Neil Jenney
Neil Jenney is notorious for his “Bad Painting” series from the late 1960s, inciting a figurative painting wave that confronted the traditions of Minimalism and Photorealism with gestural, straightforward nature scenes. He lived in Boston before moving to New York in 1966 where he’d eventually show with Walter de Maria, Richard Serra, and Richard Artschwager, among others. His seminal series illustrated quotidian scenes, such as piles of chopped wood or a white fence on green grass, with pronounced, animated brushstrokes. These “good ideas done badly” often had text added to the bottom of the frame that highlighted Jenney’s sincere juxtapositions between reality and unspoken feelings. In 1971 the artist transitioned into “Good Painting,” inspired by 19th century landscape painters and their attention to atmosphere and immediate observation. Jenney has pursued this series as a long-term investigation of light and continues to reject the use of photography or technology in his practice. The artist continues to translate his surroundings, supported only by his own perception.
Jenney’s work has been exhibited at institutions including the Berkeley Art Museum, California, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, New Museum, New York, …
Neil Jenney is notorious for his “Bad Painting” series from the late 1960s, inciting a figurative painting wave that confronted the traditions of Minimalism and Photorealism with gestural, straightforward nature scenes. He lived in Boston before moving to New York in 1966 where he’d eventually show with Walter de Maria, Richard Serra, and Richard Artschwager, among others. His seminal series illustrated quotidian scenes, such as piles of chopped wood or a white fence on green grass, with pronounced, animated brushstrokes. These “good ideas done badly” often had text added to the bottom of the frame that highlighted Jenney’s sincere juxtapositions between reality and unspoken feelings. In 1971 the artist transitioned into “Good Painting,” inspired by 19th century landscape painters and their attention to atmosphere and immediate observation. Jenney has pursued this series as a long-term investigation of light and continues to reject the use of photography or technology in his practice. The artist continues to translate his surroundings, supported only by his own perception.
Jenney’s work has been exhibited at institutions including the Berkeley Art Museum, California, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, New Museum, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Pushkin Museum, Moscow, among others. He participated in the Whitney Biennial in 1969, 1973, 1981, and 1987.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York
Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, New York
Gagosian Gallery, New York, New York
