Jennifer Stillwell is a contemporary visual artist who primarily works with sculpture and installation.
In 2000 she received an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has since been exhibited widely including large-scale installations at the Darling Foundry (Montreal) and Triple Candie (New York). Other solo exhibitions include YYZ Artists’ Outlet (Toronto) and a survey show at Plug In ICA (Winnipeg). She has a permanent public sculpture installed in Winnipeg on Waterfront Drive. Her work has also been part of group exhibitions in Canada, the United States and Europe.
She has attended residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts (Banff), Gibraltar Point (Toronto), Kunst & Complex (Rotterdam), Fondation Derouin (Quebec) and Quartier Éphémère (Montreal).
Stillwell’s work was twice longlisted for the preeminent Sobey Art Award (inaugural 2002 and 2006). As well she has received numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council and the Manitoba Arts Council. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Victoria.
Her recent work is site responsive and it overlaps concepts of immediacy and distance, physicality and the psychological, abstraction and representation, absurdity and logic. Found objects and manufactured materials are physically transformed in order to provide imaginary possibilities. Scales shift, spaces collapse and meanings slip.
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EDUCATION
2000
Master of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art (with highest distinction)
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, USA)
1995
Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (Honours) (with distinction)
University of Manitoba, School of Art (Winnipeg, Canada)
RESIDENCIES
2022
Empire of Dirt (Creston, British Columbia)
2018
Darling Foundry, Quartier Éphémère (Montreal, Quebec)
2009
Fondation Derouin (Val-David, Quebec)
2007
Darling Foundry, Quartier Éphémère (Montreal)
2005
Triple Candie (New York, USA)
2004
Kunst and Complex (Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
2001
Banff Centre for the Arts. Slo-Mo Thematic Residency (Banff, Alberta)
Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts. Sponsored by YYZ Artists’ Outlet (Toronto)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Blips and Other Info. Empty Gallery (Victoria)
2016
Smokestacks, Spills and Figures. Pari Nadimi Gallery (Toronto)
2013
Jennifer Stillwell. Pari Nadimi Gallery (Toronto)
2009
Jennifer Stillwell: Survey Exhibition. Curated by Steven Maticjio. Plug In ICA (Winnipeg)
2007
Particle Shifts. Darling Foundry (main space) (Montreal)
2006
Jennifer Stillwell. Pari Nadimi Gallery (Toronto)
2005
Bounty. Curated by Peter Nesbett and Shelly Bancroft. Triple Candie (main space) (New York)
2004
Paint Rows. Pari Nadimi Gallery (Toronto)
2003
Supplies. Ace Art Inc. (Winnipeg)
2002
Bale. YYZ Artists’ Outlet (Toronto)
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS and SCREENINGS
2022
Piers. Curated by Kim Dhillon. Legacy Art Gallery (Victoria)
2021
Sunday Afternoon. Outdoor site responsive series curated by Daniel Laskarin. (Victoria)
2020
Summer of Theory. Outdoor site responsive sculpture. Cultural, Social and Political Thought International Conference, University of Victoria (Victoria)
2019
Signals + Channels. Curated by Madeline Bogoch. Video Pool Media Arts (Winnipeg)
40th Anniversary Exhibition. YYZ Artists’ Outlet (Toronto)
Women Artists Changing Collections: Recent Acquisitions. Legacy Art Gallery (Victoria)
2017/2018
Isolated Landscapes. Touring exhibition. Curated by Kathy Rae Huffman. Platform Gallery and Video Pool Media Arts (Winnipeg); Remai Modern Art Gallery (Saskatoon); Groupe Intervention Video (Montreal)
2016
Baleful. Curated by Ben Portis. Pari Nadimi Gallery with the cooperation of Oakville Galleries’ collection (Toronto)
Myth of Fishes. Curated by Julia Prudhomme. Campbell River Art Gallery (Campbell River, BC)
2015
Spaceraiser. Open Space Arts Society in collaboration with the Ministry of Casual Living (Victoria)
2014
They Made a Day Be a Day Here. Curated by Amy Fung. School of Art Gallery, University of Manitoba (Winnipeg)
2013
Now Art. Audain Gallery, University of Victoria (Victoria)
Paradox. Curated by Mary Jo Hughes. Legacy Art Gallery (Victoria)
They Made a Day Be a Day Here. Curated by Amy Fung. Touring exhibition. Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon) and the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (Grande Prairie, Alberta)
2012
Winnipeg Now. Major contemporary exhibition to celebrate the museum’s 100th anniversary. Guest curated by Robert Enright and Meeka Walsh. Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg)
2011
Prairie Scene. Curated by Soloman Nagler. National Arts Centre (Ottawa)
2009
Paths and Traces. Curated by Pascale Beaudet. Les Jardins du Précambrien (Val-David, Quebec)
2008
Biennale Nationale de Sculpture Contemporaine. Curated by Josee Wingen. (Trois-Rivières, Quebec)
Subconscious City. Guest curated by Shawna Dempsey & Lorri Millan. Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg)
Dream House. Curated by Steven Maticjio. Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art (Winnipeg)
2007
The Wall. Curated by James Patten. Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor, Ontario)
Scratching the Surface: The Post-Prairie Landscape. Curated by Steven Maticjio. Plug In ICA (Winnipeg)
Artbus. Various locations (mobile exhibition) (Madrid, Spain)
Found. Curated by Josephine Mills. University of Lethbridge Gallery (Lethbridge, Alberta)
2006
Artissima 13 (Turin, Italy)
2005
Berlin/Toronto Exchange. Curated by Rhonda Corvese. Loop-Raum Für Aktuelle Kunst (Berlin, Germany)
Soft Passages. 25th anniversary exhibition. Curated by Shannon Anderson. Oakville Galleries (Oakville)
From To. Curated by Doug Lewis. MCAD Gallery (Minneapolis, USA)
2004
Live in the Centre. Guest curated by Shawna Dempsey. Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg)
From To. Curated by Doug Lewis. Plug In ICA (Winnipeg)
Recent Chicago Film and Video. Curated by Deborah Stratman. Strasbourg Musee d’Art Moderne et Contemporain (Strasbourg, France)
Sweet Things for the Observer. De Player (Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Battle of the Dimensions. Kunst & Complex (Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Scope Art Miami (Miami, USA)
Berlin Constructions. Curated by Rhonda Corvese. Toronto International Art Fair Special Curatorial Exhibition (Toronto)
2003
made@home. Aspex Gallery (Portsmouth, UK)
The Bold and the Beautiful. Worm Media Arts (Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Weathervane. Ace Art Inc. (Winnipeg)
2002
Home Show. Curated by James Patten. Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg)
The Jennifer Show. Curated by Jenifer Papararo. Oakville Galleries (Oakville, Ontario)
Direct to Documentation. 7a*11d Performance Art Festival (Toronto)
2000
Passart: Passage media art festival. Various locations (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec)
Canadian Media Exhibition. Monte Video (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Uncut, Special Edition. Institute of Contemporary Art (London, England)
COMMISSIONS
2022
Shortlisted as one of three artists for a site-specific work in Esquimalt – commissioned to produce detailed proposal. Ballard Fine Arts (Vancouver)
2018
Shortlisted as one of three artists for a site-specific work in Burnaby – commissioned to produce detailed proposal. Ballard Fine Arts (Vancouver)
2014
High Five. Public Art commission – result of national call and juried competition. Large-scale permanent outdoor sculpture installed on Waterfront Drive in August (Winnipeg)
2012
Winnipeg Now. 100th anniversary museum commission at the Winnipeg Art Gallery; selected by a National Selection Committee (Winnipeg)
2002
Home Show. Winnipeg Art Gallery, museum exhibition commission for international show (Winnipeg)
ARTIST TALKS
2016
Sheridan College & University of Toronto’s Visual Arts Program
2015
University of British Columbia, Okanagan
2012
University of Victoria, Department of Visual Arts
Mentoring Artists for Women Artists Inc.
Alberta College of Art and Design
2011
Sculptural Vocabularies (Presenter and Panel Member), Winnipeg Art Gallery
2010
Art Now, University of Manitoba
2009
University of Western Ontario
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art
2007
Art Now, University of Lethbridge
2005
University of Manitoba, School of Art