April 2004
Jean Wolff
New York, NY
occulus@onebox.com
Artist Statement:
I am interested in creating paintings that are compositions made up of a reduced visual vocabulary. This body of work consists of two primary elements - a circle and a grid. I am interested in exploring the relationship of the grid to the geometric elements that are contained within the frame of the canvas plane. These paintings are a composite of meticulously rendered elements that simultaneously create the composition and produce an optical effect. I am drawn to the sublime nature of these elements and the surface that they inhabit. In creating these paintings I am exploring the many possible configurations and the relationships of the elements within the canvas plane. I am drawn to this reductive mode of abstraction in order to create an emotional and visual experience. The function of any given work is to stimulate the sensibilities. Some of the paintings are graceful, others playful. While others really capitalize on the perceptual experience. It is the depth of possibilities that the circle, the grid and color present that is of the utmost interest to me.Biography:
Jean Wolff was born in Detroit, Michigan. She began her artistic studies early, attending Saturday classes at the Society of Arts in Crafts (currently the Center of Creative Studies) in downtown Detroit. Jean received her BFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She moved immediately to New York to continue her artistic pursuits and received an MFA from Hunter College (part of the City College of New York) in 1984. Jean began to show while she was still an undergraduate student and has exhibited widely in New York. Her current gallery representation is with Robert Steele Gallery in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. She resides in New York City and maintains her painting studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
