Jessica Voorsanger is an American artist living in London. She studied at the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA) and Goldsmiths College (MA Fine Art), and has had one person exhibitions in London, New York, Edinburgh, Berlin & Turin. She has recently shown in Berlin at Gallerie 33, The ICA and the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London and had a project with Art on the Underground.
Her work explores the concept of 'celebrity' within popular culture through obsession, fans and media representation. Until recently it has specifically dealt with the relationship between the celebrity and their 'fans', and the ideology of fan culture. She attempts to capture the inaccessibility of celebrities and tries to relate the excitement that a fan can feel, for who wants to admit to having loved someone for an eternity who they will never meet? Now, with the overwhelming domination of reality TV, the concept of celebrity has changed and is no longer only connected to people of talent but also of notoriety.
Following this new line of enquiry she has been exploring the interchangeability of celebrities and their audience. For example, in her piece Stage Struck shown at the New Art Gallery Walsall as part of the exhibition Star Struck in 2008, Voorsanger created a karaoke/nightclub installation. The installation consisted of a stage set and live karaoke system, costumes/wigs of 14 assorted celebrities, dressing area and painted portraits of the 14 celebrities. The celebrities included: Elvis, Diana Ross, David Hockney, Morrissey, Amy Winehouse, Cher, Paul Weller, Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, Devo, George Harrison (Sgt. Pepper), Kurt Cobain, David Bowie & Siousxie Sioux. Behind the stage there was a film playing of people performing the karaoke (Stage Struck Film pt.1, Stage Struck Film pt.2, Stage Struck Film pt.3), usually dressed as one celebrity but singing another one's music, i.e. Amy Winehouse singing David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. The piece relates to the idea that celebrity, or more recently - notoriety, can become interchangeable. She purposely selected people who she felt earned their celebrity though their abilities, real celebrities.
Jessica Voorsanger works in a variety of media ranging from painting, sculpture, installation, mail art, film and performance. The projects themselves often dictate the medium that is most appropriate.
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JESSICA VOORSANGER - Curriculum Vitae
Education
1987 Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), European Hons Program, Rome, Italy
1991 – 1993 Master of Arts, Goldsmiths College, University of London
1983 – 1987 Bachelor of Fine Arts, RISD, Providence, Rhode Island
1986 Tyler school of Art, Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) European Hons Program, Rome, Italy
1982 – 1983 The Brooklyn Museum Art School, Brooklyn, New York
1982 Parsons School of Art, New York, New York
Teaching
2007 - current University of East London, External Examiner
2003 - current Wimbledon School of Art, Fine Art
2003 - current University College of Creative Arts (formerly Kent Institute of Art & Design),0.3 Senior Lecturer in Fine Art
1998 - 2003 Kent Institute of Art & Design, 0.3 Lecturer in Pictorial Arts
1997 - current Visiting lectures at assorted institutions (as requested): Goldsmiths MA, Royal College, Kingston, Chelsea, Sunderland, The Slade, Camberwell, etc
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2009 Eastenders, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Children’s Gallery Commission 2009, London
2001 Bono & Sting Wouldn’t Be Anything Without: Jessica Voorsanger’s The Davids, The International 3, Manchester
1999 Stinky Village, Virgin Megastore, London
1998 Art Stars, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London
1997 Let's Go Rangers!, Modern Culture, Brooklyn, New York
1996 The Retrieval Series: Bob Geldof, Modern Culture, Brooklyn, New York
1996 Star Sightings, Modern Culture, Brooklyn, New York
1995 Baby Shower, Camden Art Centre, London
1994 Birthday Party, Peter Doig’s Studio, Cubitt Street, London
1994 Star Way to Heaven: Addresses to the Stars, Fête Worse than Death '94, London
Selected Group Exhibitions/Performance/Events
2009 Reg Perfect & The Squeegees, Portman Gallery, London
2009 The Sculpture Show, V22, London
2009 Too Much is Not Enough, Transition Gallery, London
2008 Star Struck, New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall
2008 The Golden Record, curated by Mel Brimfield, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
2008 Mapping Correspondence, Center for Book Arts, New York
2007 Small Wonders, Grey Gallery, London
2007 Seja Marginal, Seja Herói (Be Marginal, Be a Hero), curated by Danger Museum, Wysing Arts Centre,Cambridge
2007 So Sad, Guy Hilton Gallery, curated by Mark McGowan, London
2006 For Peel, No More Grey Gallery, London, Curated by Harry Pye
2006 Hull Heroes, Illuminations, Hull Time Based Arts, Hull
2006 Hearing Voices, Seeing Things, Serpentine Gallery, London
2006 - 9 Art Car Boot Fair, Truman Brewery, London
2006 Forward/Backward Reloading, Island 6 Art Center, Shanghai China
2006 World Cup, 39 Gallery, London
2006 Metropolis Rise: New Art From London, temporarycontemporary, Beijing, Shanghai & London
2006 No News From Nowhere, William Morris Gallery, London
2005 Summer Daze, South London Gallery, London
2005 A Night on Earth, Oh Art Gallery, Oxford House, London
2005 For and From Exhibition, Metropole Gallery, Folkstone
2005 Mervielles du Monde, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dunkerque,France
Selected Catalogues/Books
2008 Mystery Train, The ICA, London
2006 Hearing Voices Seeing Things, published by The Serpentine Gallery, ISBN: 978-1905190096
2006 Forward/Backward Reloading, Exhibition catalogue, Island 6 Art Center, Shanghai China
2006 Metropolis Rise: New Art from London, Published by temporarycontemporary, 2006
2004 Beacon, essays from David Lillington & John Plowman, Beaconarts, ISBN: 1-860501-95-8
2003 'Bad Behavior' from Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery Publishing, ISBN: 1-85332-235-0
2003 Art and Celebrity, by John A Walker, published by Pluto Press, ISBN: 0-7453-1849-5
2002 Air Guitar, edited by Emma Mahony, published by Milton Keynes Gallery & , ISBN:
2002 TV Swansong, edited by: Nina Pope & Karen Guthrie, ARTicle Press, ISBN: 1873352581
2002 Installation Art, by N De Oliveira, published by Thames & Hudson ISBN: 0500278288
Jessica Voorsanger is an American artist living in London. She studied at the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA) and Goldsmiths College (MA Fine Art), and has had one person exhibitions in London, New York, Edinburgh, Berlin & Turin. She has recently shown in Berlin at Gallerie 33, The ICA and the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London and had a project with Art on the Underground.
Her work explores the concept of 'celebrity' within popular culture through obsession, fans and media representation. Until recently it has specifically dealt with the relationship between the celebrity and their 'fans', and the ideology of fan culture. She attempts to capture the inaccessibility of celebrities and tries to relate the excitement that a fan can feel, for who wants to admit to having loved someone for an eternity who they will never meet? Now, with the overwhelming domination of reality TV, the concept of celebrity has changed and is no longer only connected to people of talent but also of notoriety.
Fan-a-Grams (performance), The Articultural Show, Factual Nonsense @ The South Bank Centre, London, 1999
The Woody Allen Show, video still from a series of films made as part of an installation celebrating Woody Allen, Galerie 33-FON, Berln Germany, 2008
Following this new line of enquiry she has been exploring the interchangeability of celebrities and their audience. For example, in her piece Stage Struck shown at the New Art Gallery Walsall as part of the exhibition Star Struck in 2008, Voorsanger created a karaoke/nightclub installation. The installation consisted of a stage set and live karaoke system, costumes/wigs of 14 assorted celebrities, dressing area and painted portraits of the 14 celebrities. The celebrities included: Elvis, Diana Ross, David Hockney, Morrissey, Amy Winehouse, Cher, Paul Weller, Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, Devo, George Harrison (Sgt. Pepper), Kurt Cobain, David Bowie & Siousxie Sioux. Behind the stage there was a film playing of people performing the karaoke (Stage StruckFilm pt.1, Stage Struck Film pt.2, Stage StruckFilm pt.3), usually dressed as one celebrity but singing another one's music, i.e. Amy Winehouse singing David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. The piece relates to the idea that celebrity, or more recently - notoriety, can become interchangeable. She purposely selected people who she felt earned their celebrity though their abilities, real celebrities.
Jessica Voorsanger works in a variety of media ranging from painting, sculpture, installation, mail art, film and performance. The projects themselves often dictate the medium that is most appropriate.
Recent Exhibits
Jessica Voorsanger
participated in these exhibits:
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