Jenifer K. Wofford

Jenifer K. Wofford, 2022

Jenifer K. Wofford is an American contemporary artist and art educator based in San Francisco, California, United States. Known for her contributions to Filipino-American visual art, ^{[1] [2]} Wofford's work often addresses hybridity, authenticity and global culture, frequently from an ironic, humorous perspective. ^[3] Wofford collaborates with artists Reanne Estrada and Eliza Barrios as the artist group Mail Order Brides/M.O.B. ^[4] She was also the curator of Galleon Trade, an international art exchange among California, Mexico and the Philippines. ^[5]

Background

Wofford was born in San Francisco, and raised in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Kuala Lumpur. Her family returned to California when she was a teenager. Wofford has lived and worked in San Francisco for much of her professional career. ^[6]

While receiving her BFA degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, Wofford studied with Carlos Villa, whose Worlds In Collision project was of significant influence on her development as an artist and educator. ^[7] While completing her MFA degree at UC Berkeley, Wofford worked with Catherine Ceniza Choy, whose book Empire of Care influenced the creation of Wofford's Filipina nurse- related art projects. ^[8] This led to a large body of work featuring Filipina caregivers featured in a 2020 article in Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory. ^[9]

Art

Wofford's visual art, performance art and curatorial projects have been presented in the United States, the Philippines, Malaysia, Turkey and Hong Kong. She has also been awarded artist-in-residence stays in France, the Philippines, Italy, Denmark and Norway. ^[10] Wofford received a 2025 San Francisco Bay Area Artadia Award from Artadia and a 2017 Painters and Sculptors Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation. ^[11]

Wofford's multidisciplinary project "Klub Rupturre!!" focused on Northern California's Loma Prieta earthquake and other cultural events from the year 1989 was presented at Black & White Projects ^[12] in San Francisco in 2019. ^[13] Variations on Klub Rupturre!! were subsequently presented at The Great Highway Gallery in San Francisco in 2021 ^[14] and at Silverlens Gallery in Manila in 2022. ^[15]

Wofford's 2020 mural, "Pattern Recognition," celebrating Asian and Asian American art, was displayed on the Asian Art Museum's Lui Hyde Street Art Wall in San Francisco from 2020 to 2023. ^{[16] [17] [18]} Her mural was vandalized in 2021. ^[19] A full-scale replica of "Pattern Recognition" was printed and presented on the exterior of the Asia Society in Houston in 2022. ^[20]

Wofford's work was featured in Alon: Journal of Filipinx American Diaspora Studies in 2023. ^[21]

Wofford's 2023 solo exhibition "Comfort Room" at Stanford University's Coulter Art Gallery addressed grief and solace. ^{[22] [23] [24]} A version of "Comfort Room" was presented by Silverlens Gallery at the 2024 Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles. ^{[25] [26]}

Wofford's SFMOMA mural, "VMD," inspired by Filipina American Olympic champion Victoria Manalo Draves, went on display in the museum in October 2024. ^[27]

Awards

• 2025 San Francisco Bay Area Artadia Awardee, Artadia, national organization
• 2023 YBCA 100 2023 Honoree, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA ^[28]
• 2022-24 Lucas Arts Residency Program Fellow, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA ^[29]
• 2021 Meta Open Arts installation commission, Facebook, San Francisco, CA^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2021 Artist Grant, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA ^[30]
• 2020 Artist Grant, Balay Kreative, San Francisco, CA ^[31]
• 2019 Individual Artist Grant, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2017 Painters and Sculptors Grant, Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York, NY ^[32]
• 2017 Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Year in Review Selection, Washington, DC^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2016 Print Public Residency Program Fellowship, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA ^[33]
• 2012 Investing In Artists Grant, Center for Cultural Innovation, Los Angeles/San Francisco, CA^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2011 Artist in Residence, Kino Kino, Sandnes, Norway^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2010 Bogliasco Fellowship, Liguria Study Center, Bogliasco, Italy^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2009 Eureka Fellowship, Fleishhacker Foundation, San Francisco, CA ^[34]
• 2007 Guardian Outstanding Local Discovery Award for Visual Art, San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco, CA^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2007 Art Matters Grant, Art Matters Foundation, New York, NY ^[35]
• 2006 Jack and Gertrude Murphy Fellowship, The San Francisco Foundation, San Francisco, CA^{[ citation needed ]}

Significant projects

• Galleon Trade (2007–08): international curatorial project in San Francisco and Metro Manila ^[36]
• Flor 1973-78 (2008): public art project in San Francisco ^[37]
• Manananggoogle (2013–2020): *as Mail Order Brides/M.O.B. installation and performance at San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, Southern Exposure and SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco ^[38]
• Earthquake Weather (2014): web project and installation ^{[39] [40]}
• Collapse (2015): painting series at Silverlens Galleries, Makati ^[41]
• Limning the Liminal (2019): exhibition of drawings, paintings, prints and artists books at University of San Francisco’s Thacher Gallery ^[42]
• Klub Rupturre!! (2019): installation, performance, video and paintings presented at Black and White Projects, San Francisco
• Pattern Recognition (2020): mural outside the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco ^{[4] [43] [44] [45]}
• Jiayou!! (2021): artwork displayed in collaboration with artist Christy Chan's project "Dear America" ^{[46] [47]}
• Fire Season (2021): artwork presented at Berkeley Art Center ^[48] and Asian Art Museum ^[49]
• Comfort Room (2023): exhibition at Stanford University's Coulter Art Gallery and Silverlens booth at Frieze LA
• VMD (2024): Mural inspired by Victoria Manalo Draves at SFMOMA ^[50]

Teaching

Wofford has taught Fine Arts and Philippine Studies courses at the University of San Francisco ^[51] since 2007.^{[ citation needed ]} She has also taught and/or advised students at University of California Berkeley, Stanford University, California College of the Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, Diablo Valley College and Vermont College of Fine Arts.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "Jennifer Wofford | University of San Francisco". Usfca.edu. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
2. "Asian Art Museum". Asianart.org. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
3. "statement". WoffleHouse. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
4. "San Francisco's Asian Art Museum unveils trio of new commissions, including mural by Chanel Miller". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
5. Ruiz, Cheeko (2007-08-19). "Modern-Day Galleon Trade Sets Sail | Starweek Magazine, Other STAR Sections". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
6. "Drawing Across Difference". Hyphen Magazine. May 2008. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
7. "State of the State: Contemporary Filipino/American Art in the Bay Area". YouTube. 2015-05-22. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
8. "Jenifer K. Wofford". Center for Art and Thought. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
9. Magat, Jonathan (2020). "Looking after the Filipina caregiver: Ambiguity and unknowability across Jenifer K Wofford's Nurse Drawings" . Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory. 30 (1): 70–92. doi:10.1080/0740770X.2020.1801004. S2CID   224890388 – via Fusion.
10. "Jenifer K Wofford's Artist-In-Residence studio at KINOKINO, Sandes Norway". Planting Rice. 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
11. http://joanmitchellfoundation.org/blog/announcing-the-2017-painters-sculptors-grant-recipients 2017
12. "Jenifer K Wofford: Klub Rupturre". black and white projects. 2019-08-25. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
13. Hotchkiss, Sarah (2019-10-10). "Shake Like It's 1989: 'Klub Rupturre!!' Turns Loma Prieta Quake Into TV Dance Party | KQED". www.kqed.org. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
14. "Rupturre Reduxx". The Great Highway – Outer Sunset Art Gallery in San Francisco. 2021-10-14. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
15. "Silverlens". www.silverlensgalleries.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
16. "Jenifer K Wofford: Pattern Recognition - Exhibitions - Asian Art Museum". Exhibitions. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
17. "Jenifer K Wofford's Pattern Recognition in process - Jenifer K Wofford". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
18. Lawrence, Lee (2021-08-06). "The Asian Art Museum: Full of Art With a Past, Not of the Past". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2021-12-01.
19. Irwin, Veronica (2021-01-18). "Two Prominent Asian Cultural Sites Vandalized". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
20. "Everything She Has Within Herself | Asia Society". asiasociety.org. 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
21. Wofford, Jenifer K. (2023). "Leese Street Studio: Jenifer K. Wofford". Alon: Journal for Filipinx American and Diasporic Studies. 3(1). 3 (1) – via Fusion.
22. "Jenifer K Wofford, Holt Visiting Artist Exhibition: Comfort Room". Stanford University. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
23. Cruz, Amrie; mvillegas (2023-10-14). "'Comfort Room' is a space of grief and growth for this Bay Area Fil-Am artist". INQUIRER.net USA. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
24. "Stanford exhibition features Jenifer Wofford's artistic tribute to Filipino Culture - CBS San Francisco". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
25. Stromberg, Matt (March 1, 2024). "Dispatches From Inside (and Outside) Frieze LA". Hyperallergic .
26. Durón, Maximilíano (2024-03-01). "The Best Booths at Frieze Los Angeles 2024, From a New 'Mona Lisa' to Art That Changes in Real Time". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
27. https://www.sfmoma.org/read/jenifer-k-wofford/
28. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (March 7, 2024). "2023 YBCA 100 Honorees".
29. https://montalvoarts.org/artist/jenifer-wofford/
30. https://www.sfartscommission.org/content/2021-grantees
31. https://balaykreative.org/stories-content/wofford
32. https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/jenifer-k-wofford
33. https://www.kala.org/exhibition/print-public-jenifer-k-wofford/
34. https://www.fleishhackerfoundation.org/all-eureka-fellows
35. https://www.artmattersfoundation.org/grantees/jenifer-wofford
36. Mary Eisenhart (2008-09-18). "'Galleon Trade: Bay Area Now 5 Edition'". SFGate. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
37. Catherine Ceniza Choy. "The New Face of Immigration: Flor de Manila y San Francisco by Jenifer K. Wofford". Center for Art and Thought. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
38. "The Corporate Vampires of San Francisco". Hyperallergic.com. 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
39. Han, Sarah (2014-10-03). "What Was It Like to Live through the '89 Quake? - The Bold Italic - San Francisco". The Bold Italic. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
40. Gebreyesus, Ruth (2019-09-19). "Artists Excavate the Events of 1989 in CCC's 'Task of Remembrance' | KQED". www.kqed.org. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
41. "Interview with artist Jenifer K Wofford". Planting Rice. 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
42. Galila, Wilfred (2019-04-18). "Artist Jenifer K Wofford explores 'in-betweenness'". INQUIRER.net USA. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
43. "At This Museum, Education Staff Prove More Vital Than Ever During Pandemic". Hyperallergic. 2020-05-12. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
44. Jenifer K Wofford on "Pattern Recognition" , retrieved 2020-05-13
45. Katz, Leslie (2021-07-17). "Dazzling wonderland fills Asian Art Museum's new wing". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
46. "Guerilla Projection Creates Monuments of Light Against Anti-Asian Racism". KALW. 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
47. Hotchkiss, Sarah (July 1, 2021). "Asian American Artists Light Up Buildings With Guerilla Messages of Solidarity". KQED. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
48. "Suspended Matter". Berkeley Art Center. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
49. "Fire Season". asianart.emuseum.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
50. https://www.sfmoma.org/read/jenifer-k-wofford/
51. "Jenifer Wofford | University of San Francisco". www.usfca.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-11.