Jeanette Mundt (born 1982) is an American painter, best known for her works in the 2019
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...
.
Early life
Mundt was born in
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
, but grew up in
Zurich,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.
Personal life
Mundt currently resides in the
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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section of
Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey
Franklin Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 62, ...
.
Career
Style
Many of Mundt's recent work which captures the small movements within gymnastic sequences is stylistically reminiscent of
Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge (; 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first ...
, who was well known for his pieces consisting of photographic series of motion. She is known for taking photographic images and painting them in a fragmented distortion.
Mundt described this approach in detail in a 2012 interview with
Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...
in ''
BOMB
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
'' that coincided with a solo show at Los Angeles's Michael Benevento Gallery. Mundt explained that "for the living room series of four paintings I worked with shifts in size and source. The first painting is 9 × 12 and painted from the photographic source, and the next is 16 × 20 and painted from the painting of the photographic source. The third is 9 × 12 again and painted from the preceding painting, and the last is 16 × 20, painted from the preceding painting."
Themes
In her Whitney Biennial paintings, Mundt addresses the issues of corruption within the
Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental Sports governing body, sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an associ ...
, the sport of
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
, and the media depictions of the sport. The concepts of forced femininity, nationalism, and gender are incorporated into many of her pieces. She began her series of works revolving around the 2016
U.S. Women's Olympic gymnastics team before the
scandal of the sexual abuse of many women under the care of Dr.
Larry Nassar
Lawrence "Larry" Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American former physician and convicted child rapist. For 18 years, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team. He used his employment as th ...
became known to the public; however, Mundt encourages viewers to contemplate the implications of the events upon reflecting on her paintings.
In a 2015 interview in ''
Interview
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
'', Mundt addressed the idea of the lone artist in society. "I’m not sure it’s possible to be a lone artist anymore what with the internet," she said. "And certainly not if you are ambitious."
Work
Public exhibitions
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mundt, Jeanette
1982 births
Living people
Painters from New Jersey
People from Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey
People from Princeton, New Jersey
Artists from Zürich