Jenny Wiener first came to public attention at her Royal College of Art Degree Show in 2008. Her complex iconic images of measurement reveal the illusions of numerical dependency using the rigidity of mathematics and the fluidity of wit.
Wiener’s practice centres on measurement. She starts from the perception that nothing is as it seems, and uses her startlingly different analytic mind and quirky humour to question the assumptions and components we use to define and assess, qualify and quantify. Her concern is that we are increasingly reduced to numbers: serial numbers, pin numbers, illogical scorecards, random statistics and units of measurements - measuring everything and nothing.
In her practice, she selects measures and then applies forensic dissection to subject matter as varied as Noah’s Ark, Cézanne’s’ Mont St Victoire, L. Frank Baum’s Yellow Brick Road and the comparative heights of the American presidents.
Often combining intricate technical drawing with layers of coloured geometric shapes, Wiener employs a wide range of processes, always considering the relationship between the process and the subject matter. These range from traditional printmaking, in the use of lithography and screen print to digital technology. Digital images are always created and conceived of as digital.
In his introduction to Wiener’s book/catalogue ‘Measuring the Tale’ which, Richard Osborne wrote so illuminatingly:
Jenny Wiener’s work is subtle, analytical and almost perverse. Almost because it has a wonderful reasoning all of its own, which stretches the logic of measurement to the point where the rigorous patterns of everyday coherence begin to dissolve into the metaphysics of improbability. There is a dash of whimsy, a soupcon of artistry and a great deal of intelligence that go into this mix of the mythical, the numerical and the perceptual. This is postmodern art in the best sense of the word; it is art about the possibilities of art and the probability of perception being confronted by the inadequacies of tradition. Let those who look for reassurance look the other way.
Wiener has shown widely both in the UK and the USA and her work is held in major collections including the Saatchi Collection, London University of the Arts and the College of Notre Dame, Maryland. Her most recent solo exhibition was at Art First, London.
Education
2006-2008 MA Printmaking, Royal College of Art, London
2003-2006 BA (Hons) Drawing, Camberwell College of Art UAL
2002-2003 Foundation, The City Lit, London
Collections
Clifford Chance International
The Saatchi Collection
DHR Counsel – Money Collection
Kohn Pedersen Fox Assoicates
The Royal College of Art
Belmacz
University of Notre Dame, USA
Private Collections in the UK and United States
Commissions
The Saatchi Collection
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, London UK
Belmacz, London UK
Private Collections
Awards
The Towry Award 2011 – Best in Show London, UK
Juror’s Choice – Creekside Open 2011, London UK 2011
Juror’s Choice-22nd National Drawing and Print Competitive Exhibition 2011, Gormley Gallery, College of Notre Dame of Maryland USA
Juror’s Choice –Art on Paper 2011, MFA Circle Gallery, Annapolis MD USA
Show Artist – Pushing Print 2010, Margate UK
Jerwood Drawing Prize 2005
Upcoming Exhibitions
Kyoto Hanga 2012 Print Exhibition Kyoto City Museum, Japan
Power of Paper, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Selected Exhibitions
2012
Watercolor – Works on Paper, Science Museum, London UK
Compendium, Art First, London UK
Prize Winners NOAP - Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK
33rd Annual Paper in Particular, Columbia College, MO, USA
Viewpoints, Studio Montclair, NJ, USA
Works on Paper, Pacific League Gallery, CA, USA
2011
National Open Art Competition, Chichester, UK
Cashing Out, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA USA
ING The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London UK
Art First, London UK (solo show)
Exeter Contemporary Open 2011, Exeter, UK
Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee FL, USA
Big Draw Little Draw, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London UK
The Print Center, Philadelphia, NJ, USA
Printmaking Center of New Jersey, USA
Long Beach Island foundation of the Arts & Sciences, New Jersey USA
Printroom at Home, London UK
Creekside Open 2011 Selected by Phyllida Barlow / Dexter Dalwood
Measuring Margate, Pie Factory, Margate Kent
Art on Paper 2011, MFA Circle Gallery, Annapolis MD USA
22nd National Drawing and Print Competitive Exhibition, Gormley Gallery,
College of Notre Dame of Maryland USA
The Marylou Hillyer 25th International Juried show, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit,, NJ USA
The Open West, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK
New Prints 2011/Winter International Print Center, New York, NY USA
25th International Juried Show Visual Art Center, New Jersey USA
2010
Relay, Core Gallery, Deptford, London UK
Pushing Print, Margate, Kent, UK
World Within Worlds, Bearspace, London, UK
Transferring Print II, Fallbrook Art Center, San Diego, CA
Summer Exhibition 2010, Royal Academy, London
Originals, Mall Galleries, London
Lexicon, Camberwell College of Arts, Alumni Show
2009
ING Discerning Eyer Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
27th Annual Juried Exhibition, Curated by Nat Trotman, Assistant Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Pleiades Gallery, New York, NY
R. Guggenheim Museum, Pleiades Gallery, New York, NY
Summer Exhibition 2009, Royal Academy, London
You are Here, BEARSPACE, London (solo exhibition)
London Art Fair, BEARSPACE, London
2008
New Prints from the Royal College of Art Royal Academy, London
'10' Royal College of Art, London
Landslide, Cafe Gallery, London
The SHOW, London
RCA Secret, London
Teaching
Guest Lecturer – Wimbledon College of Art – 2008
Guest Lecturer – Camberwell College of Art - 2008
Core Gallery – Deptford, UK 2010
Media
2012 Feature Article Printmaking Today – State of Play – Winter Edition - (Download PDF version)
2011 Snapshot: an Magazine, May 2011- (Download PDF version)
2011 Top 10 Exhibitions – Guardian, April
Measuring Margate, Isle-One, April
Printmaking Today, April 2011
Printmaking Today, October 2011
2010 Artitude, (Art and Culture Taiwan), March 2010 - (Download PDF version)
2009 Printmaking Today, Vol.18 No.4 Winter 2009, page 20-21 - (Download PDF version)
2009 Design Week, Volume 24/Number 50, 17 December 2009, Cover - (Download PDF version)
Publications
2010/11 Measuring the Tale (catalogue of work), Zidane press, London (2010)
2008 General Process: Image and Idea (pg 131) Philosophy in Art, Osborne,
R.(2008) Zidane Press