Jantje Visscher is an American painter, printmaker, photographer, sculptor, teacher, and mentor. Visscher uses geometry and mathematics to explore the dynamics of perception and optical effects through the use of nontraditional mixed media. She is from Minneapolis, MN, and is active among the

WARM Warm, WARM, or Warmth may refer to: * A somewhat high temperature * Kindness Music * ''Warm'' (The Lettermen album), 1967, and the title song * ''Warm'' (Johnny Mathis album), 1958, and the title song * ''Warm'' (Herb Alpert album), 1969 * '' ...

(Women's Art Resources of MN) Mentor Program and the

Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art The Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art (TZCVA) is an artist cooperative located in the historic Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1993, TZCVA was established to create an artist-owned and managed buil ...

. Visscher is best known for hard-edge abstraction and minimalism within her scientific approach and exploration of perception and mathematics.

Early life and education

Jantje Visscher graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from

Antioch College Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its f ...

in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She later earned her M.F.A in Fine Arts, Painting, and Printmaking from the

University of California Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

in 1962. After grad school, Visscher returned to Minnesota to take care of her family. In 1973, Visscher joined Minnesota's

collective, and connected to its supportive environment.

Groups and collectives

WARM (Women's Art Resource of MN)

Visscher is one of the founding members of WARM, a feminist artist collective based in MN. The collective became an important aspect that shaped and reinforced Visscher as an artist. She now serves as a mentor in the WARM Mentor Program which pairs emerging artists with professional artists. Her philosophy as a mentor includes the practice of constant revision of goals and refocusing within daily life and as an artist. She strives to help protegees develop basic career skills like marketing, drawing, and Photoshop that will help them become successful practicing artists. As a mentor, Visscher also helps proteges develop their art through philosophical discussion, learning technical skills, creating art regularly many more. Visscher is a mixed media artist and has been a part of the WARM Mentor Program in 2015-2016, mentoring artist Kate Vinson, and also in 2013-2014, mentoring artist Maryellen Murphy. Visscher has taken part in both final capstone exhibitions for the WARM Mentor Program, accompanied by her fellow protegees. She exhibited her piece, ''Capital'' in the final exhibition ''Landing and Launching'' in 2016, and exhibited ''Making Your Wings'' in the 2014 final exhibition ''Beyond the Surface''.

Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art

Visscher is also one of the founding members of

s which provides high-quality and affordable studio spaces for artists. Visscher is still active in this community through the Traffic Zone Art’s 22nd Annual Spring Open Studio that will be happening in May 2017.She also had a recent show titled ''Motion'' at the Traffic Zone Gallery in January 2017 that runs through the beginning of March 2017. This show features collaged prints that display her fascination with the “constant motion of everything in the universe”.

Career

Style

Visscher is fascinated with using various techniques and processes to achieve nonobjective representations. Her style emerged as using geometric principles to create intuitive expression through repetition, limited color palettes, and grids. Visscher introduces a shifting relationship between figure and ground as her experimental constructions invite various perceptions and illusions from her viewers. Visscher's work is reminiscent of the natural sciences and architecture. She uses radiating lines to intersect grids, mimicking moire patterns to create dramatic weaving, swirling, and swelling forms. ''Beautiful Lie Landscapes'', features diptych photographs of natural landscapes and waves that create an optical illusion when disoriented. Visscher “never gave the subject a thought until she glanced at a photo of a wave a couple of years ago and realized it was upside down but looked right” hence the beginning of her curiosity with orientation and perception. In ''Dancing In Ligthe ht'' exhibition, it references Visscher’s interest in “the idea of using a force of nature and light energy, as a drawing material”.

Work

Selected exhibitions

* 2017: ''Motion'', Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art, Minneapolis, MN. * 2016: ''Launching and Landing'', WARM Mentor-Protegee exhibition, Minneapolis, MN. * 2007: ''Dancing In Light'', Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN. * 2006: ''12 Artists of the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota'', Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN. * 2005: ''Abstract Art in MN'', Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN. * 2004: Faculty Exhibit, Women’s Art Institute, Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Minneapolis, MN. * 2003: ''One by One'', Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art, Minneapolis, MN. * 2002: Group exhibition, Bush Foundation, St.Paul, MN. * 2001: ''Recent Photographs: The Beginning is Also the End'', Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art, Minneapolis, MN. * 2000: ''Emerging Perceptions'', College of St. Catherine, St.Paul, MN.

Public collections

* Walker Art Center, Minneapolis * First Banks, Minneapolis * Minneapolis Corporate Institute of Arts; Weisman Museum, Minneapolis * Minnesota Museum of Collections American Art, St. Paul; * College of St. Catherine, St. Paul * KTCA, St. Paul * University of Oklahoma Museum of Art * President’s House, Duke University, NC * Northern States Power, Mpls * Minneapolis StarTribune * Grand Met, Mpls offices * University of Minnesota Hospitals, Mpls * Morgan Whitney, Mpls * The Marsh Center, Minnetonka * Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul * College of St. Thomas, St. Paul * Chamber of Commerce, St. Paul * College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, MN * Stylmark, Fridley, MN

Commissioned work

* St. Paul, Entrances for the St. Paul Civic Center 1995 * Willmar Technical College, MN for Arts, 1993 * University of Wisconsin, River Falls, WI for Arts 1991 * Willmar Community College, MN for Arts 1991 * Mural for State of Minnesota, Centennial Building, 18 feet, MN forArts 1990 * The state of Minnesota, Department of Finance, MN for Arts 1990 * State of Minnesota, Centennial Building, 3rd floor, MN for Arts 1990

Awards and nominations

* St. Paul, Civic Center Competition, 1995 * Honors NEA Visual Arts Fellowship 1989 * Minnesota State Arts Board Career Opportunity Grant 1989 * ArtsMidwest/NEA Fellowship 1988 * Bush Foundation Fellowship 1984 * Minnesota State Arts Board Project Grant 1984 * WARM Livingston Griggs Mentor Grants 1981,1986,1991,1997 * Public Art University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, stained glass windows 1997

Bibliography

* New York Times, About Place, Richard Brenson, 1886 * Minneapolis StarTribune, Mary Abbe, 2000 * Harmonic States, catalog essay, Eleanor Heartney, 1982 * Walker Permanent Collection Catalog, Marge Goldwater, 1988 * PS1, Catalog for About Place, Ed Leffingwell, 1986 * Minneapolis Tribune, Mary Abbe, 2006.

References

External links

Jantje Visscher's webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Visscher, Jantje Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women painters Antioch College alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni 21st-century American women