Sarah Jeanette Jackson, (née Sherman) (1924 – 2004) was an American-Canadian artist. Jackson first became known for her sculptures and drawings, and then for her photocopy and

digital art Digital art refers to any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process, or more specifically computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960s, various names ...

. She was an early user of the photocopier to make art, and used this practice to embrace mail art.

Biography

She was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in 1924. She studied at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

. She graduated in 1948 and left for

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

where she taught English at Mexico City College and began her life as an artist. She arranged international

copy art Xerox art (sometimes, more generically, called copy art, electrostatic art, scanography or xerography) is an art form that began in the 1960s. Prints are created by putting objects on the glass, or platen, of a copying machine and by pressing "st ...

festivals and mail art exhibitions, believing that this could lead to an ideal democratic interchange between artists and the public, without regard to political, economic or cultural barriers. Jackson documented these with published catalogues including the 1985 ''International Mail/Copier Art Exhibition'' catalogue which received an award of excellence from the Art Museum Association of America. The assembled works were displayed both in London in 1987 and at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 1992 and became part of the collection of the

Canadian Postal Museum The Canadian Postal Museum (CPM) was a museum once housed within the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec. It was described by the Smithsonian Museum as being one of the five largest postal museums in the world, ranking second in ann ...

. Jackson also contributed to many art exhibitions abroad including two in Italy that were organized at Giuseppe Perotti School in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, 1987 and 1990, and subsequently collaborated with Lidia Chiarelli and British poet

Aeronwy Thomas Aeronwy Bryn Thomas-Ellis (3 March 1943 – 27 July 2009) was a poet, writer and translator of Italian poetry. She was the second child and only daughter of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his wife, Caitlin Macnamara. She had two brothers, Lle ...

in developing ''Immagine & Poesia'', a project that a few years later became the international artistic literary movement. During this period she also used copiers to create bookworks. From 1995 on, she worked exclusively with computers. Jackson's last retrospective exhibition titled ''Spirit Journey / Bodies of Work'' at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 2001 included bronze sculptures, ink drawings, mixed media assemblages, photocopier art and digital paintings.Peter Dykhuis and Pamela Edmonds, ''Sarah Jackson: Spirit Journey / Bodies of Work''. Halifax: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. 2001. Jackson died in 2004 in Halifax.

Collections

Her work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, the National Art Library at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London the

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec ( en, National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is situated in Battlefield Park and is a complex consisting of four bui ...

the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...

and the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

Gallery

Image:Sarah Jackson, Woman, 1972.jpg, ''Woman'', 1972 Image:Sarah Jackson, copier art at 2001 retrospective exhibition.jpg, Copier art at 2001 retrospective exhibition

References

Bibliography

*Robert Melville, "The New Sculptors", ''Harper's Bazaar'', 46: 33-34. January, 1952. *Pierre Rouve, "Sculpture de Sarah Jackson", ''Prisme des arts'', 6: 42. November, 1956. *Guy Robert, "Eros et humour chez Sarah Jackson", ''Vie des Arts'', 20: 30-31. Spring, 1975. *Tom Coleman, "Xerox Art is No Copycat", ''Globe and Mail'', Toronto. July 3, 1976. *Peter Bromley, "Sarah Jackson", ''Visual Arts News'', 1: 6-7. Fall 1977. *''Sarah Jackson''. Doomsday Studios with the assistance of the National Film Board of Canada. video, 10 minutes. 1980. *Donna Smyth, "Sarah Jackson's Eyeconography", ''Atlantic Provinces Book Review'', 12:16. May–June, 1985. *''Canadian Who's Who'', Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 1996. *David Liss, "Copy Art: What happened to the Pioneers?", ''Artfocus'', 4: 20-23. Winter, 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Sarah Jeanette Canadian contemporary artists Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian women sculptors American emigrants to Canada American people of Polish-Jewish descent American women sculptors Jewish American artists Jewish Canadian artists 2004 deaths 1924 births 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century Canadian sculptors 20th-century American women artists Wayne State University alumni 20th-century Canadian women artists American expatriates in Mexico American expatriates in France American expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women