Elisa Jensen lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She has received awards for her work from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Academy Museum, the American Academy of Arts & Letters. Her solo show of recent work, “Radience” will open at Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY at the end of July. She currently teaches at the New York Studio School and Pratt Institute.
Art, whatever it takes – RomeArtProgram has made interviews with people involved in art, living in Italy, the USA and the UK, to know their feelings during these hard times.
–> Elisa Jensen interview:
RomeArtProgram: What is your definition of “art” today?
-> Elisa Jensen: I don’t know if art can be easily defined. Are the Neolithic stone carvings inside Loughcrew passage graves art, or are they efforts to communicate, is there a difference? What about the cave paintings at Lascaux? Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece? Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain? All I can tell you is that art is essential communication, it is transformative.
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RAP: Art is dynamic and regenerates itself… how does it change, and how did it change us?
-> Elisa Jensen: For me the word art is synonymous with the word dialogue. In the studio it’s an interchange between the long legacy of art and the contemporary artist. In the gallery it’s a conversation between the creator and the viewer. Out in the world –whether that’s a museum or a living room — it’s a colloquy between any given piece of art and all the other pieces of art that it comes in contact with. To focus on that last point, when it comes to my paintings I think they really do take on a new aspect when they are in close proximity to – and in conversation with — other artists’ work. That exposure usually means that they become broader and richer. It also means that they no longer belong exclusively to me, but rather to the bigger discussion between that great community that includes artists and viewers.
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RAP: When (and how) did you understand that art was becoming very important in your life?
-> Elisa Jensen: I was moved by art very early, when I was a teenager, a shipment of family furniture and paintings was sent to us from Denmark. All of a sudden there were paintings of Danish harbors, and famous Danish battles at sea all over our house. I loved those paintings, I could feel the waves and the wind filling the sails and tilting the ships. Later, in high school, I was moved by Caravaggio’s Decent from the Cross when it came to New York as part of an exhibition from the Vatican Museum. As I looked at the painting, I felt that the figures were tumbling out into the space of the gallery, the extreme energy and emotion was exhilarating. While studying art history in college, I began painting seriously and never stopped.
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RAP: What role does art play today? What are the “great figures” who have recently changed it? Do you feel close to any of these figures?
-> Elisa Jensen: What role doesn’t art play? Art is the villain, the hero, the supporting actor and the face in the crowd. Art is the play, too. Or to put it another way, art’s role is tell the story of our lives and culture, either in part or in total, and participating in that process is an elemental part of being human. When it comes to what moves me, a show of Nabis paintings in the Phillips Collection in Washington really caught my attention, in particular a Vuillard interior, with its focus on shape and color. My interiors from the last few years are clearly influenced by that encounter as much as they are inspired by the changing light inside and outside my Brooklyn home.
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RAP: Are there still traditional figures such as collectors, muses, mecenate and patrons, in today’s art and society interaction model?
-> Elisa Jensen: Of course there are! Artists don’t exist in a vacuum, we are part of our time, and we thrive in communities of other artists and people who love the arts. Curators, writers, and collectors are artists in their own right, and I, for one, am deeply grateful to those who have chosen to collaborate with me by including my work in their collections. They are part of my community and regularly open me up to new ideas and experiences.
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RAP: How have the new technologies and media culture changed art today, improving or worsening it…? What do you feel are your biggest challenges?
-> Elisa Jensen: Social media and new technologies have really transformed how work is seen and shared. So many people are connecting to art in this way, artists, collectors, curators and gallerists. I love learning about new artists on Instagram, and more and more people know about my work through Instagram. Social media can be so important in terms of bringing people out to see exhibitions where they can experience the work in person and see the true color relationships and scale and revel in the surface of the painting.
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RAP: Art as a mirror of man, in this moment of emergency seems to be shattered …what do these fragments reflect now?… Shadow or light of the moment?
-> Elisa Jensen: Society, culture and politics are always shattered. The job of the artist is not to reflect the chaos, but to offer the consolations of humanity, beauty, intellect and community.
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RAP: Understanding, interpreting, and then possibly judging the work of art; which is the right path when we are in front of a piece of art?
-> Elisa Jensen: There is no right path, and there is no wrong path. I can only tell you what I try to do: experience the art and respond.
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RAP: Which is the real role of Academies and Art schools today? What can artists learn from these institutions today?
-> Elisa Jensen: Art schools and academies are critical in that they provide an important community for artists. In these communities, artists work together, engage in critical dialogue, talk about ideas, examine the wealth of possibilities in terms of making and thinking that come from the study of the history of art, learn from each other, form lasting friendships, get inspired, and react to the work of their peers and their mentors.
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RAP: Art too has undergone a complex process of globalization; can having an authentic and genuine style be an advantage or a drag for an artist?
-> Elisa Jensen: I’m not really fond of the term “style” and would prefer to think of Artists who have developed a clear and individual voice, a voice that projects into the global sphere in such a way that it could really only be that artist who made that work. You would never confuse a Kerry James Marshall painting for a Joyce Pensato or a Luc Tuymans, I find them all inspiring, and all three artists have a powerful individual voice.
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RAP: How do Art Galleries and Museums position themselves today, and, in your opinion, how should they?
-> Elisa Jensen: There are so many different levels of art galleries today, from small and independent, to artist run, to blue chip. I find the range fascinating. I do find that some of the mega-international galleries can be daunting, the spaces are too big and cold and seem to require artists to work on a massive scale, and while I can appreciate and enjoy many of their shows, such as a recent Mark Bradford exhibition in Chelsea, I am relieved to see smaller, more intimate shows, like the recent Janice Nowinsky exhibition of small-scale figurative painting at Thomas Erben Gallery.
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RAP: “Figuration” vs. “Abstraction”… Which of the two is better descriptive of the period we live in? Which one will have a better future?
-> Elisa Jensen: At this point in time, figurative painting seems to be dominant. As a figurative painter, I find the renewed interest inspiring. There is such a wonderful range of artists working figuratively or showing figurative art now, and each artist brings the viewer into her or his own private world, or renews our sense of what it is to be a human being, I see this in work from Noah Davis to Katherine Bradford and from Jennifer Packer to Salmon Toor, and so many more.
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RAP: Today we often speak of “emerging artists”; what advice based on your experience do you feel you can give to young artists?
-> Elisa Jensen: Building a community of artists and supporting your community of artists is so important. Go to see shows, don’t miss exhibitions of artists you know, visit studios, invite others to visit your studio, curate a show of artists who inspire you, reach across generations to older and younger artists.
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RAP: Art as a lens for reading the present, can it modify the space and time we pass through? …will art save us?
-> Elisa Jensen: Well we have to experience art for it to change us or inspire us or save us. In a discussion at a recent opening, the gallery director told me that when she was frustrated or overwhelmed, she went into the gallery to see the art, and that it grounded her and gave her a sense of peace. Art, like music or poetry can open us up to new ways of perceiving the world, and through its rhythms, art can engender a sense of calm or joy, or even catharsis. Someone recently asked me if art can heal, and yes, I believe it can, but it only can if we open up to healing by being present.
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www.elisajensen.com
@elisa__jensen
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