Her work is characterized by the use of embossed metal foil, found objects, and humor to critique social structures, particularly regarding women, labor, and migration. She has been an affiliated member of A.I.R. Gallery in New York City since 1985.[1]
At the University of Iowa, Gilmor was a student of Hans Breder in the Intermedia Program, a multidisciplinary art curriculum that encouraged the blending of visual arts, performance, and video.[2] During this time, she was a peer of the artist Ana Mendieta; both artists utilized body-centric performance and goddess iconography, though Gilmor often incorporated satire and humor into her approach to these themes.[1]
In the 1970s, Gilmor developed performance works that critiqued female stereotypes and consumer culture. Her most significant early work was the All-American Glamour Kitty Pageant (1976). Gilmor entered her own cat, "Kitty Glitter," into the commercial competition as an embedded performance, documenting the event to create satirical video and installation works.[3] Artifacts from this project, including the "Official Score Card," were later archived and featured in Cabinet magazine.[3]
Following this, she developed the personas "Kitty Glitter" and "Erma." She performed as these characters at archaeological sites in Greece and Egypt, producing a series of "photo tableaux" titled Great Goddesses (1977–1981). These works juxtaposed ancient ruins with domestic or absurdist costuming to comment on the mythology of the feminine, a practice cited by art historian Lucy Lippard in her survey of the era, Overlay.[4]
Installations and materiality
In the 1980s and 1990s, Gilmor began using industrial aluminum foil and metal repoussé as a primary medium, covering furniture, rooms, and architectural elements in embossed metal skins. This technique was noted by art historian Joy Sperling as a method of "satirizing the search for meaning" while creating "shrines to the ordinary."[1] Major installations from this period include Beds (1994) and Windows (1995), the latter created for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Social practice
Since 2000, Gilmor’s practice has focused on community-based collaboration (social practice). She conducts workshops where participants—often from marginalized groups such as the homeless, immigrants, or factory workers—create embossed metal tiles or share oral histories which are incorporated into large-scale installations.
Un(Seen) Work (2010): Commissioned by the Faulconer Gallery at Grinnell College, this project involved collaboration with local industrial and service workers to document the "invisible" labor force of the Midwest.[5]
Bed/Shoe/Home (2017): A project focused on housing insecurity in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, created while she was a Miller Endowed Scholar at the University of Illinois.[6]
Exhibitions and collections
Gilmor's work has been exhibited extensively in the United States and internationally. She has been an affiliated member of A.I.R. Gallery in New York since 1985.[1]
1234567Sperling, Joy (2012). Jane Gilmor: I'll Be Back for The Cat. New York: A.I.R. Gallery. ISBN978-0-615-59092-7.{{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
↑"Guide to the Jane Gilmor Materials". Fales Library & Special Collections, New York University. Retrieved 2025-12-16. 3M T-60 VHS videorecording with annotations: "1996/97 McKnight Fellowship Artists 32 minutes"
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