James Jack (artist)

James Jack (ジェームズ ジャック, born 1979) is a contemporary artist based in Japan.

James Jack
NationalityAmerican Asian
EducationPhD, Tokyo University of the Arts
Known forContemporary art
AwardsCrown Prince Akihito Scholar 2008-2010
Websitejamesjack.org

Early life and education

Jack was raised on the East side of Manhattan, lived in Kyoto during the late 1990s and has lived in Asia Pacific for the past two decades. Jack received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College studying with Gary Burnley, Sandy Skoglund, and Joel Sternfeld and completed advanced studies in Japanese at the Stanford Inter-University Center for Japanese Studies. He completed a Master of Arts degree in Japanese Art History at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a Ph.D. in the Painting Department with Yoshitaka Mōri, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Ritsuko Taho and Toyomi Hoshina at Tokyo University of the Arts.

Career

Jack was a Crown Prince Akihito Scholar pursuing artistic research in Tokyo from 2008 to 2010.[1] He was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Artist Fellow at Social Art Lab at Kyushu University from 2016 to 2017 and taught Art Practice at Yale-NUS College in Singapore[2] from 2018-2022 while directing the Artist-in-Residence program and is currently Associate Professor of Intermedia Art at Waseda University.[3]

Selected artwork

Sunset House, 2010-2020

Jack created a community artwork titled Sunset House: The House as Language of Being for the Setouchi Triennale (2013/2016) in the former site of a clubhouse for stone quarry workers on the island of Shodo.[4]

Molokai Window, 2018

Jack worked with residents on the island of Molokai to respectfully open a window with local pigments and stories that recenter islands in the Pacific according to local protocols for community collaboration[5] in the solo exhibition Molokai Window held at Honolulu Museum of Art in 2018[6] curated by Healoha Johnston supported by the inaugural artist-in-residence program at Molokai Arts Center.[7]

Sea Birth trilogy, 2017-2020

Sea Birth trilogy is composed of sea spirits, love amidst violence and rebirth. Sea Birth one was exhibited at Museum of the Sky in 2016,[8] Sea Birth two was exhibited at Ichihanari Art Festival in Okinawa during 2018 and Sea Birth three at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Art Gallery and Donkey Mill Art Center in 2020.[9] Selections from the work have also been screened at Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, BARRAK alternative art space Okinawa and Asia Research Institute at National University of Singapore.

Exhibitions

Jack's artworks engaging with social and ecological environments have been included in numerous exhibitions including: Honolulu Museum of Art (2018);[10][11] Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (2017);[12] Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art (2016);[13] Setouchi International Art Festival (2013 and 2016);[4] Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art (2015);[14] Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore (2014);[15] Busan Biennale Sea Art Festival (2013);[16] and the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial (2009).[17] The exhibit Inundation: Art and Climate Change opened in Honolulu (January–March 2020) and went to the Island of Hawai‘i (July–October 2020). Artworks continue to grow into publications, exhibits and workshops.

Writings

His writings have been published in Shima,[18] Art Asia Pacific,[19] The Japan Times,[20] Modern Art Asia,[21][22] LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore,[23] Satoshi Koyama Gallery and The Contemporary Museum of Hawai‘i.[24]

Artist Collective

Jack is one of the founding members of the artist collective bacilli (former World Dirt Association) that began in 2014 with Yoshitaka Nanjo and Shotaro Yoshino based on their love of earth. bacilli exhibitions and projects include Setouchi Art Triennial 2022 the “Land and Water Festival” Niigata 2015, SYP Projects 2015, Ichihara Art x Mix 2017 and Social Art Lab Yame Remix. Projects include a performative work based on local residents’ stories of dirt “Soilstory” to be presented at Suzu 2023 Okunoto Triennale.

Residencies

Jack has been artist in residence at the Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore,[25] Vermont Studio Center, Ku Art Center, Sitka Center for Art & Ecology,[26] and the Orford Center.[27]

Media

Inundation: Art and Climate Change in the Pacific[28]

Jaimey Hamilton Faris and Azusa Takahashi

2020

In Praise of Shadows[29]

Michelle Ho

2017

One-hundred Stories Told by Art

Masahiro Ushiroshōji

2016 [13]

Literature
  • Wee, Darryl Jingwen, “James Jack’s Sunset House on Shodoshima”, BLOUIN ARTINFO, 5 November 2013
  • Kitagawa, Fram, “Yūyake hausu: Gengo ga yadoru ie” (“Sunset House: Language as the house of Being”), Shikoku shinbun, 6 July 2013
  • “Play with Nature, Played by Nature”, Exhibition catalog author, Tokyo: Satoshi Koyama Gallery, June 2013
  • “Philosophies of Dirt: James Jack”, Introduction by poet Brandon Shimoda, Solo exhibition catalog, Tokyo: Satoshi Koyama Gallery, October 2012

References
  1. "Scholars 2001-2010". Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation. 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  2. "James Jack | Yale-NUS College". Yale-NUS College. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  3. "Intermedia Art and Science / Teachers". intermedia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  4. "Shodoshima | Setouchi Triennale 2019". ART SETOUCHI / Setouchi Triennale. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  5. "Molokai Window opening reception was a moving experience | Honolulu Museum of Art Blog". Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  6. "Places found by memory: Artist James Jack on 'Molokai Window' | Honolulu Museum of Art Blog". Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  7. "Oral traditions in the 'Window' | Honolulu Museum of Art Blog". Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  8. "Exhibition (de)Tour by artist James Jack (United States/Singapore)". Gillman Barracks. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  9. "Exhibition". INUNDATION. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  10. Center, Molokai Arts. "James Jack Exhibit at the Honolulu Museum". Molokai Arts Center, Artists in Kualapuu Molokai specializing in ceramics, pottery, jewelry making, painting, dance and other art forms – “Bringing the arts to Molokai and Molokai to the arts”. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  11. "Places found by memory: Artist James Jack on 'Molokai Window' | Honolulu Museum of Art". honolulumuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  12. "The Making of an Institution — News | NTU CCA Singapore". ntu.ccasingapore.org. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  13. "九大百年 美術をめぐる物語 ｜ 福岡県立美術館". 福岡県立美術館 | 福岡市天神にある県立美術館の公式ホームページ。福岡県にゆかりのある作家の作品、福岡県の美術動向に関わる作品を中心に収集し、その調査研究をもとにした成果を企画展やコレクション展でご紹介しています。また、いま生まれつつあるアートシーンにも目を向け、積極的に紹介しています。 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  14. "James Jack│TURN". TURN. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  15. "Exhibition (de)Tour by artist James Jack (United States/Singapore) —Events| NTU CCA Singapore". ntu.ccasingapore.org. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  16. Freedman, Alisa; Slade, Toby (2018-01-02). Introducing Japanese Popular Culture. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-52893-7.
  17. "Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial". Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  18. Jack, James (2018-04-18). "Spirits Of Tsureshima: Creative Storytelling with Islanders". Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures. 12. doi:10.21463/shima.12.1.10.
  19. "ArtAsiaPacific: 80". artasiapacific.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  20. "James Jack". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  21. Jack, James (January 2013). "Encountering Photographs with Question Marks by Shigeo Anzai". Modern Art Asia (13).
  22. Yoshitake, Mika (2012). Requiem for the Sun: The Art of Mono-ha. ISBN 978-0966350326.
  23. http://drlib.lasalle.edu.sg/508/1/James Jack.pdf
  24. Archive, Asia Art. "Yoshihiro Suda". aaa.org.hk (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  25. "James Jack - Residencies". ntu.ccasingapore.org. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  26. "Past Residents". www.sitkacenter.org. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  27. "James Jack expose en première mondiale chez Orford Musique". Le Reflet du Lac (in Canadian French). 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  28. "INUNDATION". INUNDATION. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  29. "In Praise Of Shadows". Factory 1611. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
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