Judith Jacobs -- About the Artist

Judith Jacobs Digital Fine Art

Judith Engel Jacobs

I live in Ann Arbor, MI. I earned a B.S. in Design from the University of Michigan School of Architecture and Design in 1964 majoring in painting and printmaking (primarily lithography). I have exhibited my works on paper for over 40 years in regional and national shows and in arts publications. Together with poet Laurence W. Thomas, I published The Face in the Mirror, a collection of poems and collages. I am a member of several arts groups including: Art Alchemists, a collective of digital artists from the Ann Arbor/Detroit area; the Ann Arbor Women Artists ; and Art Du Jour, ten area artists working and exhibiting in 2-D and 3-D media.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I have always been attracted to art that combines many images and materials; my favorite artists include Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Sigmar Polke, and a number of other multi-media artists. Since the 1970's, my media had been paper-and-paste collage, monotype, and combinations of these. Then and now, I have found beauty in graffiti and materials from the streets and from pop culture. My "snapshots" of foreign cities are not of picturesque vistas but of poster-encrusted walls and these I use as described below.

In 1999, using Photoshop, I began scanning my collection into my computer and was fascinated to find the collage process suddenly expanding endlessly; not only could the disparate materials be combined, moved, and placed seamlessly onscreen, but the resulting images could, through Photoshop wizardry, be changed and transformed. To a much greater extents than was possible through literal cut-and-paste, I was now able to create "paintings" that were infinitely more than the sum of their parts. In the process of working digitally, I found that I was making the same, familiar kinds of compositional and color decisions as when painting and collaging actual papers. This was a revelation; such decision making is at the core of a visual artist's creative process, and it was gratifying to learn that the pleasure and satisfaction of doing so were going to continue to be a part of working in my new art medium.

Since 1999, I have done much exploring. In my recent work, I continue to be interested in city walls and a return to cut-and-paste collage, now combined with Photoshop layers. The illusion of collage on the printed surface interests me too. I also intend to experiment further with different substrates (printing surfaces) I have coated to receive the printer ink.

There is a profile of me on annarbor.com that first appeared in August, 2009. It consists of an interview, photos, and a slideshow of six of my prints.

RESUME

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2010
"The Print," statewide juried exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center.
Ann Arbor Women Artists juried spring show (THIRD PLACE AWARD). My work mentioned near the bottom of review.

2009
"Reconnecting 2009: The U-M Art and Design Alumni Show," Ann Arbor.
"The Print," statewide juried exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center (SECOND PLACE AWARD).
Ann Arbor Women Artists juried spring show.
Visiting Artist, Washington Street Gallery, Ann Arbor (fall, 2008-summer, 2009).

2008
"Reconnecting 2008: The U-M Art and Design Alumni Show," Ann Arbor.
Annual All-Media exhibit (juried, statewide), Ann Arbor Art Center.
Ann Arbor Women Artists juried winter show (THIRD PLACE AWARD).

2007
One-person show, Gifts of Art, U-M Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI.
"The Print," statewide juried exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center.
"Reconnecting: The U-M Art and Design Alumni Show," Ann Arbor.
"Sync07 Multimedia Digital Arts Festival," U-M Duderstadt Center, Ann Arbor.

2006
"The Humor Show," curated group show at Gallery Project gallery, Ann Arbor.
One-person show, Pfizer Inc., Ann Arbor, MI.
One-person show, Plymouth Community Arts Council, Plymouth, MI.
"American Icons," curated group show, Gallery Project gallery, Ann Arbor.

2005
"Collaborators 2," Collaborators group show, Gallery Project, Ann Arbor.
"The Print," statewide juried exhibition, Ann Arbor Art Center (THIRD PLACE AWARD).
Michigan Fine Arts Competition, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, MI.
One-person show, Ann Arbor District Library, Malletts Creek Branch.

2004
Group exhibit, Henry Ford Community College, Dearborn, MI.
Lemon Street Gallery Third Annual Juried Exhibition (11 Midwestern states), Kenosha, WI. (BEST OF SHOW AWARD)

2003
" Digital Alchemists, " group exhibition, Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI
" Technical Techniques, " group exhibition, Janice C. Epstein Gallery, Jewish Community Center, West Bloomfield, MI.

2002
Group exhibition, Galleria Biegas, Detroit, MI.
Ann Arbor Women Artists juried Fall Exhibition (SECOND PLACE AWARD).
" High Resolution, " curated group exhibition, Lake Erie College, Painesville, OH.
" Anything Goes, " national juried exhibition, Gallery 212, Ann Arbor, MI.

2001
" Idol Rumors, " national juried exhibition, Gallery 212, Ann Arbor, MI.

2000
Ann Arbor Art Center Retrospective (past award winners), Power Center for the Performing Arts, The University of Michigan.

1999
" The Right to Assemble, " three-person exhibition, Marygrove College Gallery, Detroit, MI.
" Freedom of Assembly, " two-person exhibition with Joan Painter Jones, Ann Arbor District Library.

1998
"City Revisited," two-person exhibit with Rolf Wojciechowski, Clare Spitler Works of Art gallery, Ann Arbor.

1997
Members' exhibition, Clare Spitler Works of Art gallery.

1996
9th Annual McNeese National Works on Paper, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA
" Hoi Polloi, " (national, curated), Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, MI.
Michigan Fine Arts Competition, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Association, Birmingham, MI (juror: Jane Hammond)
Jackson Area Show, Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, MI (juror: Richard Hunt).
" First Squeeze, " Monoprint invitational, Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing, MI.
Ann Arbor Art Center All Media Juried Exhibit (HONORABLE MENTION).1995
One-person exhibition, Washtenaw Council for the Arts, Ann Arbor.

COLLECTIONS

Offices of the Vice Provost for Medical Affairs, The University of Michigan
Washtenaw Community College Print Collection
Offices of Deloitte, Touche, Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Region 3, Chicago, IL
Ann Arbor City Hall
Manufacturer's Trust offices, Ann Arbor
MedStat Systems, Ann Arbor

PUBLICATIONS

Third Wednesday, Spring, 2010 (COVER ART and more)
Bank of Ann Arbor 2009 calendar page
Third Wednesday, Fall, 2008
Third Wednesday, Summer, 2008 (COVER ART and more)
Third Wednesday, Winter, 2008
Third Wednesday, Fall, 2007
Way Station Magazine, Volume Six, 2001
Way Station Magazine, Volume Four, 1998
The Willam and Mary Review, Volume 34, 1996
The Dexter Review, Number 2, 1995
The Face in the Mirror (with poet L.W. Thomas), published bound collection
of poems and collages, 1996