Jenny Okun - Pictures, Art, Photography

Jenny Okun

Background Information about Jenny Okun

Introduction

Jenny Okun - Photographic Compositions of Architectural Diversity

The works of American artist Jenny Okun bring together two positions of modern aesthetics  – cubism and architectural photography. The image series she creates are compositions of multiple shots of the architecture of specific buildings. The photographic technique alone ensures the extraordinary nature of these remarkably abstract pictures, which combine both aesthetic design and analytical vision across the image space.
By bringing together overlapping shots of architecture on a film strip, Okun creates a continuum of piercing abstract geometric forms and surfaces. As with her illustrious role models Picasso, Braque, Gris and Leger, the image content is divided up into diverse cubist perspectives and is then transformed into pure abstraction through the medium’s transparency and powerful aesthetic. The emphasis on graphics and the dynamic combination of simple geometric forms is reminiscent of the Suprematism images. By using architecture to generate her images and give them an energetic form, Okun is following in a rich tradition of art history. It was Le Corbusier, after all, who first transformed the transparency and powerful aesthetic of cubism into modern architecture.

Stephan Reisner

Bio

1953Born in the USA
1971Studied painting, photography, and filmmaking at Wimbledon School of Art, Chelsea School of Art and Slade School of Art, USA
Studios in London, UK and Los Angeles, USA

Collections

J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
Herbert F.Johnson Museum, Cornell, USA
Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Tate Modern, London, UK

Exhibitions

Cooming Soon
2012Craig Krull, Santa Monica, USA
Museo Storico della Citta di Lecce (MUST), Lecce, Italy
2009Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco, USA
2008Art First, London, UK
Building 98 : Grubb & Ellis, Marfa, Texas, USA
Hennessey + Ingalls : Art and Architecture Bookstore, Santa Monica, USA
2007Craig Krull "Studio Walls" and Book Signing, Santa Monica, USA
The Colburn School, Los Angeles, USA
2006Don Giovanni, El Portal Theatre, North Hollywood, USA
the architectural photography of Jenny Okun on the sets by Yael Pardess, El Dorado Opera, Los Angeles, USA
2005Craig Krull, Santa Monica, USA
Art First, London, UK
2004Kashya Hildebrand, New York, USA und Geneva, Switzerland
Craig Krull, Santa Monica, USA
2002Art First, London, UK
Durst Organization, kuratiert von Claudia Carr, NYC, USA
BC Space, Laguna Beach California, USA
2001Craig Krull, Santa Monica, USA
Numark Gallery, Washington DC, USA
2000Claudia Carr, New York, USA
Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Los Angeles, USA
2012Film: London/Cape Wrath/London, Open City Docs Festival, London UK
Film: Still Life, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria
2011Skydreamers, Autry Museum, Griffiths Park Los Angeles, USA
Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK
Film: Waves, South London Gallery, UK
2010Randall Scott, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK
2009Craig Krull, Santa Monica, USA
2007Art First, London, UK
2004Summer Show, Kashya Hildebrand, New York, USA and Geneva, Switzerland
2002Artists Show, Numark Gallery, Washington DC, USA
Show Walls, Durst Oranization, New York, USA
ooparts II, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, USA
BC Space, Laguna Beach, USA
2001Gensler Associates, Santa Monica, USA