Episode 26: Chris Kienke

03/14/18 • 59 min

Positive Space: Conversation in Art Foundations

Rethinking creativity and being truly open to opportunities - even if they are unfamiliar & across the globe - marks only the beginning of our thoughtful chat with artist and educator Chris Kienke, Chair of the Foundations Curriculum at the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Chris outlines how his evolving artistic practice has been informed by places/spaces while teaching abroad in the middle east. In addition, we discuss the state of foundations, advise for emerging educators and the navigating the politics of higher education.

Chris Kienke is a visual artist who works with painting, installation and photography. His current project utilizes iconic visual images of Americana. Ideas about patriotism, citizenship and freedom – are represented through these images, which are themselves reflective of class, race, and gender. They shape our beliefs about what American values are and who gets to share in those values. Kienke’s work has been exhibited in over 70 shows including recent solo exhibitions at Fuchs Projects in Brooklyn, NY (2016) Amos Eno Gallery in Brooklyn (2016), the University of Kentucky (2016), the Art Center at the National Central University in Taiwan (2015) and the University of Wisconsin in Osh Kosh (2014). Chris exhibited in the Governors Island Art Fair (2017), Rockford Midwestern Biennial (2014) the 1st Brussels Biennial in 2009 and the Sharjah Biennial in the U.A.E. (2005) His work was included in New American Paintings in September 2009. Kienke has been a fellow at Hospitalfield House in Scotland in 1998-1999 and at the Vermont Studio Center in 2003 and 2007. His work is in the permanent collections ABN Amro Bank in Dubai, Savannah College of Art and Design, Sharjah Art Museum (UAE) and the United Kingdom National Collection. NY. In 2015 Chris was awarded the FATE Emerging Educators Award for teaching. Chris Kienke received his MFA from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale in 2000 and his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1994. Chris is on the faculty of the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Episode 25: Shannon Lindsey

Artist, educator & Gallery Director, Shannon Rae Lindsey, reflects on her evolving art practice and how a curiosity of material possibilities has informed her approach to foundations curriculum. In our conversation, Shannon shares practical strategies for encouraging experimentation in the studio classroom, and her passion for the role interdisciplinary collaboration plays within academic gallery spaces.

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Episode 27: David Janssen

David Janssen, Jr. is an artist, designer and educator. He is a current third year MFA candidate at the University of Idaho who is graduating in May 2018. He is teaching both foundation level courses in drawing and design, as well as introduction level courses in graphic design and typography. David was a FATE Shout-Out Award Nominee in 2017 and presented on the panel “Should Paneling: Mounting Groovy Presentations” panel during FATE’s Biennial Conference in Kansas City, MO. David earned his BFA in Drawing and Painting from Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan. David has exhibited work nationally for the past several years and has continued to carve his path and sharpen his attention to collage, painting, sculpture and installation. Janssen has accepted his role in the generation of artists pushing forward concept and material collisions. Cultivating experiences from his life, much of David's work critiques and comments on masculinity and recently, his text based work explores the power of words and the residual effects they have on memory and relationships. www.davidjanssenjr.com