Inherited Traits: Nina Katchdourian & Heidi Kumao
Inherited Traits: Nina Katchadourian & Heidi Kumao
The College of New Jersey Art Gallery
January 27-March 3, 2010
Inspired by the campus wide theme of “family” sponsored by the Committee for Intellectual and Cultural Community (CCIC) here at The College of New Jersey, the Inherited Traits exhibit explores heredity through the work of two important contemporary artists, Nina Katchadourian and Heidi Kumao. In their work, both artists investigate the cause and effect of relationships, the manner in which family ties are created and maintained, and how personal identity is shaped in the context of history. This exhibit looks beyond a strictly biological interpretation of inheritance to consider not only genetic determination, but also historical, sociological and cultural influences.
In three very different pieces, Katchadourian uses a combination of pointed humor and everyday forms of familial representation to both “[play] on the fantasies of lineage and heritage” and probe her personal connections with her mother and father. Kumao, whose work is not explicitly based in personal experience, explores kinship, creative birthrights, intrinsic strengths and history’s impact on the individual in her intricate video installations.
This exhibit is the product of a truly collaborative effort. My first thanks must go to my extraordinary curatorial assistant, Karin Christiaens ’10. Through TCNJ’s Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience, Karin spent the summer researching the exhibit themes and potenti al arti sts. In the fall, she helped with logistical planning, exhibit design and wrote a portion of the catalog text (credited as KC).
Sarah Cunningham
The College of New Jersey Art Gallery
January 2010
Nina Katchadourian
Nina Katchadourian was born in Stanford, California and grew up spending every summer on a small island in the Finnish archipelago, where she still spends part of each year. Her work exists in a wide variety of media including photography, sculpture, video and sound. Her work has been exhibited domestically and internationally at places such as PS1/MoMA, the Serpenti ne Gallery, New Langton Arts, Artists Space, SculptureCenter, and the Palais de Tokyo. In January 2006 the Turku Art Museum in Turku, Finland featured a solo show of works made in Finland, and in June 2006 the Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs exhibited a 10-year survey of her work and published an accompanying monograph entitled “All Forms of Attraction.” The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego presented a solo show of recent video installation works in July 2008. She is also the recipient of many awards including the Svenska Kulturfonden Grant (2007), Anonymous was a Woman Foundation Award (2004), the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Video (2003), and the American Scandinavian Foundation Grant (2001). Katchadourian is represented by Sara Meltzer Gallery in New York and Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco.
Heidi Kumao
Heidi Kumao is an interdisciplinary arti st who creates kinetic and electronic sculpture, interactive installations and digital animations. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally in group and solo exhibitions including one person exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, and Center for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco and the Arizona State University Art Museum. She has been awarded numerous national fellowships, grants, residencies and awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2009), the Michigan Governor’s Award for Arts and Culture for Innovative Artist (2008), an American Association of University Women Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2007-08), the Malvina Hoffman Award for Sculpture at the 181st Annual exhibition at the National Academy (2006), a Creative Capital Grant in Emerging Fields/Robotics (2002), a Sculpture Space funded residency (2002), and the New York Foundation for the Arts Artist’s Fellowship in Sculpture (2001, 1997). She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design where she teaches digital video and animati on, experimental tv production, electronic and conceptual art.
In three very different pieces, Katchadourian uses a combination of pointed humor and everyday forms of familial representation to both “[play] on the fantasies of lineage and heritage” and probe her personal connections with her mother and father. Kumao, whose work is not explicitly based in personal experience, explores kinship, creative birthrights, intrinsic strengths and history’s impact on the individual in her intricate video installations.
This exhibit is the product of a truly collaborative effort. My first thanks must go to my extraordinary curatorial assistant, Karin Christiaens ’10. Through TCNJ’s Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience, Karin spent the summer researching the exhibit themes and potenti al arti sts. In the fall, she helped with logistical planning, exhibit design and wrote a portion of the catalog text (credited as KC).
Sarah Cunningham
The College of New Jersey Art Gallery
January 2010
Nina Katchadourian
Nina Katchadourian was born in Stanford, California and grew up spending every summer on a small island in the Finnish archipelago, where she still spends part of each year. Her work exists in a wide variety of media including photography, sculpture, video and sound. Her work has been exhibited domestically and internationally at places such as PS1/MoMA, the Serpenti ne Gallery, New Langton Arts, Artists Space, SculptureCenter, and the Palais de Tokyo. In January 2006 the Turku Art Museum in Turku, Finland featured a solo show of works made in Finland, and in June 2006 the Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs exhibited a 10-year survey of her work and published an accompanying monograph entitled “All Forms of Attraction.” The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego presented a solo show of recent video installation works in July 2008. She is also the recipient of many awards including the Svenska Kulturfonden Grant (2007), Anonymous was a Woman Foundation Award (2004), the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Video (2003), and the American Scandinavian Foundation Grant (2001). Katchadourian is represented by Sara Meltzer Gallery in New York and Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco.
Heidi Kumao
Heidi Kumao is an interdisciplinary arti st who creates kinetic and electronic sculpture, interactive installations and digital animations. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally in group and solo exhibitions including one person exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, and Center for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco and the Arizona State University Art Museum. She has been awarded numerous national fellowships, grants, residencies and awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2009), the Michigan Governor’s Award for Arts and Culture for Innovative Artist (2008), an American Association of University Women Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2007-08), the Malvina Hoffman Award for Sculpture at the 181st Annual exhibition at the National Academy (2006), a Creative Capital Grant in Emerging Fields/Robotics (2002), a Sculpture Space funded residency (2002), and the New York Foundation for the Arts Artist’s Fellowship in Sculpture (2001, 1997). She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design where she teaches digital video and animati on, experimental tv production, electronic and conceptual art.
Exhibition Catalog
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