Jen Kiessling (b. Chicago, Illinois) is an abstract painter based in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Masonville, Colorado. Her work addresses discursive thought that can exist, simultaneously, in multiple languages. Personal stories and metaphors that have a universal connection to generations of immigration are expressed through a geometric painting language that is a portal for the viewer. A substrate of Italian and Latin ephemera, grocery bags and specific food-related packaging held together with tape, is both a conceptual and material foundation for the work's content.

The history of abstraction is undeniably visible. Formalities of abstraction and the intimacies of being raised as an Italian American, seemingly separate entities, are woven within the existence of the work. This expression seeks to strike the universal chord of living in and out of a culture of metaphor and mysticism; stumbling uncomfortably through life denying particular truths of the self. Layers of time are revealed, illustrating the compartmentalization of a state of being that oozes from cracks in daily life.

“In these small works, I like to defy standard expectations of presentation and access for the viewer. Gouache and graphite pull the viewer into a place between painting and drawing. The material and structure of my work is reminiscent of the visual plane of a prayer book dedicated to orphans, hand-made by my grandfather; the tape possesses its own geometry. I like the work to be frameless, floating, transient - moving.”

Jennie has an MA from the University of Chicago and a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is in private collections, shown locally, and nationally, and has been published by Phaidon Press. She has received NEA and NEH grants, is a Ucross Fellow, and was a 2023 nominee for the Joan Mitchell Fellowship. Jen has taught for the Art Education Department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Departments of Colorado State University, the University of Wyoming, and Naropa University. She has also served as Lead Faculty for Visual and Media Arts at Front Range Community College, Ft. Collins, Colorado as well as an adjunct faculty member. In addition, she served as Assistant Director for the Division of Continuing Studies (SAIC), Cultural Enrichment Manager for the Chicago Park District, Communications Coordinator for the Wyoming Arts Council, and Assistant Director of the Hatton Gallery at Colorado State University.


 CV


Jen Kiessling

MA       University of Chicago

BFA      School of the Art Institute Chicago


Studios:     Santa Fe, New Mexico

                       Masonville, Colorado 

         

Contact Information:      

Email: j.l.kiessling@gmail.com                                                                                                   

Instagram @newpractice                                                                                                            


Exhibitions 

2024      when the night is not blue, The Wright Contemporary, Project Space, Taos, NM

2023      Concurrent Exhibitions:  Laramie County Library and Clay Paper Scissors Gallery, Cheyenne, WY

                  

                   Abstraction/Our Ancestors/Altered Books and Painting     

                   


2022      Holding the Edge, F O M A, Santa Fe, NM

2022     In the Garden, In the Distance, Loveland Museum, Loveland, CO

2018     When The Image Comes Into Your Mind After What It Is,  Clara Hatton Gallery, University of Colorado, 

                  Fort Collins, CO. 


2018      Same Mind, Esther & John Clay Fine Art Gallery, Laramie County Community College, WY.

2017      Jennie Kiessling: New Work, Artisan Framing Gallery, Fort Collins, CO.

2016       Meditations on the Inner Reaches of Outer Space w/Jennifer Davey, Artworks Loveland, CO.

2015       The View from There, The Hall Gallery, Artworks Loveland, Loveland CO.

2013       Know Place. Like Home, GVG Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM.

2012       Southwest Abstraction, GVG Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM.

2011       NeoWest: Two Voices, w/Cassidy Velazquez, Plaza Diane Center for the Arts, Powell, WY.

2011       Unspoken, w/Leah Harding, Western Wyoming College. Rock Springs, WY.

2011       Marrow, Naropa Unversity, Lincoln Gallery, Boulder, CO.

2009       Breath and Language,  w/Camellia El Antably, Valhall Arts, Ft. Collins, CO.

2008       So it’s come to this…..CoCOA Gallery, Ft. Collins, CO.

1992       Gonzalez/Kiessling: Beacon Street Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1992       Perspectives, McClean County Art Center, McClean County, IL

1991       Power Prostitutes Purity,  w/Mario Gonzalez, Around the Coyote, Chicago. IL.

1991       Borders: Imaginary/Real, w/Mario Gonzalez, The Guild Complex, Chicago. IL.

1991       Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1990        Public Poster Series II, various locations, Chicago. IL.

1989        American Bar Association Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1989        Public Posters Series I, various locations, Chicago. IL.

1988        The Limelight, Chicago. IL.

1987         Natalini Gallery, Chicago. IL.

Group Shows

2023         TRYST Alternative Art Fair, Torrance Art Museum, CA.

2022-24    MICROLOGIES, Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO Curator: Assistant                                               Professor of Painting Aitor Lajarin-Encina

2022         Artists Visage Artists, w/Jennifer Rife, Loveland Museum Gallery,  Loveland CO.

2021        On Edge, Edge Contemporary Art Gallery, Denver, CO.

2018         Drawn Thought, Western Wyoming College, Rock Springs, WY.

2016         Surface as Cipher, Curator Andrew Roberts Gray, Patton Mallot Gallery, Anderson Ranch,

                     Snowmass,  CO.

 2016        A Contemplative Act, Community Creative Center, Fort Collins, CO.

2016        Mark Making, Firehouse Art Center, Longmont, CO.

2015         Line, White Cube Gallery, Naropa University, Nalanda Campus, Boulder, CO.

2015         Annual Contemporary Art Survery, Juror, Dean Sobel, Lincoln Center Gallery, Fort Collins,CO

2015         In Conversation, Artworks Loveland, Loveland, CO.

2014         Vivid Conversations, curator, Lili Francuz, Community Creative Center, Fort Collins, CO.

2014          Invention Re-Invention, GVG Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM.

2011           Half the Sky, Tall Grass Arts Association, Park Forest, IL.

2010          Contemporary Women, Chico Art Center, Chico, CA.

2009          The End of the 80’s, Evram Eisen Gallery,  Chicago. IL.

2009          Convergence, Front Range Community College, Fort Collins, CO.

2008          Rocky Mountain Biennial, FCMOA, Fort Collins, CO.

2007          Bucking Tradition & Culture, Center for the Arts, Jackson, WY.

2007          Desire, Dennis Small Cultural Center, CU, Boulder, CO.

2006          Image and Word, Windsor Library, Windsor, CO.

2003          Improv Gallery, Ft. Collins, CO.

2000          Hidden Treasures, The Humboldt Park Stables, Chicago. IL.

2000         What is Drawing Now? Weber State University, Ogden, UT.

2000          Midwest Winter, Center for Visual Arts, Wausau, WI.

1999           Winter International, Period Gallery, Omaha, NE.

1997           10th Annual Women’s Work, NAAC Gallery, Woodstock, IL.

1997          The Goddess on Division Street, The Guild Complex, Chicago.

1996           What U b About ? Malcolm X College, Chicago. IL.

1996           The Wild Women an Endangered Species, Pangea Gallery

1995           Ignite, Pangea Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1995           Corpus Mundi, Pangea Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1995           Acme Art Company, Columbus, OH.

1995           Mixed Blood, Beacon Street Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1990           Response to War, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1990           Perceptions of the Other, The Spertus Museum, Chicago.IL.

1989           Miami Expo’89, Miami, FL.

1989           Artists’ Against Homelessness, Guild Complex, Chicago. IL.

1988           Catart, Gallery 1370, Chicago. IL.

1988           Emerging Midwestern Artists, Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago.IL.

1988           Chicago Artists’, Partners Gallery, Bethesda, MD.

1987           A Show for Young Collectors, Natalini Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1986           The House Show, Missouri Gallery, Chicago. IL.

1986            Artists’ Against Apartheid, Casa Aztlan, Chicago. IL.

Media

2024,  Southwest Contemporary, https://southwestcontemporary.com/jennie-kiesslings-new-paintings-chronicle-the-war-in-gaza-day-by-day/

2023,  Wyoming Tribune Eagle, https://www.wyomingnews.com/features/noco-artist-explore-cultural-ancestry-in-new-abstract-exhibition/article_da56e8ee-887a-11ed-9e55-0fbfd930c2c7.html

2022,  DARIA Art Magazine, https://www.dariamag.com/home/in-the-garden-in-the-distance

2021, Shoutout Colorado, https://shoutoutcolorado.com/meet-jennie-kiessling-painter/

2020, Voyage Denver, http://voyagedenver.com/interview/meet-jennie-kiessling/

2019,  Studio Visit, Volume 34, pg .95, The Open Studio Press,

2018, Dikeou Collection ART-CO  http://dikeoucollection.org/artco/jennie-kiessling/

2018,  Art strata: deposition and erosion as process and message http://www.wyofile.com/blog/art-strata-deposition-erosion-process-message/

2018,   Drawn Thought http://www.rocketminer.com/news/drawn-thought/article_07bae000-3994-5cee-a1e3-c8cd16bb1165.html

2017,  Jennie Kiessling, Drawn and Erased  https://vimeo.com/171357487

2015,  Kiessling takes Minimalist Approach http://www.reporterherald.com/loveland-art/ci_28960056/teacher-jennie-kiessling-takes-minimalist-approach-her-own

2011, Unspoken, http://rocketminer.com/stories/Unspoken-art-who-on-display-at-WWCC,2458

1995, Phiadon Press, Graphic Agitation, Social and Political Graphics since the Sixties

Awards/Residencies/Acknowledgements

2023 Nominee, Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship 

2019 Ucross Foundation Residency

2012 NEH Landmarks in American History and Culture Grant

1998 NEA New Forms Regional Art Grant, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago

Work in private collections

Served on numerous grant panels and for juried exhibitions

Affiliations:

2014 - 2020  Artworks Loveland Center for Contemporary Art: Studio artist

2012 - 2014  Represented by GVG Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM.