Joan Jonas

Joan Jonas

BornNationalityBased In
1936AmericanNew York City
Biography

Joan Jonas is a trailblazing artist who was at the helm of emerging video and performance art during the late 1960s and early 1970s in the Happenings scene of downtown New York. Originally trained as a sculptor, Jonas shifted to performance as it served as a fluid arena to blend her interests in architecture, theatre, dance, music, film and literature. This methodology also enabled Jonas to develop a catalogue of alter egos and ongoing narratives to use within her pieces, with the character Organic Honey for example, surfacing throughout five decades of film as an “electronic erotic seductress”. Often working collaboratively with composers, other artists, or choreographers such as Gordon Matta Clark, Yvonne Rainer or Richard Serra, the early pieces were often performed outside, directly reacting to the barren “holes” within New York City at the time— shooting at docklands, piers, or alleyways. Other iconic series include The Mirror Pieces (1969), where women would hold up mirrors against their bodies, their images reflected and refracted back at one another, meditating on self-image and the fragmentation of the feminine. Drawing is also an integral element of her process. Whilst preparing for a new piece, Jonas will gesturally draw with ink, paint, or chalk, emulating the same image ad infimum. This act is duplicated during live pieces, with sketches being the primary method of communication within her performances. Despite what medium or methodology Jonas employs, her pieces are innately innovative and experimental. ...

Selected Artworks
Double Lunar Dog drawing
Joan Jonas
Double Lunar Dog drawing, 1984
104.5 x 136cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2003
41 x 31cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2006
30.2 x 40cm
Como Butterfly II
Joan Jonas
Como Butterfly II, 2007
151 x 138cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2008
21.5 x 30cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2008
30 x 21.5cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2008
30 x 21.5cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2008
21.5 x 30cm
Performance Drawings (Butterflies)
Joan Jonas
Performance Drawings (Butterflies), 2008
36 x 46.5cm
Dog Drawing I.
Joan Jonas
Dog Drawing I., 2009
60 x 40.6cm
Red Bee Drawing II
Joan Jonas
Red Bee Drawing II, 2013
80.5 x 109.5cm
Performance Drawing from Reanimation, Tate Live 2013, Tate Modern
Joan Jonas
Performance Drawing from Reanimation, Tate Live 2013, Tate Modern, 2013
121.5 x 152cm
Reanimation performance drawing (Dog Drawing)
Joan Jonas
Reanimation performance drawing (Dog Drawing), 2014
77 x 57cm
Reanimation performance drawing (Body Drawing)
Joan Jonas
Reanimation performance drawing (Body Drawing), 2016
138 x 70.5cm
Reanimation performance drawing (Bird Drawing)
Joan Jonas
Reanimation performance drawing (Bird Drawing), 2014
28.5 x 38.2cm
Reanimation performance drawings (Landscape Drawings)
Joan Jonas
Reanimation performance drawings (Landscape Drawings), 2016
Reanimation performance drawing (Body Drawing)
Joan Jonas
Reanimation performance drawing (Body Drawing), 2014
140 x 74cm
Organic Honey (performance drawing)
Joan Jonas
Organic Honey (performance drawing), 1972
63 x 78 x 4cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2006
30.3 x 40.5cm
Rabbit Drawing I, drawing for video, Double Lunar Rabbits
Joan Jonas
Rabbit Drawing I, drawing for video, Double Lunar Rabbits, 2010
66.2 x 50.8cm
Rabbit Drawing II, drawing for video, Double Lunar Rabbits
Joan Jonas
Rabbit Drawing II, drawing for video, Double Lunar Rabbits, 2010
66.2 x 50.8cm
Double Lunar Dog drawing
Joan Jonas
Double Lunar Dog drawing, 1984
104.5 x 136cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2003
41 x 31cm
Dog Drawing, Ashley Performance, day #2
Joan Jonas
Dog Drawing, Ashley Performance, day #2, 2003
40.6 x 30.5cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2005
33 x 25.3cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2007
28.5 x 38.5cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2007
38 x 28cm
Dog Drawing I. From a performance with Robert Ashley, La MaMa, New York
Joan Jonas
Dog Drawing I. From a performance with Robert Ashley, La MaMa, New York, 2009
60 x 40.6cm
Dog Drawing II, From a performance with Robert Ashley, La MaMa, New York
Joan Jonas
Dog Drawing II, From a performance with Robert Ashley, La MaMa, New York, 2009
61 x 41.5cm
Untitled Dog
Joan Jonas
Untitled Dog, 2008
32.7 x 24.5cm
Reanimation performance drawing (Dog Drawing)
Joan Jonas
Reanimation performance drawing (Dog Drawing), 2014
77 x 57cm
Dog 1
Ocean Drawing 1
Joan Jonas
Ocean Drawing 1, 2019
81 x 101cm
Ocean Drawing 3
Joan Jonas
Ocean Drawing 3, 2019
81 x 101cm
Ocean Drawing 4
Joan Jonas
Ocean Drawing 4, 2019
81 x 101cm
Ocean Drawing 5
Joan Jonas
Ocean Drawing 5, 2019
81 x 101cm
Ocean Body Drawing
Joan Jonas
Ocean Body Drawing, 2019
98 x 79cm
Performance Drawing from Reanimation, Tate Live , Tate Modern
Joan Jonas
Performance Drawing from Reanimation, Tate Live , Tate Modern, 2013
121.5 x 152cm
Como Butterfly II
Joan Jonas
Como Butterfly II, 2007
151 x 138cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2008
21.5 x 30cm
Bat ll, Reading Dante
Joan Jonas
Bat ll, Reading Dante, 2008
21.5 x 30cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2008
30 x 21.5cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2002
30 x 23cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2006
30 x 40cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2006
29.6 x 21cm
Untitled
Joan Jonas
Untitled, 2008
16.5 x 21.6cm
Gallery Representation
Awards
Kyoto Prize In Arts and Philosophy2018
Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon2018
Anonymous Was A Woman
 2018
Anonymous Was A Woman
 2018
Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon2018
Kyoto Prize In Arts and Philosophy2018
Biennals
Shanghai Biennial2020 - Shanghai
Sao Paolo Biennial2020 - São Paulo
Taipei Biennial2015 - Taipei
Performa2013 - New York City
Venice Biennial2009 - Venice
Sao Paolo Biennial2008 - São Paulo
Yokohama Triennale2008 - Yokohama
The Biennale of Sydney2008 - Sydney
Documenta2002 - Kassel
Taipei Biennial2002 - Taipei
Documenta1981 - Kassel
Documenta1976 - Kassel
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