P.O.W Gallery, New York, NY, 2009
“Life Goes On,” Parlour, Brooklyn, NY, 2009
“Put on,” Circus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2009
“Continuing Threads and New Voices,” Pascal Gallery, Ramapo College, Ramapo, NJ, 2009
“Aqua Art Miami,” Steven Wolf Fine Arts, Aqua Hotel, Miami, FL, 2008
“Conceptual Figures,” Deitch Projects, New York, NY, 2008
“Aqua Art Miami,” Steven Wolf Fine Arts, Wynwood Aqua, Miami, FL, 2007
“Pulse Art Fair,” P.P.O.W. Gallery, London, 2007
“Vision Request,” curated by Andrea Zittel, A-Z West, Joshua Tree, CA, 2007
“Free Frisbee Poster Project in Los Angeles!,” curated by Anat Ebgi and Jen DeNike, Circus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2007
“Bridge Art Fair,” Gescheidle Gallery, Miami, FL, 2006
“Casting Off: Eyes on the Horizon,” curated by Annie Simpson and Shanti Matulewski, Lyndon Event Space, Austin, TX, 2006
“Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!,” curated by Anat Ebgi and Jose Carlos Diaz, Gescheidle Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2006
“Reality Unchecked,” P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, NY, 2006
The Seventh Side of the Die, curated by Anat Ebgi and Tom Brauer, Alona Kagan Gallery, New York, NY, 2006
“PR*NC*SS,” Outrageous Look, Brooklyn, NY, 2005
“SHAZAM! Contemporary Artists Influenced by Comics,” Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD, 2004
“Women Beware Women,” curated by David Rimanelli, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, 2003
“Emerging Artists,” Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD, 2002
Selected Bibliography
Sutton, Ben, thelmagazine.com, “Armory Week 2011: Photos from The Dependent’s One-Night Takeover at the Chelsea Sheraton,” March 7th, 2011
Lynn, Maliszewski, whitewallmag.com, “The Dependent,” March 7th, 2011
Sutton, Kate, artforum.com, “Scene & Heard: Jane Champions,” March 7th, 2011
Rosman, Janie, tarrytown.patch.com, “Another Time and Space Convene at Arts Center: “Wish You Were Here” reproduces the past within the present,” January 19, 2011
Squibb, Stephen, theidiommag.com, “Macho, MotherMan, Men: Rethinking Masculinity,” January 2011
Grabner, Michelle, Proximity, “Interview with Colleen Asper,” Issue 008, December 2010
Indrisek, Scott, Modern Painters, “Big Picture,” P. 72, October 2010
Surekha, K, The Indian Express, “A New Breed of Artists,” March 9, 2010
Johnson, Ken, The New York Times, “Image Search,” July 10, 2009
Davis, Ben, artnet.com, “Artnet News,” October 2008
Slaven, Jessica, Paper Monument, “Conceptual Figures,” October 2008
Stark, Marianna, Stark Guide, “Steven Wolf Fine Arts: Journalist’s Sensibility Pervades Artistic Choices,” October 16, 2007
Dodd, Terri, American Art Collector, “You’ll Have To Stand In Line For The Work Of These Hot Young Yale Artists,” P. 60-67, January 2007
Dodd, Terri and Rose, Joshua, American Art Collector, “The Tullman Collector,” P. 80, October 2006
Copenhaver, Katie, Chicago Artists Coalition, “Summer Gallery Scene Brings a ‘Vision’ of Chicago Art’s Future,” September 2006
Staff, Flavorpill Chicago, “Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!,” July 2006
Lopez, Ruth, Time Out Chicago, “Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!,” August 2006
Workman, Michael, Newcity Chicago, “Original Voice,” August 15, 2006
Johnson, Ken, The New York Times, “Reality Unchecked,” July 28, 2006
Brauer, Tom and Ebgi, Anat, “The Seventh Side of the Die,” catalog, P. 7, March 2006
Rimanelli, David, “Women Beware Women,” catalog, February 2004
Staff, The New Yorker, “Goings On About Town,” P.24, December 1, 2003
Schwendener, Martha, Time Out New York, “Women Beware Women,” December 2003
Projects
“A True Story,” an evening of performances and readings organized as Ad Hoc Vox, Eleven Rivington Gallery, New York, NY, 2011
“Two Fold,” co-curator with Ethan Greenbaum, Suburban, Oak Park, IL, 2011
“The Review Panel: Colleen Asper, Jeffrey Kastner, Ariella Budick,” panelist, artcritical.com at The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2011
“meanwhile…,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Foxy Production, New York, NY, 2011
“Macho Man, Mother Man: Rethinking Masculinity,” panel moderator, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“Then Again,” panel organizer and panelist as Ad Hoc Vox, CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY, 2010
“The Type,” panel organizer as Ad Hoc Vox, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY, 2010
“Working With Others,” panelist, organized by the Joan Mitchell Foundation at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA, 2010
“2-UP: Colleen Asper and Davina Semo,” launch for poster made as part of collaborative edition project called 2-UP, P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, NY 2010
“The Silver Lining: Pop-Up Exhibition & Work Spaces,” panel moderator, CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY
“On Time,” panel organizer as Ad Hoc Vox, Galerie Zurcher, New York, NY, 2010
“Are We Doing Enough to Encourage Artists to Live & Work in NYC?,” panel moderator, NYC:SOTA, New York, NY, 2010
“Art School: Every Man in an Island,” panelist, Columbia University, New York, NY, 2010
“Art Education: A Study,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Cabinet, Brooklyn, NY, 2010
“I’m Feeling Lucky,” an evening of performances organized as Ad Hoc Vox, P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, NY, 2009
“Half Priced Banners,” curator, Add-Art, online Eyebeam project, 2009
“1984-2001: Science Fiction,” panel organizer as Ad Hoc Vox, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY, 2009
“Artist at the Helm: Creative Survival Skills for Navigation,” panelist, The CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY, 2009
“Through Biography,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Drawing Center, New York, NY, 2009
“The Review Panel: Younger than Pontius Pilate,” panelist, artcritical.com at The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2009
“Art and Value,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY, 2009
“The De-centered Practice,” panel organizer and panelist as Ad Hoc Vox, CAA Conference, Los Angeles, CA, 2009
“Representing Modernism: Architecture in Contemporary Art,” panel organizer as Ad Hoc Vox, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
“On Criticism,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Guild and Greyshkul Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
“The Figure in the Carpet,” curator, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York, NY, 2008
“Conceptual Figures,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, 2008
“Avatar,” panel organizer and moderator as Ad Hoc Vox, Bellwether Gallery, New York, NY, 2007
“Double X Art,” organizer and moderator (First in an ongoing series of panel discussions on a wide range of issues in contemporary art, under the moniker Ad Hoc Vox, co-founded with Jennifer Dudley), Brooklyn Fire Proof, Brooklyn, NY, 2007
SELECTED WRITING
“Lynda Benglis Interviewed by Colleen Asper,” The Believer, October 2011 (upcoming)
“Colleen Asper and Justin Lieberman in Conversation,” thehighlights.com, May 2010
“Grey,” Possible Press, Issue 1, May 2010
“Studio Visit: The Many Showrooms of Justin Lieberman,” Art in America, October 2009
“Recession Era: The Non-Profit Responses,” Art in America, August 2009
“Interview with Matt Borruso,” thehighlights.com, August 2008
“The Analyst,” catalog essay published through Ramapo College, July 2008
“In Conversation: Judith Donath with Colleen Asper”, The Brooklyn Rail, June 2008
“In Conversation: David Shankbone with Colleen Asper”, The Brooklyn Rail, April 2008
“Dressing the President,” metaphysicalpoll.com, March 2008
Regular Contributor, artcritical.com, 2008 – 2009
Regular Contributor, Beautiful/Decay Magazine, 2006 – 2009
AWARDS AND HONORS
Helen Winternitz Award, 2004
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, 2002
Maryland State Grant, 2000