Jessica Voorsanger (born 1965) is an American artist and academic, living and working in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She has worked on the "Mystery Train" project for the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

to make contemporary art more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Her work has been exhibited more than two dozen times with her husband, fellow artist Patrick Brill, best known as

Bob and Roberta Smith Patrick Brill (born 1963), better known by his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith, is a British contemporary artist, writer, author, musician, art education advocate, and keynote speaker. He is known for his "slogan" art, is an associate professor ...

Early life and education

Jessica Voorsanger was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1965 and grew up on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

of Manhattan. Two of her grandparents were artists: her father's mother and her mother's father. She first studied

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

at The Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York from 1982 to 1983 and obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts at

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

in 1987. She began graduate studies at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, London in 1991 and received her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in fine art in 1993. She met Patrick Brill (the artist Bob and Roberta Smith) after graduating from Rhode Island School of Design. When he returned to London, she went with him and they are now married.

Artist

Voorsanger creates inter-active installations, objects, performances and events that reference pop and celebrity culture. As a child growing up in the 1970s she was enamored with popular

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television shows like ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, after ...

'' and ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...

'', and, as one critic has reported, she believes her interest in the shows planted "the seeds of star adulation" that has influenced her work; and "that these cosy shows were a social glue, offering comfort to a nation traumatised by the Vietnam war and bankruptcy." Her artwork explores stardom, television shows, and fame using a wide range of media, including filmed performances, paintings and sculptures. Journalist Jessica lacks said, "Her brand of celebrity-quick art has occasionally been dismissed as lightweight, with critics overlooking or ignoring the fact that Voorsanger's guileful ability to make work that is as addictive and kitsch as ''Heat'' magazine, operates on the same plain as the world she is critiquing." She particularly is interested in portraying celebrities that she believes have real talent, increasingly relevant with the advent of reality television. In 2008's Star Struck, performers were made up as

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

and

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...

. The mixed media installation projected multiple films of the costumed karaoki performers singing the songs of another artist: David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust was sung by Amy Winehouse. The installation included portraits of the chosen celebrities. Voorsanger was commissioned to work on an

six-month project entitled "Mystery Train." She partnered in 2008 with

Art on the Underground Art on the Underground, previously called ''Platform for Art'', is Transport for London's (TfL) contemporary public art programme. It commissions permanent and temporary artworks for London Underground, as well as commissioning artists to create ...

and Pursuing Independent Paths (PIP) to make transportation easier to navigate and encourage people with learning disabilities to explore contemporary art venues. PIP students and Voorsanger visited London's museums and galleries, had a behind-the-scenes tour of the Charing Cross Underground station and developed multiple communications media, including "Heads, Bodies, Legs" posters and costumed karaoke games. Each poster has a composite image the head, body and legs of ICA staff, London Underground staff and PIP students. Art educator, Emily Candela commented: "I have enjoyed the sense of exploration that runs through Mystery Train. Travel itself – and London's transport system in particular – served both as inspiration for our projects with Jessica Voorsanger as well as the link between our base at the ICA, PIP's centre in Westminster and the world of galleries and museums that we discovered."

Lecturer

Voorsanger has lectured since 1997 for Goldsmiths College Masters of Arts program,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Camberwell College of Arts Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgra ...

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, and

The Slade The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

. From 1998 to 2003, she was a lecturer in pictorial arts at

Kent Institute of Art & Design The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone Co ...

. Since 2003 she has been a part-time lecturer for both the

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Inst ...

's Fine Art and Research and

Wimbledon School of Art Wimbledon College of Arts, formerly Wimbledon School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London specialising in theatre, screen and performance art. It is located in Wimbledon and Merton Park, South West London. ...

's Bachelor of Arts programs. Voorsanger has been an external examiner for the University of East London since 2007.

Exhibitions

She has exhibited widely in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany. She and her husband, Patrick Brill, known as the artist Bob and Roberta Smith, exhibited together more than 2 dozen times. Some of her solo and group exhibitions are:

Solo shows

* 1998 – Jessica Voorsanger – Wilkinson Gallery, London, England * 2003 – I Think I Love You – Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland * 2007 – The Agony and the Ecstasy – George Rodger Gallery, Maidstone, Kent, England * 2008 – The Woody Allen Show – Gallery 33, Berlin (closed, 2008) * 2009 – Crimefighters – Kornhäuschen, Aschaffenburg, Germany * 2009 – Eastenders – Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, England * 2011 – Peckham Heroes – Peckham Space, London, England * 2013 – Jessica Voorsanger – Worldstaronestoppopshop – Kornhäuschen, Aschaffenburg

Group exhibitions

* 1995 – Lost Property / Trill – W139, Amsterdam * 1996 – Michael Corris, "Gang Warefare" – Le Consortium, Dijon * 1998 – Channel 3 – team (gallery, inc.), New York City, NY * 2000 – Horten und SITE + Gäste - Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf * 2001 – Teeth & Trousers – Cell Project Space, London, England * 2002 – Air Guitar – Cornerhouse, Manchester, England * 2002 – Air Guitar – Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England * 2003 – Air Guitar – Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, England (closed) * 2003 – Air Guitar – Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, Cumbria, England * 2003 – Independence – SLG South London Gallery, London, England * 2004 – The Birthday Party – Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland * 2006 – Forward/Backward and Reloading – Island6 Arts Center, Shanghai * 2006 – Metropolis Rise: New Art From London – , London, England * 2007 – Art Car Boot Fair 2007 – Art Car Boot Fair, London, England * 2008 – Mapping Correspondence: Mail Art in the 21st Century – The Center for Book Arts, New York City, NY * 2008 – Starstruck – The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, West Midlands, England * 2008 – The Famous, the Infamous & the Really Quite Good – Decima Gallery, London, England * 2008 – The Golden Record – Sounds of Earth – Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland * 2009 – Horn of Plenty –

Viktor Wynd Viktor Wynd is an artist, author, lecturer, impresario and committee member of The London Institute of 'Pataphysics. Artwork As an artist, Wynd created The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History in London's East End, a st ...

Fine Art, London, England * 2009 – Famous – Celebrity(ies) and Visual Art – Künstlerhaus Dortmund, Dortmund * 2009 – Reg Perfect and the Squeegees – Portman Gallery, London, England * 2009 – Too Much is Not Enough – Transition Gallery, London, England * 2009 – Warholesque – Richard Young Gallery, London, England * 2010 – Sold Out – Elastic Residence, London, England * 2010 – Stardust Boogie Woogie – Monika Bobinska (former Lounge Gallery), London, England * 2010 – The House of Fairy Tales – Exquisite Trove – Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn, England * 2010 – The House of Fairy Tales – Millennium, St. Ives, Cornwall, England * 2010 – Stardust Boogie Woogie – Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin * 2010 – Unrealised Potential – Cornerhouse, Manchester, England * 2011 – Drawing 2011 – Biennial Fundraiser – The Drawing Room, London, England * 2011 – Fraternise – Beaconsfield, Beaconsfield, England * 2011 – Pulp Fictions – Transition Gallery, London, England * 2012 – Adventure – Herrick Gallery, London, England * 2012 – Plate – Herrick Gallery, London, England * 2012 – Tainted Love – Meter Room, Coventry, England * 2012 – Tainted Love – Transition Gallery, London, England * 2013 – Collage Principle – Kornhäuschen, Aschaffenburg

References

External links

Jessica Voorsanger's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voorsanger, Jessica 1965 births Living people American people of Dutch descent American contemporary painters American women painters 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters 20th-century British painters 21st-century British painters American emigrants to England British people of Dutch descent 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists