Tag Archives: Jenny Wu

JENNY WU | Stirworld

22 Mar

Art

6mins. read

Jenny Wu’s sculptural paintings are an extension of her time-based practice

The exhibition Ai Yo, by Chinese artist Jenny Wu at Morton Fine Art, is a seamless flow of composition, colour, control, and a chance at intersecting maths and art.

by Dilpreet Bhullar

Published on : Mar 06, 2023

Morton Fine Art, an art gallery based in Washington DCUnited States, is showcasing Chinese multimedia artist Jenny Wu’s sculptural paintings, rooted in her time-based practice, with the exhibitionAi Yo! Displaying close to 20 new works by the artist, the exhibition underscores her engagement with latex print. Overriding ‘mastery’ with ‘discovery,’ the works act as sites to survey the nuances of composition, colour, control, and chance. For Wu, who is academically trained as an architect, conceptual ideas of construction and embodiment run deep, setting the tone for the final composition of her sculptural paintings. Consequently, what viewers witness in the exhibition are artworks that serve both as ‘built objects’ and ‘records of labour, gesture, accident,’ questioning the conventional framework of paintings and sculptures. 

Briefly Inhabit a Fictional World, 2022, latex paint and resin on wood | Ai Yo | Jenny Wu | STIRworld
Briefly Inhabit a Fictional World, 2022, latex paint and resin on woodImage: Courtesy of Morton Fine Art and Jenny Wu

Each work is made with a silicon surface, over which Wu dispenses thick coats of latex paint. As soon as a layer of paint dries, the Chinese artist pours the next layer of latex. What we see, then, is a spectrum of colour that Wu breaks into small cuts, highlighting colourful cross-sections, often touched by chance elements like cracking. Furthermore, these cross-sections act as building blocks of relief. The final composition of wood panels is put together by these pieces. Interestingly, the play between ‘serendipity and planning’ removes hints of the original setting of paint, recontextualising it in a new form. 

Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations, 2022, latex paint and resin on wood panel | Ai Yo | Jenny Wu | STIRworld
Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations, 2022, latex paint and resin on wood panelImage: Courtesy of Morton Fine Art and Jenny Wu

Wu’s artistic practice is “underpinned by transformation and embodying time,” states a press release; in an interview with STIR, Wu elaborates on this, “The original format of the paint is liquid, but through the process of pouring, waiting, pouring again, waiting again, and then finally cutting and glueing, the paint is transformed into a solid form. What started as separate colours on different buckets, ends up having a conversation on these wood panels. Each time a layer of paint dries, it records time spent. The layers are not always the same thickness, and sometimes the paint cracks during drying or the next layer will steep through the previous one. All of those elements are on full display in the finished work.”

It's Not Finished But I Am, 2022, latex paint and resin on wood panel | Ai Yo | Jenny Wu | STIRworld
It’s Not Finished But I Am, 2022, latex paint and resin on wood panelImage: Courtesy of Morton Fine Art and Jenny Wu

The material, latex, has an inherent quality of being fragile, bound to throw challenges to visual artists who employ it as a key element. Wu confirms that in the early stages of her career as an artist, she found the crack extremely challenging, but gradually she learned to let the paint be—appreciating and embracing moments of imperfection. “I am also learning how different paint sheen, room temperature, and airflow can affect the cracking. Liquid latex paint might be fragile, but thick, dried latex paint is very dense and hard to cut by hand. My purlicue muscle has grown a lot on my right hand,” admits Wu. 

Jenny Wu | Ai Yo | Jenny Wu | STIRworld
Jenny WuImage: Courtesy of Morton Fine Art and Jenny Wu

Significantly, the titles of the sculptural paintings are central to the practice. Functioning as reflections of the methods Wu undertakes, to reorient the essentials of the material, for instance—Too Heavy to Carry to the British Museum70 Year Old Intern Waiting for His First Real JobHello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations. Social networking sites such as Twitter, too, have been a source for the titles of the works. The humour and constructive value in the title of the art exhibition—Ai Yo! is unmissable. It carries regional expression and context, for the artist who hails from Nanjing in China, where the meaning of Ai Yo! is determined by a way of articulation, translating to anything between ‘impressed’ to ‘suspicious.’ 

Furthermore, when sculptural paintings are abstract and the titles are non-descriptive, Wu opines, “The idea that titles should create more space, and not point out the obvious, emerged a decade ago, when I bought house paint and came across paints named Va-Va Voom or Yeah Baby. The titles come from social media posts, usually comments on life in Washington D.C. at times having rings of academic or sometimes political. The titles function as a personal, minimal diary, emerging around the time I nearly finish a piece. Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations is about appreciating that person and being that person for others.”

Jennny Wu at work

Video: Courtesy of Morton Fine Art and Jenny Wu

An artist and educator, Wu’s artistic practice is recognition of the ‘sensational and perceptual properties of materiality,’ only to recontextualise it in a new light to see the unseen. Wu is hopeful that the audience will see the intersections of maths and art while watching the sculptural paintings in the exhibition. Exploring patterns and moments of surprises within, experiencing the in-betweenness of painting and sculpture, exploring space from the physical work to its title, recalling the passing of time. “At the end of the day, I can have intentions and goals, but once you stand in front of the art, you are creating a new relationship between you and the work, and I can never be part of it,” shares Wu. 

The exhibition Ai Yo! by Jenny Wu is on view at Morton Fine Art, Washington DC until March 8, 2023.

About Author

Dilpreet Bhullar

Dilpreet Bhullar

Contributor

Writer and researcher, Dilpreet Bhullar shuttles between New Delhi and Mumbai, India. With an MPhil in Comparative Literature (University of Delhi), she has been the recipient of the Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability Fellowship (Columbia University, New York) and International Centre For Advocates Against Discrimination Fellowship, New York. Her writings have appeared in Art Basel, Ocula, Routledge, criticalcollective.in, thirdtext.org, to name a few. Currently, she is the Editorial Manager of the magazine TAKE, which is dedicated to South Asian contemporary arts.

Available artwork by JENNY WU

JENNY WU’s “Ai Yo!” | Reviewed by Christine Ji for The Georgetown Voice

3 Mar
Logo


LEISURE

Ai Yo!: Jenny Wu’s exhibit brings new energy to Morton Fine Art

By Christine Ji

Published March 2, 2023

Courtesy of Morton Fine Art, Photo credit: Jarrett Hendrix

Once a warehouse, the unassuming brick building sitting in the corner of NoMa on 52 O Street is now home to a variety of art studios and galleries. One of them is Morton Fine Art, which just launched Ai Yo!, a selection of 21 sculptural paintings by artist Jenny Wu. The gallery is spacious and well lit, and the walls are decked with Wu’s colorful works. I was not entirely sure what a sculptural painting entailed, but I was curious to learn more. 

“Hundreds of people came for the opening day,” Amy Morton, curator of Morton Fine Art, said. I can see why: the works are fun and unconventional. Wu creates her art by pouring layers of latex paint on top of each other, a technique that she told the Voice took her almost a decade of trial and error to develop. Once the layers have dried—a process which can take up to four months—Wu slices the sheets into varying sizes and meticulously rearranges them on top of a wooden panel to create patterns. She then applies a resin coating over the whole contraption to add a glossy finish. The result is many colorful, mosaic-esque creations of varying color schemes and patterns. 

Wu’s creative combination of painting and sculpture makes her work quite the treat to see in person, as one can more closely see the textures and topography created by the latex chunks. The drying and cutting process leads to cracks and imperfections in the individual latex units, meaning no two fragments are identical. 

“The paint crinkles quickly, and the liquid paint becomes something I can hold,” Wu said. 

The centimeter-sized latex cube sample Morton hands me to examine resembles a vibrant chunk of sedimentary rock or a soil specimen. It has the quiet elasticity of a bouncy ball or firm eraser. Considering that Wu uses these three dimensional units to create her visual art as opposed to a more traditional medium like paint, it is clear “sculptural painting” is an apt term to describe her work. By using these latex layers as her instrument of creation, Wu liquifies the boundaries between the two media. 

“They really need to be experienced in person, because it is very hard to capture the textures and colors with just a photo,” Morton said. 

Regarding the title of the exhibit, Wu explains that the phrase Ai Yo! is an interjection used in many different situations in her hometown in China, from communicating feelings of awe to displeasure. 

“The meaning depends on the context. It is both general and specific,” Wu said.  “I think most human beings, when they look at those four letters together, they can pronounce it in some way, even if they don’t speak Chinese. You can pronounce it any way you want, as long as it adds emotion.” 

The inclusive and welcoming nature of the exhibit title leaves a lot of space for viewers to interpret the pieces, proving that Wu’s art is something that transcends language barriers. 

After going to graduate school at American University, Wu found that there were more galleries and organizations focused on promoting smaller artists here in D.C. compared to other places. Given the political and international significance of D.C., Morton remarks that it’s “important to keep the conversation expanding through art and push museum tipping points.” Galleries like Morton Fine Arts and the artists that they partner with are critical in continuing to expand the boundaries of art and make meaningful statements about the world we live in. 

Wu’s mission complements that of Morton Fine Art curator Amy Morton’s well, resulting in a synergistic collaboration. Morton chooses her artist partners with careful deliberation, looking for “substantive artwork that is both timeless and timely.” Wu’s work fits the bill, leaving a lasting impression through the unique medium and jarring titles. The political overtones of her work reflect aspects of the local cultural climate, arising naturally out of the close proximity to Capitol Hill. Both Morton and Wu agree that the D.C. art scene is not as bustling or developed as, say, New York City, but the city is fertile ground for emerging artists. 

The artwork titles are equally delightful and thought-provoking as the visual components. Wu draws inspiration for these creative titles from Twitter, Instagram, and other forms of social media. “I want my titles to be more abstract, rather than purely descriptive, so they can create more space,” says Wu. 

Though all of these pieces are abstract, their titles provide much food for thought that prompts the onlooker to think about the pieces more deeply. Some titles are humorous, like “70 Year Old Intern Waiting for His First Real Job” (2022). For this piece, Wu has arranged long warm toned strips with slices of green in the middle into hexagons, juxtaposing the chaos of the latex strips with the order of the polygons for a sense of contained frustration.  Others are damning, like “Spent $50.4 Million on TV Ads to Brag About Giving Local Businesses A Total of $100,000” (2022). This piece is an amalgamation of small red, white, and blue pieces that emanates a more chaotic, overtly political energy.

“Ruthkanda Forever” (2022) and “Carefully Editing an Email Response” (2021) stand out in particular. The latex layers that make up “Ruthkanda Forever” are varying shades of blue with the occasional yellow stripe, arranged in a lightly undulating formation. From a distance, the piece looks like gently rolling ocean waters reflecting moonlight, which, when combined with the title, perhaps represents how our collective pop culture consciousness has digested and lionized RBG and the Black Panther franchise. “Carefully Editing an Email Response” features paint strata delicately arranged in tessellating hexagons, resembling the rigid and meticulous process of combing through a professional email for typos. Other interesting titles include “$1200 That Should Be More Than Enough” (2022) and “I Will Not Get Bit By Capitol Fox” (2022). Georgetown students are sure to get a kick out of the latter, considering the heavy political preprofessional inclinations of the general community. 

One way Wu pushes artistic boundaries is by exploring different usages of color.

“Right now, the way I choose colors is more based on the aesthetic. Like, if I do some purple with some blue, a little hint of orange might look good in there based on the similarity of the colors. But I want to explore more ways of combining colors and patterns together,” Wu said.

Whatever direction Wu takes her work in, she will continue to push boundaries and set new creative benchmarks. Any vaguely art-curious Georgetown students should be sure to take advantage of the opportunities we have in DC and explore the unique flavors of local art here.


Christine Ji
Christine is a senior in the MSB majoring in Finance and minoring in History. She harbors unhinged opinions on goldfish, Garfield, and The Strokes.


More: art exhibitjenny wumorton fine artmuseum review

Available artwork by JENNY WU

JENNY WU | Ai Yo! | Solo Exhibition at Morton Fine Art

27 Feb
Morton Fine Art is pleased to announce Ai Yo!, a solo exhibition of sculpturalpaintings by artist Jenny Wu. Continuing an innovative latex paint and time-based practice theartist has been implementing for nearly a decade, Ai Yo! features Wu further exploringcomposition, color, expertise, control, chance and surprise—favoring discovery over mastery.Long interested in tactility, in-betweenness, embodiedness, and construction (Wu has abackground in architectural studies), the exhibition questions our basic assumptions about whatpaintings and sculptures can be. Wu’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, Ai Yo!, will be on viewfrom February 8 – March 8, 2023.
Visit our Website
Ai Yo!
Sculptural Paintings by JENNY WU
February 8th – March 8th, 2023
Opening reception 4-6pm on Saturday, February 11th, 2023. The artist will be in attendance. Please RSVP to info@mortonfineart.com.

Contact the gallery for viewing by appointment, price list, additional information and acquisition.
(202) 628-2787 (call or text)info@mortonfineart.com

Available Artwork by JENNY WU
It’s Not Finished But I Am, 2022, 36″x24″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Briefly Inhabit a Fictional World, 2022, 18″x18″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
About Ai Yo!
Underpinned by transformation and embodying time, material characteristics and chance, Wu’s sculptural paintings operate as both built objects and records (of labor, gesture, accident). Generating degrees of liminality, Wu’s body of work is an engine to multiplicity.
To create each work, Wu pours thick coats of latex paint onto silicone surfaces, allowing each layer to dry completely before adding another layer of latex in turn to dry. The results are rich and vividly varied strata of dried paint, which Wu then cuts to reveal layers of colorful cross-sections, often touched by chance elements like cracking. Using these cross-sections as her base units, Wu assembles her paintings, building up relief and composition—piece by piece—on wood panels. Both the cross-sections and their eventual sculptural forms veer towards an order out of serendipity and planning. Following prearranged patterns, Wu erects pulsing grid-forms and mesmerizing reliefs of playful, shimmering paint, completed with a top coat of glossy resin to amplify her vibrant palette. Transforming latex paint from its original, liquid form—before fashioning it within new contexts and forms—the artworks acknowledge an abiding passion for the sensational and perceptual properties of materiality.

70 Year Old Intern Waiting for His First Real Job, 2022, 36″x24″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel

The Analysis is Severely Limited By My Lack of Understanding What I Am Doing, 2022, 36″x24″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Titles play an important role in Wu’s practice, in some cases mirroring her process of cutting and rearranging layered materials: Too Heavy to Carry to the British Museum(2022);70 Year Old Intern Waiting for His First Real Job(2022); Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations(2022). Sourcing her titles from Twitter (including a number of Donald Trump’s tweets, an approach that ended in 2020), Wu’s titling compounds the humorous and constructive elements explored in Ai Yo!, the meaning of which too is both layered and specific. A regional expression in Nanjing, China, Wu’s hometown, “Ai Yo”’s meaning depends on how you say it, ranging from “impressed” to “suspicious.” Existing only as an expression, there is no character for “Ai Yo”; it can only be said and spoken. Unfixed and open, “Ai Yo” accrues yet an additional context in Wu’s selection of it as her exhibition’s title.

Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations, 2022, 36″x12″x.25″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Balancing clarity and surprise, Ai Yo! is the result of countless juxtapositions and an expanding set of contexts.
Available artwork by JENNY WU
About JENNY WU
Jenny Wu is an artist and educator. She is currently a visiting assistant professor of fine art at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Wu’s work acknowledges the sensational and perceptual properties of materiality and then transforms the materials from their original forms and purpose to present them within new contexts. Her work has been reviewed by the Washington Post. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums including Katzen Museum, Huntington Museum of Art, Reece Museum, Vilnius Academy of Arts in Lithuania, and CICA Museum in South Korea. Wu has participated in numerous Artist-In-Residence programs across the country; and has been awarded fellowships from Vermont Studio Center and the Pollock Krasner Foundation. Wu was born in Nanjing, China. She holds a B.A. from William Smith College in Studio Art as well as in Architectural Studies, and an M.F.A. in Studio Art from American University. She has been represented by Morton Fine Art since 2021.
About Morton Fine Art
Founded in 2010 in Washington, DC by curator Amy Morton, Morton Fine Art (MFA) is a fine artgallery and curatorial group that collaborates with art collectors and visual artists to inspire freshways of acquiring contemporary art. Firmly committed to the belief that art collecting can becultivated through an educational stance, MFA’s mission is to provide accessibility to museum-quality contemporary art through a combination of substantive exhibitions and a welcomingplatform for dialogue and exchange of original voice. Morton Fine Art specializes in a stellarroster of nationally and internationally renowned artists as well as has an additional focus onartwork of the African and Global Diaspora.
Morton Fine Art founded the trademark *a pop-up project in 2010. *a pop-up project is MFA’smobile gallery component which hosts temporary curated exhibitions nationally.

Gallery hours: By appointment only.

Morton Fine Art
52 O St NW #302
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 628-2787
info@mortonfineart.com
www.mortonfineart.com

For further information and images, please contact Amy Morton:info@mortonfineart.com
###

Interlocutor Interviews | JENNY WU | Ai Yo!

15 Feb

INTERLOCUTOR

Feb 14

Exhibition Feature – AI YO! by Jenny Wu

Exhibition FeaturesMultidisciplinary Artists

Photo by Jarrett Hendrix

Morton Fine Art is pleased to announce Ai Yo!, a solo exhibition of sculptural paintings by artist Jenny Wu. Continuing an innovative latex paint and time-based practice the artist has been implementing for nearly a decade, Ai Yo! features Wu further exploring composition, color, expertise, control, chance and surprise—favoring discovery over mastery.

Long interested in tactility, in-betweenness, embodiedness, and construction (Wu has a background in architectural studies), the exhibition questions our basic assumptions about what paintings and sculptures can be. Wu’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, Ai Yo!, will be on view through March 8, 2023 at Morton’s Washington, D.C. space (52 O St NW #302).

Photo by Jarrett Hendrix

CURATORIAL STATEMENT by Amy Morton

Engaged in an innovative hybrid sculptural painting practice, Jenny Wu is a rigorous, focused and accomplished artist with a humble nature and good sense of humor.  Her practice acknowledges—and embodies—the sensational, perceptual and temporal properties of her materials, particularly her enlivening applications of latex paint and glossy coating of resin. Having cultivated a deep material wisdom, Wu is able to transform her materials from their original forms and then crucially present them within new, engrossing formal contexts. Deeply admiring Jenny’s vision and art practice, I am thrilled to be able to continue to share this transformative body of work with Ai Yo!, Wu’s first solo exhibition with the gallery.

Briefly Inhabit a Fictional World, 2022 – Latex paint and resin on wood panel – 18 x 18 x 2.5 in.
Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations, 2022 – Latex paint and resin on wood panel – 36 x 12 x 2.5 in.

ARTIST STATEMENT by Jenny Wu

I could never sit still when growing up, and my mother found an alternative method to make me sit still—classical art lessons. These childhood lessons  built a foundation  that has led to my current cross-disciplinary practice in painting, sculpture, installation, video, and participatory projects. My work acknowledges the sensational and perceptual properties of materiality and then transforms the materials, from their original forms and purpose, to present them within new contexts. 

My current sculptural paintings transform liquid paint into sculpture, a process derived from making oil on canvas paintings and discovering the many layers of oil paint beneath the surface. Those layers of oil paint embody linear time, repetitive processes, and material characteristics. Now, I exemplify the layering by pouring a thick coat of latex paint one color at a time on a silicone surface, letting each color dry completely, and repeating the process many times. The colors of each layer are premeditated. I later cut the dried paint to reveal the layers of cross-section, which I then use to assemble sculpturally on a flat surface. The cross-section juxtaposes order and chaos: the consistent order of paint from old to new, and the imperfection of subtle differences in thicknesses. Each piece follows a specific pattern, uniting the differences to present a systematic imagery. Resin coating is added later on to amplify the colors, as well as to protect the paint. These works question our basic assumptions about what we consider paintings can be and what sculptures can be.

The Analysis is Severely Limited By My Lack of Understanding of What I am Doing, 2022 – Latex paint and resin on wood panel – 36 x 24 x 2.5 in.
Have Not Overthrown a Government Since 1954, 2022 -Latex paint and resin on wood panel – 36 x 24 x 2.5 in. 

Ai Yo!, will be on view through March 8, 2023 at Morton’s Washington, D.C. space (52 O St NW #302).

Check out our coverage of other current and recent art exhibitions

All images courtesy Morton Fine Art and the artist

Available artwork by JENNY WU

JENNY WU | Morton Fine Art | See Great Art

11 Feb

ART IN THE NORTHEAST FEMALE ARTISTS

Jenny Wu art exhibition at Morton Fine Art D.C.

BY CHADD SCOTT POSTED ON 0 COMMENTS

Jenny Wu headshot.
Jenny Wu headshot. Courtesy Morton Fine Art and the artist.

Morton Fine Art presents “Ai Yo!,” a solo exhibition of sculptural paintings by artist Jenny Wu. Continuing an innovative latex paint and time-based practice the artist has been implementing for nearly a decade, “Ai Yo!” features Wu further exploring composition, color, expertise, control, chance and surprise—favoring discovery over mastery. Long interested in tactility, in-betweenness, embodiedness, and construction (Wu has a background in architectural studies), the Jenny Wu art exhibition questions our basic assumptions about what paintings and sculptures can be. Wu’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, “Ai Yo!,” will be on view from February 8 – March 8, 2023 at Morton’s Washington, D.C. space (52 O St NW #302).

Underpinned by transformation and embodying time, material characteristics and chance, Wu’s sculptural paintings operate as both built objects and records (of labor, gesture, accident). Generating degrees of liminality, Wu’s body of work is an engine to multiplicity. To create each work, Wu pours thick coats of latex paint onto silicone surfaces, allowing each layer to dry completely before adding another layer of latex in turn to dry. The results are rich and vividly varied strata of dried paint, which Wu then cuts to reveal layers of colorful cross-sections, often touched by chance elements like cracking.

Using these cross-sections as her base units, Wu assembles her paintings, building up relief and composition—piece by piece—on wood panels. Both the cross-sections and their eventual sculptural forms veer towards an order out of serendipity and planning. Following prearranged patterns, Wu erects pulsing grid-forms and mesmerizing reliefs of playful, shimmering paint, completed with a top coat of glossy resin to amplify her vibrant palette. Transforming latex paint from its original, liquid form—before fashioning it within new contexts and forms—the artworks acknowledge an abiding passion for the sensational and perceptual properties of materiality.

Titles play an important role in Wu’s practice, in some cases mirroring her process of cutting and rearranging layered materials: Too Heavy to Carry to the British Museum (2022); 70 Year Old Intern Waiting for His First Real Job (2022); Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations (2022). Sourcing her titles from Twitter (including a number of Donald Trump’s tweets, an approach that ended in 2020), Wu’s titling compounds the humorous and constructive elements explored in “AiYo!,” the meaning of which too is both layered and specific.

A regional expression in Nanjing, China, Wu’s hometown, “Ai Yo”’s meaning depends on how you say it, ranging from “impressed” to “suspicious.” Existing only as an expression, there is no character for “Ai Yo;” it can only be said and spoken. Unfixed and open, “AiYo” accrues yet an additional context in Wu’s selection of it as her exhibition’s title. Balancing clarity and surprise, “Ai Yo!” is the result of countless juxtapositions and an expanding set of contexts.

About the Artist

Jenny Wu is an artist and educator. She is currently a visiting assistant professor of fine art at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Wu’s work acknowledges the sensational and perceptual properties of materiality and then transforms the materials from their original forms and purpose to present them within new contexts.

About Morton Fine Art

Founded in 2010 in Washington D.C. by curator Amy Morton, Morton Fine Art (MFA) is a fine art gallery and curatorial group that collaborates with art collectors and visual artists to inspire fresh ways of acquiring contemporary art. Firmly committed to the belief that art collecting can be cultivated through an educational stance, MFA’s mission is to provide accessibility to museum-quality contemporary art through a combination of substantive exhibitions and a welcoming platform for dialogue and exchange of original voice.

Morton Fine Art specializes in a stellar roster of nationally and internationally renowned artists as well as has an additional focus on artwork of the African and Global Diaspora.

Available Artwork by JENNY WU

JENNY WU | Ai Yo! | Washington City Paper

10 Feb

Ongoing: Jenny Wu’s Ai Yo! at Morton Fine Art Gallery

Is it architecture? Or painting? Perhaps some tapestry of the two? And does genre even matter? What is this instinct to sort, to categorize? Is it intrinsically human, or an invented construction? These are some of the many questions prompted by Jenny Wu’s colorful and layered pieces, on view this month at Morton Fine Art. Wu’s collection, titled Ai Yo!, is both a celebration of multiplicities and a reflection of liminality. Like many artists, Wu begins with a wood panel canvas and paint. But she immediately diverges. Like a pastry chef or chocolatier, Wu pours liquid latex paint into silicone molds repeatedly over extended periods of time until she’s built her own new kinds of ‘paint chips.’ She splices them together with her precise, yet whimsical hand, to reveal brilliantly colored miniature confections, each barring their own signature markings. She then assembles these to create her cheekily titled works (yet another invitation for complexity), such as “Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations” or “Spent $50.4 Million on TV Ads to Brag About Giving Local Businesses A Total of $100,000.” In one piece, titled “Too Heavy to Carry to the British Museum,” hot pink and tangerine strips (think sour rainbow candies) stacked like books leave enough negative space for the glossy yellow underlayer to shine through. And in another joyful, defiant, complicated piece, lavender, turquoise, and bubblegum paint layers fit snugly next to each other, like sugar-high kids on a Friday night sleepover. When you step back, the interplaying modules evoke a well-loved floor rug, or a cross section of some distant technicolor planet’s malted core. Another title Wu selected reads: “It’s Not Finished But I Am.” The exhibit is on view through March 8 at Morton Fine Art Gallery, 52 O St. NW, #302. mortonfineart.com. Free, by appointment. —Emma Francois

Jenny Wu’s “It’s Not Finished But I Am,” 2022; latex paint and resin on wood panel, 36 x 24 x 2.5 in. Courtesy Morton Fine Art and the artist

Available Artwork by JENNY WU

Artist JENNY WU paints and sculpts her piece “70 Year Old Intern Waiting for His First Real Job”

6 Jan

JENNY WU’s solo exhibition “Ai Yo!” runs February 8 – March 8, 2023 at Morton Fine Art in Washington, DC.

Featured here: Jenny Wu’s 70 Year Old Intern Waiting for His First Real Job”, 2022, 36″x24″, latex paint and resin on wood panel.

Visit www.mortonfineart.com for available artwork by Jenny Wu.

New Arrivals | Sculpted Paintings by JENNY WU

16 Apr

Jenny Wu transforms liquid paint into sculpture built from layers of latex paint poured on glass, color over color, to form a thick cake-like aggregate. Once dried, the material is cut into small brick-like forms and assembled in vibrant patterns on a flat surface, revealing in cross-section the varied strata of paint from the pouring and layering process. Like geological formations, Wu’s method of building up paint is dependent on time, repetition and chance with her resulting objects uniting chaos and order into a systematic imagery that blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture.

Jenny Wu
2+ Year Long Middle School Dodgeball Game, 2022
latex paint and resin on wood panel
20 x 10 x 2.50 in
Jenny Wu
Adults Were Not Okay, 2021
latex paint and resin on wood panel
20 x 16 x 2.50 in

Jenny Wu
Meaningful Access, 2020
latex paint and resin on wood panel
20 x 16 x 2.50 in

Jenny Wu
Carefully Editing An Email Response, 2021
latex paint and resin on wood panel
24 x 18 x 2.50 in

Jenny Wu
Hardly A Mandate, 2021
latex paint and resin on wood panel
20 x 16 x 2.50 in

Jenny Wu
Have Always Existed and Will Always Exist, 2022
latex paint and resin on wood panel
36 x 24 x 2.50 in

Jenny Wu
Letting Referees Openly Bet On Games, 2021
latex paint and resin on wood panel
36 x 24 x 2.50 in

Jenny Wu
Live In #DontLookUp, 2022
latex paint and resin on wood panel
18 x 18 x 2.50 in

Jenny Wu
Too Heavy to Carry to the British Museum, 2022
latex paint and resin on wood panel
20 x 16 x 2.50 in

Jenny Wu
Got Scared & Bought It, 2021
latex paint and resin on wood panel
20 x 20 x 2.50 in

About the Artist:

Jenny Wu was born in Nanjing, China. She holds a B.A. from William Smith College in Studio Art as well as in Architectural Studies, and an M.F.A. in Studio Art from American University. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums including Denise Bibro Fine Art, Katzen Museum, Huntington Museum of Art, Reece Museum, Vilnius Academy of Arts in Lithuania, and CICA Museum in South Korea. Wu has participated in numerous Artist-In-Residence programs across the country; and has been awarded fellowships from Vermont Studio Center and the Pollock Krasner Foundation. She has been represented by Morton Fine Art since 2021.

Available artwork by JENNY WU.

JENNY WU | Exhibition at George Mason University

7 Feb
JENNY WU, Hardly A Mandate, 2021, 20″x16″x.2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel

Tuesday, Feb 22, 2022 10:00am

Hylton Performing Arts Center, Buchanan Partners Art Gallery

In the Aggregate

February 22 –April 3 

Jenny Wu transforms liquid paint into sculpture built from layers of latex paint poured on glass, color over color, to form a thick cake-like aggregate. Once dried, the material is cut into small brick-like forms and assembled in vibrant patterns on a flat surface, revealing in cross-section the varied strata of paint from the pouring and layering process. Like geological formations, Wu’s method of building up paint is dependent on time, repetition and chance with her resulting objects uniting chaos and order into a systematic imagery that blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture.

About the Artist:

Jenny Wu was born in Nanjing, China. She holds a B.A. from William Smith College in Studio Art as well as in Architectural Studies, and an M.F.A. in Studio Art from American University. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums including Denise Bibro Fine Art, Katzen Museum, Huntington Museum of Art, Reece Museum, Vilnius Academy of Arts in Lithuania, and CICA Museum in South Korea. Wu has participated in numerous Artist-In-Residence programs across the country; and has been awarded fellowships from Vermont Studio Center and the Pollock Krasner Foundation. She has been represented by Morton Fine Art in Washington, DC since 2021.

Available Artwork by JENNY WU

New Painting Sculptures by JENNY WU

27 Sep

JENNY WU’s sculptural paintings transform liquid paint into sculpture, a process derived from making oil on canvas paintings and discovering the many layers of oil paint beneath the surface. These layers embody linear time, repetitive process and material characteristics. WU pours a thick coat of latex paint one color at a time on a glass surface allowing each layer to dry completely and repeating the process many times. She then cuts the dried paint to reveal layers of cross-section, which are then assembled into sculptures on a flat surface. The cross-section juxtaposes order and chaos: the consistent order of paint from old to new, and the imperfection of subtle differences in thickness. Each piece follows a specific pattern, uniting differences to present a systemic imagery. These works question our basic assumptions about what paintings and sculptures can be. Her work acknowledges the sensational and perceptual properties of materiality, and then transforms the materials from their original forms and purpose to present them within new contexts.

JENNY WU earned her MFA in Studio Art from American University in 2015 and her B.A.  in Studio Art and Architectural Studies from William Smith College in 2012.

She has been represented by Morton Fine Art since 2021.

JENNY WU, $2000 ASAP, 2020, 14″x12″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Detail of $2000 ASAP
JENNY WU, A Very Stable Genius, 2019, 24″x18″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Detail of A Very Stable Genius

JENNY WU, Big Day for Social Media and FAIRNESS, 2020, 12″x12″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
JENNY WU, Make A Deal, 2020, 10″x10″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Detail of Make A Deal

JENNY WU, Thank Union for Weekends, 2021, 24″x18″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Detail of Thank Union for Weekends

JENNY WU, The Lies Stuck, 2021, 18″x14″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Detail of The Lies Stuck
Detail 2 of The Lies Stuck
JENNY WU, Time is Running Out, 2020, 18″x14″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Detail of Time is Running Out

JENNY WU, Why It’s a Holiday, 2021, 20″x20″x2.5″, latex paint and resin on wood panel
Detail of Why It’s a Holiday

Acquire and view available artwork by JENNY WU.

Morton Fine Art, 52 O St NW #302, Washington, DC, 20001

http://www.mortonfineart.com

info@mortonfineart.com

(202) 628-2787 (call or text)