Jeff Jahn
Encyclopedia
Jeff Jahn is a curator
, art critic
, artist
, historian
, blog
ger and composer based in Portland
, Oregon
, United States
.
Jeff Jahn's cultural activities in Portland, Oregon frequently receive attention outside the region on CNN
, Art in America
, The Art Newspaper
and Art News etc. Described in the press as "outspoken and provocative", and curatorially as, "a clarion call for Portland's new guard of serious artists—the ones creating a dialog that exceeds the bounds of so-called regional art." He originally took up art criticism when then Modern Painters (magazine)
editor Karen Wright asked him to contribute to the then London based magazine in the late 1990s and in 2005 he co-founded PORT, a noted visual art blog
.
Also, he lectures on art history or critiques at; Portland Art Museum
, University of Oregon
, Pacific Northwest College of Art
, Portland State University
, Oregon College of Arts and Craft and Lewis and Clark College. In 2010 he was a Juror for the Andy Warhol Art Writing Grants. From 2002-2008 Jahn served as a board member of the Portland Art Museum
's Contemporary Art Council and was elected to the vice president's post for a three year term 2005-2008. In 2006 he launched the visual arts non-profit Organism, which has hosted the work of artists Jarrett Mitchell Pipilotti Rist
, Yoram Wolberger, Weppler & Mahovsky and Hank Willis Thomas
. In 2008 he shut down Organism as the scope of his projects fell increasingly outside of its more narrow mission (living artists). One of Jahn's more recent curatorial project was a scholarly conference and exhibition dedicated to the work of Donald Judd
with Robert Storr
as keynote speaker at the University of Oregon
's Portland campus.
. Since 2007, his photography, and spatial installations have received increasing attention. One solo show Eutrophication took place at Pacific Northwest College of Art
's Manuel Izquierdo Sculpture Gallery in April 2008 in a space originally designed by a young Brad Cloepfil
, then later modified by faculty. His latest solo show Vection at the New American Art Union presented installation art and photography and was picked by the Huntington Post as a top show on the West Coast.
, Art News, CNN
, Modern Painters
, Art Critical, NY Arts Journal, Clear Cut Press
, The Oregonian
, Oregon Public Broadcasting
, Portland Tribune
, Portland Mercury, Willamette Week
, The Stranger
and Diesel music magazine. As publisher and chief critic of PORT, he prompted Stuart Horodner to state, "In the ecology of Portland he is an important independent player....He's calling for a level of seriousness." His critical writings and photos for Northwest Drizzle and PORT are detailed documentation of the recent changes in the Portland art scene.
On September 5, 2002, The Oregonian
said, "…Jahn's laser focus on the present moment emphasizes one important thing about him: He's the voice of right now." On December 20, 2006 Richard Speer stated, "Jeff Jahn has the smarts to mount quirky conceptual shows by nationally known artists…" The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
described "Fresh Trouble" (which included China
's Cao Fei) as "impressive."
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
, art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger and composer based in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Jeff Jahn's cultural activities in Portland, Oregon frequently receive attention outside the region on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Art in America
Art in America
Art in America is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It is designed for collectors, artists, dealers, art professionals and other...
, The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper is a monthly newspaper about the visual arts based in London.It is published in a newspaper, rather than a magazine, format...
and Art News etc. Described in the press as "outspoken and provocative", and curatorially as, "a clarion call for Portland's new guard of serious artists—the ones creating a dialog that exceeds the bounds of so-called regional art." He originally took up art criticism when then Modern Painters (magazine)
Modern Painters (magazine)
Modern Painters is a monthly art magazine published in New York City by Louise Blouin Media. The magazine is published 10 times per year; it includes profiles on two international artists per issue; columns by international contributors; interviews with and articles by contemporary artists and...
editor Karen Wright asked him to contribute to the then London based magazine in the late 1990s and in 2005 he co-founded PORT, a noted visual art blog
Art blog
An art blog is a common type of blog that comments on art. More recently, as with other types of blogs, some art blogs have taken on 'web 2.0' social networking features...
.
Also, he lectures on art history or critiques at; Portland Art Museum
Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it the oldest art museum on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the United States. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum became one of the twenty-five largest art museums in...
, University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
, Pacific Northwest College of Art
Pacific Northwest College of Art
The Pacific Northwest College of Art is a private fine art and design college in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1910, the art school grants bachelor of fine arts degrees and master of fine arts degrees and has an enrollment of about 550 students...
, Portland State University
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
, Oregon College of Arts and Craft and Lewis and Clark College. In 2010 he was a Juror for the Andy Warhol Art Writing Grants. From 2002-2008 Jahn served as a board member of the Portland Art Museum
Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it the oldest art museum on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the United States. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum became one of the twenty-five largest art museums in...
's Contemporary Art Council and was elected to the vice president's post for a three year term 2005-2008. In 2006 he launched the visual arts non-profit Organism, which has hosted the work of artists Jarrett Mitchell Pipilotti Rist
Pipilotti Rist
Elisabeth Charlotte "Pipilotti" Rist , is a visual artist who works with video, film, and moving images which are often displayed as projections.-Life and career:...
, Yoram Wolberger, Weppler & Mahovsky and Hank Willis Thomas
Hank Willis Thomas
Hank Willis Thomas is a contemporary African American visual artist and photographer whose primary interests are race, advertising and popular culture.-Parents:...
. In 2008 he shut down Organism as the scope of his projects fell increasingly outside of its more narrow mission (living artists). One of Jahn's more recent curatorial project was a scholarly conference and exhibition dedicated to the work of Donald Judd
Donald Judd
Donald Clarence Judd was an American artist associated with minimalism . In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it, ultimately achieving a rigorously democratic presentation without compositional hierarchy...
with Robert Storr
Robert Storr
-Education:Robert Storr received his B.A. in History and French from Swarthmore College in 1972, and earned an M.F.A. in Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1978.-Career:...
as keynote speaker at the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
's Portland campus.
Exhibitions
As a curator Jahn has been behind exhibitions like: "Play" (2002), "The Best Coast" (2003), "Symbiont Synthetic" (2003), "Fresh Trouble" (2005), "Model Behavior" (2007), Volume" (2008) and Donald Judd" (2010). Jahn's art has been exhibited in the United States and GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Since 2007, his photography, and spatial installations have received increasing attention. One solo show Eutrophication took place at Pacific Northwest College of Art
Pacific Northwest College of Art
The Pacific Northwest College of Art is a private fine art and design college in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1910, the art school grants bachelor of fine arts degrees and master of fine arts degrees and has an enrollment of about 550 students...
's Manuel Izquierdo Sculpture Gallery in April 2008 in a space originally designed by a young Brad Cloepfil
Brad Cloepfil
Brad Cloepfil is an American architect, educator and principal of Allied Works Architecture of Portland, Oregon and New York City. His first major project was an adaptive reuse of a Portland warehouse for the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy...
, then later modified by faculty. His latest solo show Vection at the New American Art Union presented installation art and photography and was picked by the Huntington Post as a top show on the West Coast.
Publications, reviews and interviews
Jahn has been published, reviewed and or interviewed in, Art in AmericaArt in America
Art in America is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It is designed for collectors, artists, dealers, art professionals and other...
, Art News, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Modern Painters
Modern Painters (magazine)
Modern Painters is a monthly art magazine published in New York City by Louise Blouin Media. The magazine is published 10 times per year; it includes profiles on two international artists per issue; columns by international contributors; interviews with and articles by contemporary artists and...
, Art Critical, NY Arts Journal, Clear Cut Press
Clear Cut Press
- About :Clear Cut Press was founded by novelist Matthew Stadler and Up Records co-founder Rich Jensen in 2002. Jensen began talking to Stadler while taking a poetry class in 1997. Their mutual interest in cultural movements and the role of books lead to a discussion resulting in the press...
, The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon Public Broadcasting is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of Oregon as well as southern Washington. With its headquarters and television studios in Portland, OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over...
, Portland Tribune
Portland Tribune
The Portland Tribune is a free weekly newspaper published each Thursday in Portland, Oregon, United States.The Tribune is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area, and also owns and operates the talk radio station KPAM, and...
, Portland Mercury, Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....
, The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
and Diesel music magazine. As publisher and chief critic of PORT, he prompted Stuart Horodner to state, "In the ecology of Portland he is an important independent player....He's calling for a level of seriousness." His critical writings and photos for Northwest Drizzle and PORT are detailed documentation of the recent changes in the Portland art scene.
On September 5, 2002, The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
said, "…Jahn's laser focus on the present moment emphasizes one important thing about him: He's the voice of right now." On December 20, 2006 Richard Speer stated, "Jeff Jahn has the smarts to mount quirky conceptual shows by nationally known artists…" The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
described "Fresh Trouble" (which included China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's Cao Fei) as "impressive."