Jennifer Belair
“You realize you’re going on a spiritual somethin’ a little too late—you ignored reality and memorized messages from the machine. You make things that describe how you feel and you have to make them, because you just have to. Otherwise they get stuck. You want understanding but you do not understand anything. Ich Verstehe. Every day is a dream diary dying. You possess a deep affinity and sincerity towards humanity but you think it’s all worthless anyway. We’re all gonna die, deep and dark. Driving. You left your keys on the counter and you can’t get into your car—luckily the doors are all broken and you can break in. You watch movies and listen to music thinking each song is for you and about you and each movie mourns a secret message on how you should manage your life. Your heart sinks at night when you ponder death in some dark slingin’ alley on your way home from the local buying things you don’t need. You think you are in love and you never really are. You are a woman and you are a man.”
December 2014
My artwork revolves around stream of conscious thinking exploring relationships. The term “relationship” describes interpersonal connections with the self as well as the self with others. The catalyst behind my practice are particular profound memories. The memories and the recollection of these memories vary in their merit—some are real and others imagined. Currently, my studio research and practice concentrates around a collection of relational opposites that can contradict one another but also work together to define what essentially is. Similar to the idea of understanding who you are by understanding what you are not. Some of the relationships that I tend to explore include feminine and masculine, reality and imagination, memory and truth, and verbal and non-verbal communication. My work is cathartic and based on experience. I want to believe what I see but I don’t believe.
Bio/CV:
Jennifer Belair is a mixed media artist predominately working 2 dimensionally. Her work often utilizes print media in conjunction with direct hand drawn imagery and painting techniques. Currently her creative practice focuses on the exploration of interior and exterior relationships—with the self and with others.
Raised and educated in the Midwest, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan and her Master of Fine Arts degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
EDUCATION
MFA 2013 Printmaking Wayne State University
BFA 2010 Printmaking Siena Heights University Minor: Art History
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2013 Youth Educator, Garage Cultural Center for Art, Detroit, MI
2012-2013 Adjunct Faculty, Printmaking Department, Siena Heights University Adrian, MI 2012-2013 Studio Technician, Wayne State University Print Dept., Detroit, MI
2010-2012 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Wayne State University Detroit, MI
2011 Master Printer for Arthur C. Danto Special Edition Prints + Master
Collection at Wayne State University
INTERNSHIPS
2013/2014
Ryan Seng
-Fashion design assistant
www.ryanseng.us
2013/SU
Lauren Kalman
-Assist artist on various electronic media art projects. www.laurenkalman.com
GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS
2012-2013 Graduate Professional Scholarship, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 2010-2012 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 (forthcoming)Maybe we're lost, Emerging artists gallery, Whitdel Arts, Detroit, MI 2014 “Two Faces,” NCRC University of Michigan, Connections Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI 2010 More than Words, BFA Exhibition, Siena Heights University, Adrian, MI
SELECTED/JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2015 Blooms, bugs, beasts, Scarab Club, Detroit, MI, Juror: Andrew Krieger Sphere Portfolio Exchange Exhibition, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN Gender Portfolio Exchange Exhibition, Galvin Fine Arts Center, Davenport, IA Hatchback 9, Hatch Gallery, Hamtramck, MI, Juror: Chido Johnson
Show Love, 555 Arts, Detroit, MI
The Selfie Show, Museum of New Art, Armada, MI
2014 Monster Drawing Rally, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI 2013 The Chosen, Detroit Artist Market, Detroit, MI
Actual Size Show, Whitdel Arts, Detroit, MI
Detroit Print Exchange, 4731 Gallery, Detroit, MI
Majestic Cafe, Siena Heights University Alumni Show, Detroit, MI
Blooms, Bugs, Beasts Exhibition, The Scarab Club, Detroit, MI, Juror: Ryan Standfest The Print, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI, Juror: Pamela DeLaura Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Redford, MI
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Elaine L. Jacobs Gallery, Detroit, MI Show Love, 555 Gallery, Detroit, MI
Wayne State Scholarship Show, Detroit Artist Market Detroit, MI
2012 MAPC Juried Members, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, OH, Juror: Anita Young The Printed Image Fourth Biennial, Topeka, KA, Juror: Yuji Hiratsuka
The Print, Ann Arbor, MI
Biannual All Media Exhibition, Detroit Artists Market, Detroit, MI, Juror: Leon Johnson Women Artists, The Detroit Contemporary, Detroit, MI
The Body Eclectic, Lawrence Street Gallery, Ferndale, MI
Billboard Project, Utica, MI
“Partners in Crime” Whitdel Art Gallery, Detroit, MI
MAPC Members Print Exchange, Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Detroit Design Festival, “Stellar Instance,” Welcome Center, Detroit, MI Billboard Project, Quincy, IL
Blonde Brunch, North End Studios, Detroit, MI
Oregon Ink Spot International Print Exchange, La Grande, OR
2011 Wayne State Graduate Exhibition, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Holiday Market, Art Effect Gallery, Detroit, MI
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
2014 North Campus Recent Center, University of Michigan 2010 Siena Heights University, President's Office
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Attended Southern Graphics Council Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. 2015 Attended Mid-America Print Council Conference in Detroit, Michigan. 2014 Attended Mid-America Print Council Conference in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. 2012 Attended Mid America College Art Association in Detroit, Michigan. 2012
Attended Southern Graphics Council Conference in Chicago, Illinois. 2009 Presented research project, “Art and Influence: Relationships in Media and
Content” at McNair Scholar National Conference in Delavan, Wisconsin. 2010
WORKSHOPS
2013 “Sans Press” Printmaking techniques, Wayne State University Monotype printing, Wayne State University
LECTURES
Wayne State University, Beginning and Intermediate Drawing Course under Professor Clara DeGalan, “Two Faces”
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Mid-American Print Council Southern Graphics Council
ACHIEVEMENTS
Top three candidate for University of Michigan national search for Two-dimensional Studio Coordinator position
Selected for Draw International Residency, Caylus, France
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Forthcoming) Clooch Magazine, Bristol United Kingdom, 2015
Itch The Creative Journal, University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Afrika, April 2015.
http://www.itch.co.za/visual/real-big-sky
“Detroit Print Exchange,” Artfizz.org, October 2013.
http://www.artifizz.org/Wordpress/tag/detroit-print-exchange/
“What MFA means in Detroit,” Two Coats of Paint, April 2013
http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/2013/04/what-mfa-means-in-detroit.html
“Show Love Opens at 555 Gallery,” Knight Arts, February 2013.
http://www.knightarts.org/community/detroit/show-love-opens-at-555-gallery
