Jean Sonderand (b. 1991)
“I am an artist, academic, and advocate working to bring light to issues of social justice and sustainability. I work primarily in photography, but have exhibited video work, as well as paintings and drawings, at galleries in the United States and internationally. After moving to New York in 2013 from Kansas, my home state, I became deeply involved in my art practice, while also enmeshing myself in New York’s vibrant queer community.
This gave rise to my first projects in photobook making and zine printing, which I first exhibited at the Brooklyn Zine Festival. Since then I have performed in queer theatrical dances at the New York Library of Performing Arts as well as Judson Memorial Church, and regularly volunteering for organizations advocating queer art and activism. I recently finished my masters degree in Visual and Critical Studies at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago, which culminated in two separate exhibitions at Weinberg/Newton Gallery and another in conjunction with the 16th Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy.
While I work to keep my connections with communities in all of the places I’ve worked and studied, I now live in New York, where I hope to find further opportunities to collaborate locally while deepening my art practice and advocacy.”
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Solo Exhibitions:
2019 “Rags and Riches,” A celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, Maggi Peyton Gallery, Manhattan Borough President’s Office, New York *Note, for this exhibition I also curated a selection of artworks from the art and performance community around me.
2018 “No Future: A Memorial” Sculpture and curatorial selection | Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection
2017 Filter Photo Festival: “The Body is Merely the Apparition of a Framework” Photography and curatorial selection of artists’ books | Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection
Group Exhibitions:
2019 “Trans Art Is: Love and Liberation” Curated by Ken Folk, Produced by Vicente Ugartechea | Chicago Therapy Collective, Chicago, IL
2018 “Exploring Belonging: Dimensions of Citizenship” | 16th Venice Architecture Biennale | Universita’ Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, Venice, Italy
2018 “helps it to feel, compels it to make” | Weinberg/Newton Gallery, Chicago, IL
2017 “Millennial Millionaires and the Survivor’s Club” | LITHIUM, Chicago, IL
2017 “Post/Natural” Curated by Kayla Anderson | Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, Chicago, IL
2017 “Declarations of Contemporary” | Hairpin Arts Center, Chicago, IL
2017 “How To Get Read” | Visual and Critical Studies Symposium at SAIC, Chicago, IL
2016 “Open Studio Night” at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago
2016 “New Media” by DAEMON (daem.onl) Curated by Jon Springs | Sulfer Studios, Savannah, GA
2015 “Brooklyn Zine Festival” | Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY.
Performances:
2018 “The War” Prince Julius | Directed by Rumi Missabu (aka. James Bartlett) | Judson Memorial Church | New York, NY
2016 “The Last Days of Pompeii” Apoecides | Directed by Rumi Missabu (aka. James Bartlett) | Lincoln Center | New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium | New York, NY
2015 “The Wisdom of The Sands” Boyfriend No. 1 & The King’s Son | Directed by Rumi Missabu (aka. James Bartlett) | Judson Memorial Church | New York, NY
Bibliography:
“Take Care” ed. Goldberg, Luna. Amado, Sophie. 2019
“The Body is Merely the Apparition of a Framework” | Artist Book and Thesis, Readers: Shawn Michelle Smith, Kamau Patton, Romi N. Crawford | Flaxman Library, Department of Visual and Critical Studies at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, 42 pp, 2019
“Flowers From My Childhood” Risograph print installation, School of The Art Institute of Chicago. 2017
2016 and Earlier:
“Identity and Experience” Duke Colloquium, Advisor: Dr. Sara Morrison. William Jewell College, Liberty, MO
Editorial: Intro to “Inferno” photographs by Daniel Zvereff
Editorial: “Masters of Discipline” for Steady Magazine
Editorial: “Stasis & Static” for Steady Magazine
Art Publications & Collection Holdings:
“No Future Urn” Marble urn and paper ashes, 2018. Collected by the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection
“Canon” 20pp. 2017 | Collected by The School of The Art Institute of Chicago MAVCS
“In/Finite” 20pp. 2016 | Collected by the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection
“Death’s Head” 9pp. 2016
“Urbstract” 9pp. Foldout 2015 | Collected by the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection
“One In Woods” 12pp. 2015 | Collected by the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection
“Winter Aesthetic” 16pp. 2015 | Collected by the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection
“Unfortunately, I Was Dead” 24pp. 2015 | Collected by the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection
“All My Eyes See” 8 panels 2015
Education:
School of The Art Institute of Chicago | Graduated May, 2018
- Master of Arts in Visual and Critical Studies
- Awarded the enrichment grant, nominated for all graduate fellowships
William Jewell College | Graduated May, 2013
- Major: English | Gender Theory – History of Sexuality – Critical Theory and History – Art History
- Minor: Philosophy | Existentialism – Language & Science – Subjectivity & Identity – Politics, Law, & Economics
- Awarded music scholarship, presidential scholarship, and honors scholarship
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For inquiries:
Jean Sonderand 