Jen­ny Watson

Biography

Born in Mel­bourne, Aus­tralia 1951

Lives and works in Brisbane

Jen­ny Wat­son is known for can­did works that doc­u­ment her life and dreams. Her paint­ings reflect a par­tic­u­lar empha­sis on women’s expe­ri­ence by depict­ing female fig­ures on fab­rics select­ed for their cul­tur­al sig­nif­i­cance, geo­graph­ic ori­gins and indi­vid­ual histories.

Over the past thir­ty years Wat­son has explored the inte­ri­or life with a per­son­al iconog­ra­phy. Through her paint­ings we are offered a lex­i­con of hors­es, pets, friends, found phras­es and every­day ephemera, togeth­er build­ing sub­jec­tive rep­re­sen­ta­tions of the artist. Each work can be read as a con­junc­tion of its tex­tu­al and visu­al motifs, togeth­er with its title, but also in ref­er­ence to her pre­ced­ing body of work. The inter­re­la­tion of these dif­fer­ent ele­ments in Watson’s work is not arbi­trary. Rather, they are con­nect­ed, as dif­fer­ent ele­ments in our lives are, at times strong­ly inter-relat­ed yet at oth­er times fleet­ing or fragmentary.

Exhi­bi­tions include: Jen­ny Wat­son: The Fab­ric of Fan­ta­sy, Hei­de Muse­um of Mod­ern Art, Mel­bourne; Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art Aus­tralia, Syd­ney (2017); Paint­ing, More Paint­ing – Chap­ter 2, Aus­tralian Cen­tre for Con­tem­po­rary Art, Mel­bourne (2016); Shut Up and Paint’, Nation­al Gallery of Vic­to­ria, Mel­bourne (2016); Chron­i­cles’, Queens­land Col­lege of Art, Bris­bane (2016); Beyond the Tow­er: UQ Art Muse­um – 40 Years and Count­ing’, Uni­ver­si­ty of Queens­land Art Muse­um, Bris­bane (2016); Rad­i­cal Roman­ti­cism’, Crane Arts, Philadel­phia (2015); Pop to Pop­ism’, Art Gallery of New South Wales (2014); Gar­den of Eden & Child’s Play’, Galerie Tran­sit, Bel­gium (2014); Soli­taire’, Tar­rawar­ra Muse­um of Art, Healesville, Vic­to­ria (2014); Basil Sell­ers Art Prize 4’, Ian Pot­ter Muse­um of Art, The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mel­bourne (2014); Mix Tape 1980s: Appro­pri­a­tion, Sub­cul­ture, Crit­i­cal Style’, Nation­al Gallery of Vic­to­ria, Mel­bourne (2013); Con­tem­po­rary Aus­tralia: Women’, Queens­land Art Gallery | Gallery of Mod­ern Art, Bris­bane (2012); Jen­ny Wat­son: here, there and every­where’, Ian Pot­ter Muse­um of Art, The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mel­bourne (2012); Tomio Koya­ma Gallery’, Shibuya, Japan (2012); Mate­r­i­al Evi­dence’, Kun­stvere­in Rosen­heim, Ger­many (2009); and Paint­ings with Veils and False Tails’, Aus­tralian Pavil­lion, Venice Bien­nale (1993).

Pub­lic col­lec­tions include the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Syd­ney; Art Gallery of West­ern Aus­tralia, Perth; Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art, Syd­ney; Ghent Muse­um, Bel­gium; and Monash Uni­ver­si­ty, Melbourne.


CV

Bib­li­og­ra­phy

Exhibitions
Available Works

Jen­ny Watson

The First Rid­ing Lesson, 2021
acrylic and ges­so on rab­bit skin glue primed Bel­gian linen
183274 cm

Jen­ny Watson

A Horse in Chocolate, 2020
oil, acrylic, pig­ment and col­lage on rab­bit skin glue-primed on Bel­gian linen
210182 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Feed, 2019
acrylic on Ital­ian damask
140107 cm

Jen­ny Watson

A School Girl from the Back, 2019
acrylic on vin­tage French Chintz and French Dis­ney jig­saw puzzle
paint­ing: 15194 cm
jig­saw box: 3.515.210 cm

Jen­ny Watson

White Mis­chief, 2019
acrylic on Ital­ian damask and cut­ting col­laged to Japan­ese ply­wood support
paint­ing: 153105.5 cm
object: 14142 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Skater, 2017
oil and acrylic on red vel­vet; acrylic on panel
text: She was in the city and ran into an old friend. In chat­ting they dis­cov­ered that they would soon be in the same Euro­pean city on the same day. They arranged to meet’
two parts: image: 14487 cm; text: 29.642 cm

Jen­ny Watson

White Cat, 2017
oil and acrylic on red vel­vet; acrylic on panel
text: A friend didn’t like mak­ing desserts But she said that every night when they were watch­ing TV, they had a piece of dark choco­late. It sound­ed so cosy!’
two parts: image: 14487 cm; text: 27.322 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Girl in a Blindfold, 2016
oil and acrylic on French fur­nish­ing vel­vet; acrylic on pre­pared oval text pan­el; vin­tage chi­na dog on shelf
three parts: image: 124150 cm; text: 5240 cm; fig­urine: 5 x 4 x 4 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Trot­ting Horse, 2014
oil and acrylic on tra­di­tion­al rus­tic French stretch linen primed with rab­bit skin glue
69139 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Moon, Sophie + Me, 2013
acrylic, oil, oil­stick, pig­ment, pom poms on Japan­ese ges­so-primed Bel­gian linen
293124 cm

Jen­ny Watson

White Horse with Telescope, 2012
syn­thet­ic poly­mer paint on rab­bit skin glue primed cotton
200130 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Me in Short Dress, 2012
syn­thet­ic poly­mer paint on rab­bit skin glue primed cotton
22080 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Bruce Kick­ing Football, 2012
syn­thet­ic poly­mer paint on rab­bit skin glue primed cotton
18080 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Mum in Dressing-Gown, 2012
syn­thet­ic poly­mer paint on rab­bit skin glue primed cotton
12880 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Eliz­a­beth Tay­lor in But­ter­field 8” on But­ter­cup Yellow, 2011
Liq­ui­tex acrylic on silk, organ­za over­lay, shan­tung bow
14181 cm

Jen­ny Watson

Wild, White Horse, 1993
oil and acrylic on Chi­nese vel­vet with white horse tail; 
acrylic on pre­pared text panel
image: 152107 cm; text: 2015 cm

Jen­ny Watson

A Paint­ed Page 5: The Sun Jez­za Will Stay, Blues, 1979 – 80
oil on cot­ton duck
5867.6 cm

Library
News

Jen­ny Wat­son, The Fab­ric of Fantasy

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Jen­ny Wat­son’s The Fab­ric of Fantasy’

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