RECENT WORK
ARTIST STATEMENT
In Jenna Kowalke’s multidisciplinary art practice, she focuses on the narratives of human history and contemporary events, and challenges the constraints imposed by systemic and institutional frameworks. Central to her work is the research of acts of subversion and forms of mainstream and underground communication throughout history, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced discourse about our constructed world. By delving into museum archives, private collections, and digital media, she calls attention to artifacts and narratives that challenge conventional understandings of history and highlight moments of resistance and resilience in the face of oppression and opposing or distorted perceptions of reality.
Jenna’s current research examines the erosion of public trust in traditional news media, the shift towards social media as a news source, and the effects of the resulting proliferation of disinformation. When news sources promote the idea that personal ideologies are facts, societal polarization arise, while productive public debate fades away. Through representational and abstract imagery made from various art mediums, Jenna’s work illustrates contemporary trends in news consumption, communication, and co-existing opposing worldviews.
BIOGRAPHY
Jenna Kowalke (1982) is an American artist from Washington, DC based in Munich. Travel and photography are fundamental to her visual art practice. She completed a BFA in Art Studio and Art History, and an MA in Art History and Museum Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University (USA). Her graduate level studies emphasized museum collections, exhibitions, theory, and Institutional Critique.