Biography
US-American artist living in Germany
Jordana Rae Gassner is primarily an oil painter with a focus on metaphysical realism. The early years of her life were spent in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. It was there she learned to love all that nature had to offer while running barefoot through fields and climbing up big rocks. She currently resides and works in Germany, and spends much of her time experimenting with exploring ideas of science and spirituality on traditional supports such as linen canvas. She began working at age 14 within the fashion industry which helped to influence her later decision to direct her own creative arts endeavors. Her ensuing experiences working at her family’s gallery and picture framing business before beginning studies in Psychology, Literature and Philosophy, helped to refine her focus towards 2 dimensional paintings and small sculpture. JRG obtained her Bachelors of Arts in 1999 after studying at the Universidad de las Americas in Mexico, the Universität i Bergin in Norway and Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, USA. Mostly, her art practice was confined to aquarelle and acrylic painting until 2005 when she and her small family moved to Seattle, WA. There, she was able to re-commence learning to work with oil painting materials. In 2007, she again relocated, this time to Regensburg, one of the most beautiful cities in Bavaria. Ironically, the overwhelming “European-ness” of her new home had her yearning to create artworks reminiscent of her abstract expressionist fore-fathers and mothers in America.
Additional Information
Taking 3 template views of creation: the molecular, the more or less everyday „figurative“ and the cosmic, I switch between these images in attempts to re-awaken a knowing connectedness of all things and possibilities. Having wanted to save the world since I was 7, recognizing what I thought an inherent prison-nature of human existance created by one's own limited thoughts leading to main themes of: addiction, poverty, debt... Art became a way to change the discussion and pull myself out of a treadmill existance. My oil paintings are a continuation of American predecessors' abstract expressionism and a nod to classical mastery of spike lavender, egg tempura, pigments, flax and wood supports. The modernization of technique is to bring in the full spectrum of oil paints' versatility by evoking a lived in, favorite-jeans-feel with the holes in the knees and rubbing on the pockets. This is achieved by using fogging, wrinkling and craquelure in addition to traditional glazes, scumbling, impasto and other techniques.
There is an almost blasé regard for constriction in my work as seen with a lack of regard for the boundary of the frame. By negotiating repetitive colors or forms, there is also an aim to create a feeling of structure and thereby resonant calm. The incorporation of the 3 primary colors of red, blue and yellow into every piece, the works are intended to encroach upon a literal manifestation of limitless possibility; a visual reminder that those 3 colors can create an almost infinite number of results. To extend the flexibility of each artwork and subsequently the aimed expansiveness of thought behind it, sometimes, the pieces do not have a single side that is "up." This means, for instance, that a collector or curator can choose to place a polyptych together or hang each individual piece in differing combinations and orientations.
The paintings are organized mainly by series, but often works can be combined to create new polyptychs due to their color or size similarities. Each painting is unique.
With a strong focus on knowing my materials, I would like to help activate spaces by creating pleasing or energizing paintings into everyday rooms. A famous artist once said that art was not for decorating, but was rather a „defensive weapon.“ My works are acts of peace and fortitude and are resplendent in respect for nature, for life. They are sometimes used as beacons for highlighting what I see as troublespots (current affairs/relevant, specific topics from the list above) and are encouraged for home, areas open to the public and office enjoyment. They are intended, with varying degrees of intensity, to inspire, to bring joy, to evoke calm and to change the discussion.
CV
JORDANA RAE GASSNER
b. 1976, Black Hills, SD, USA
Education
1999 Bachelor of Arts, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, USA
1998-1999 Universität Bergen, Norway
1997 Universidad de las Americas, Mexico City, Mexico
Solo / Group Exhibitions
2023
‘I am You’, Florence Biennale XIV, Florence, Italy
'Zurück Gewonnen Freiheit', North Wing St. Josef's, Regensburg, Germany
'X artists', Prachtsaal Studio, Berlin, Germany
ArtMUC Art Fair, Munich, Germany
2022
Spectrum Art Fair, Miami, FL, USA
'100 Unter 1000', Schindler LAB gallery, Potsdam, Germany
Discovery Art Fair, Frankfurt, Germany
ARTMUC, Munich, Germany
EuropArtFair, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
‘Where the Wild Things Are?’, Gallery Graf, Amberg, Germany
PAF – Parallax Art Fair, London, England
‚Art at Midnight‘, Broadway Plaza, Times Square, New York, NY
Krones AG Ausstellung, Regensburg, Germany [solo]
Animals, Grey Cube Gallery, online
‘THE WAY’, Albe Art Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
‘Transcending Barriers: Art Outside The Box’, Teravarna Art Gallery
2021
‚Komm’ unter meine Flügel‘, Neuer Kunstverein, Regensburg, Germany
‚From Micro to Macro‘, Kunstgalerie Graf, Amberg, Germany
‘I want to Believe’, Gallerium , online, Ontario, Canada
‘WHATEVS’, Art Fluent, Massachusetts, USA
Open Theme, Las Laguna Art Gallery, California, USA
Light Space & Time, Online Art Gallery
Art Show International Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA
Azucar Gallery, Berlin, Germany
‘Landscape’, Art Show International Gallery, artsy.net
‘PANTA RHEI’, Galerie Schindler Lab, Potsdam, Germany
‘On Site’, Kunstgalerie Graf, Amberg, Germany
2019
‘Landscapes’, Finesse Center, Regensburg, Germany
2018 ‘Abstract Landscapes’, Marina Forum, Regensburg, Germany
2017 Finesse Center, Dauerausstellung, Regensburg, Germany
Honors and Awards (nominations indicated)
2022 Certificate of Excellence, Circle Foundation for the Arts
Finalist, 2022 Animals, Grey Cube Gallery, “Dintsa le Dikolobe”
2021 Merit Prize Award, Art Show International Gallery, “Introspection”
Special Recognition, Light Space & Time, “Gemma”
Publications/News Pieces
2022 Art Business News | Spotlight Recipient
TVA Blitzlicht / television news interview
Onetz (Region Amberg) / "Zwei junge Künstlerinnen stellen in der Galerie Graf am Amberger Roßmarkt aus"
Oberpfalz TV / "Kunstausstellung in der Kunstgalerie Graf"
Circle Quarterly Art Review Magazine – Issue 8
2021 „Die Frau aus den Black Hills”, Mittelbayerische Newspaper (Zeitung)
Issue 18, Artist Talk Magazine, London, UK
„Change the Discussion“, Top 99 catalog, Regensburg, Germany
Goddess Arts Magazine, Germany
“Gemälde-Genuss im Schaufenster”, Onetz, Sulzbach-Rosenberger Amberger Zeitung
Issue 19, Art Hole Magazine, United Kingdom
Public and Corporate Collections
Cording Rechtsanwälte, Deggendorf, Germany
Kanzlei Christian J. Kreuzer, Regensburg, Germany
Krones AG, Neutraubling, Germany
MG Holding GmbH, Saal / Donau, Germany
Vogl Electronic GmbH, Salching, Germany
