Jane Venis

Jane Venis is a New Zealand multimedia artist, musician and writer. She focuses on the "absurdities and concerns of contemporary popular culture," which she chooses to show through objects, video, sound and performance works. ^[1]

Biography

Venis gained a Master of Fine Arts from the Dunedin School of Art, and then a PhD in Fine Arts from Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Australia. ^[1]

Venis taught 'Music Making' night classes in the 1980s ^[2] and has made musical instruments since 2001. ^[3] She is currently Professor of Creative Studies ^[4] in the School of Design at Otago Polytechnic, and she teaches in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. ^[1]

Venis describes her work as "crafted assemblage" and creates musical instruments from reworked scrap and rubbish materials. Her work references the Japanese art of Chindogu - objects freed from the chains of usefulness. ^[3]

Notable exhibitions

• Dual, 2020 at the CICA Museum. A joint show with Hannah Joynt featuring video, drawing and audio works recorded in real time. ^[5]
• Drawn to Sound, 2019 at Ashburton Art Gallery. This joint show with Hannah Joynt as part of the Summer Season series featured multimedia and performance-based works. Earlier in 2019 Venis and Joynt undertook a residency in Portugal at the Buinho Creative Hub. ^{[6] [7] [8]}
• The Lost Object Ensemble, 2016 at Forrester Gallery in Dunedin. This exhibition featured a collection of musical instruments made from found materials. ^[9]
• Gymnaseum, 2011 at Dunedin Public Art Gallery. ^[10]
• Chindogu exhibition as part of the Dunedin Fringe Festival, 2009. ^[11]
• The Blathering, Gossiping about Gossip, 2003 at Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin. ^[12]

References

1. "Researcher profile for Jane Venis". Otago Polytechnic . Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
2. "Jane Venis - Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching". Ako Aotearoa. 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
3. Venis, Jane. "Behind the scenes with Dr Clawhammer" (PDF).
4. "Professoriate". Otago Polytechnic . Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
5. "Jane Venis and Hannah Joynt Solo Exhibition – CICA" . Retrieved 2 December 2020.
6. "Hannah Joynt & Jane Venis | Drawn to Sound". The Big Idea. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
7. "Drawn to Sound".
8. "Hannah Joynt and Jane Venis artwork" . Retrieved 2 December 2020.
9. "The lost object ensemble - Jane Venis".
10. Smith, Charmian (21 October 2011). "Chindogu of human desire". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 2 December 2020.
11. Constantine, Ellie (19 March 2009). "Un-necessity mother of inventions". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 2 December 2020.
12. "Jane Venis - Blue Oyster Art Project Space". www.blueoyster.org.nz. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2020.