John Jacobsmeyer - A Ludicrous Build

JOHN JACOBSMEYER A

Ludicrous Build

August 30–October 19, 2022

Stan State Art Space

California State University, Stanislaus

DIRECTOR’S FOREWORD

A Ludicrous Build, by John Jacobsmeyer, represents an opportunity to view this artist’s amazing artwork. This exhibit showcases the prints and paintings inspired by games of all kinds. Utilizing perspective developed by the Renaissance masters while including imagery often found in video games, Jacobsmeyer creates anomalies for the viewer to ponder; secret worlds for us to discover. His work leads us through unknown and mysterious passageways, offering a glimpse into his imagination and the narrative that games can elicit. By combining environments with traditional illusions of space and surreal unexpected objects and circumstances, John Jacobsmeyer creates contemporary images that remind us of virtual realities so popular today.

John Jacobsmeyer’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and he has been a part of the New York art scene for the past 22 years. He operates the JJHS Press where his wordless book, More Human Than Human was published in 2010 and his portfolio Safety First was produced for the Shanghai Metro in 2013. He continues to create numerous editions of lithography and woodcut prints. Jacobsmeyer has taught and lectured at over forty colleges and universities throughout the world and his work is housed in many prestigious permanent art collections.

I am very excited to exhibit John Jacobsmeyer’s work for others to enjoy. I would like to extend my gratitude to the many colleagues that have been instrumental in making this exhibition possible- John Jacobsmeyer for the opportunity to exhibit his incredible work; Kory Twaddle, Gallery Assistant, for organizing and arranging the show details; Brad Peatross of the School of the Arts, California State University, Stanislaus for the catalog design; and Parks Printing for the production of the catalogs. I also want to express my appreciation to the Instructionally Related Activities Program of California State University, Stanislaus, as well as anonymous donors for the funding of the exhibition and catalogue.

Ellen Roehne Interim Director, University Art Galleries

California State University, Stanislaus

JOHN JACOBSMEYER

As a painter and printmaker, John Jacobsmeyer has been an active contributor to the discourse in conceptual figuration in the New York area since the late nineties. He operates a printshop adjacent to his painting studio, an arrangement that, as he says, “engenders crossfertilization between the disciplines”. Jacobsmeyer earned his BFA from the University of New Hampshire and an MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale University. He has taught or given lectures at numerous Colleges and Universities around the world including RISD, Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing, Shanghai University, Vanderbilt University, and the Pratt Institute. He received artist residencies at the Ragdale Foundation, MacDowell Colony, Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program, Anchor Graphics, Cill Rialig Ireland, Shanghai University and Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul. Awards include two fellowships from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the Basil Alkazzi Award, a Fulbright Fellowship to Italy, a Pollack-Krasner Grant and a New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship. His work is housed in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, New Mexico; the Springfield Museum of Art, Ohio; the States of New Hampshire and South Carolina; the Cities of Seattle and Shanghai, China, as well as numerous colleges, universities and private collections. He has had recent solo exhibitions in Copenhagen, New York and Seattle. His work is available at Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen.

A LUDICROUS BUILD

Within gameplay, any kind of game, there’s a certain ludic joy that comes from one’s immersion in another world. Since childhood, I’ve been intrigued by the sensory realm of games, almost more so than their narrative. This is why, after finishing a video game sequence, I tend to linger in the space as though writing my own epilogue, seeking out the vanquished and the untraveled pathways. Through this process, I discovered the glitches and anomalies that later became the source for the paintings in this exhibition. My hope is that they will elicit a particular uncanny by resembling the familiar space of renaissance illusionism while simultaneously governed by algorithms. I feel that contemporary painting’s relevance lies in its capacity to offer a lens on our world, an interpretation informed by a centuries old tradition. So, in my case, these works can offer a ‘read’ of our contemporary trend toward virtual reality.

JOHN JACOBSMEYER CV

EDUCATION

1989 MFA, Painting & Printmaking, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut

1986 BFA, Painting, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022 A Ludicrous Build, California State University Stanislaus, Turlock, California

2020 The Alligator Pit Recoded, New York Academy of Art, New York City, New York

2020 Locus Colossus, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2018 Great Feats & Defeats, Jonathan Levine Projects, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, New Jersey

2016 Knotty Children, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2015 It Came From a Pine Box, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

More Than Human, New York Center for Book Arts, New York

2014 More Than Human, Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington

2008 Prometheus Incubus, Memorial Gallery Farmingdale State University, Farmingdale, New York

2006 What Ban on Human-Animal Hybrids?, Pratt Institute Printmaking Gallery, Brooklyn, New York

2005 Superhero Lonely, Jack the Pelican Presents, Brooklyn, New York

2004 Grandiosities (two person), Fraser Gallery, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

2003 Accurate Deceptions and Other Optical Illusions, Karl Drerup Art Gallery Plymouth State College, New Hampshire

2002 Orphans, Pastures, and History, Fraser Gallery, Bethesda, Maryland

Impossible Patrimonies, Wilkinson Gallery The New York Academy Gallery, NYC, New York

2001 Strangely Distorted Views of Very Important People, Nahcotta, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

2000 Sleepwalking with G.I.Joe, Fraser Gallery, Washington, D.C.

1999 Saints and Survivalists, Anchor Graphics, Chicago, Illinois

1998 Frontier Fever, Kougeas Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts

1996 John Jacobsmeyer Faculty Review, University Art Gallery, University of New Hampshire

1993 Paradossi In-Naturali: Recent Works by John Jacobsmeyer, Ex-ministry of Agriculture, Florence, Italy

1990 John Jacobsmeyer: Recent Works, William Halsey Gallery, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND EXPOSITIONS

2022 Art Herning, Art Fair, Gallery Poulsen

Lost in Translation, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen

2021 Earthborn, Corpus Christi TX

Intouchables, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen

2020 Apocalypse Now, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Together But Separately, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2019 Seattle Art Fair, Gallery Poulsen, Seattle, Washington

Inglorious Bastards, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Pulse Art Fair, Gallery Poulsen, Miami Beach, Florida

Art Herning Art Fair, Gallery Poulsen, Herning, Denmark

Art on Paper Fair, Gallery Poulsen, NYC, New York

Gaze Shift, Flatiron Gallery/SVA, NYC, New York

Representing, Artisan Lofts, NYC, New York

Tribeca Ball, New York Academy of Art, NYC, New York

2018 Pulse Art Fair, Gallery Poulsen, Miami Beach, Florida

IAPA Exhibition, Taoxichuan Art Museum, Jiangdezhen City, China

Let’s Print in Leipzig, Museum fur Druckkunst, Leipzig

Once Upon a Time in New York, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen

You Tell Me, Foley Gallery, NYC, New York

Art Herning Art Fair, Gallery Poulsen, Herning, Denmark

Art America Beijing, Chengxi Contemporary Art Center, Beijing, China(plus travel to Dalien, Chi-na)

Contact, Print Portfolio project for Southern Graphics Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada

RAIC 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, New Mexico

2017 Jetzt Druck Machen, Museum Angerlehner in Thalheim Wels, Germany

Cannonball Run, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Autumn in New York, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Pulse Miami, Gallery Poulsen, Miami Beach, Florida

Art on Paper Fair, Gallery Poulsen, NYC, New York

Art Herning, Gallery Poulsen, Herning, Denmark

Multiple Multiples, Jonathan Levine Projects, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, New Jersey

Welcome to New Jersey, Jonathan Levine Projects, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, New Jer-sey

Printmaking Biannual, Lima Peru; Seoul, South Korea; Koln, Germany

Fractured Body, FAB Gallery, University of the Arts, Tirana, Albanian

Printmaking Invitational, Polk State College, Winter Haven, Florida

Point of Origin, Lodge Gallery, New York, NY and Abend Gallery, Denver, Colorado

2016 Donde esta mi Pistola Arpon?, a print portfolio curated by Miguel Aragon

Twisted Impressions, Davidson Galleries, Seattle, Washington

My Blood Runs Yellow Sloan Fine Art, LA, California

Poulsen’s Fifteen Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen Denmark

New York Academy The Vendue, Charleston, South Carolina

Pulse New York, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Art Herning 2016, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Pulse Miami, Miami Beach, Florida

2015 Between Us, Lodge Gallery, NYC, New York

The Copenhagen Interpretation, Gallery Poulsen & Lodge Gallery, NYC, New York

In a Blaze of Glory, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen

Tell Them Stories: Origins, Mark Miller Gallery, NYC, New York

Distortion: a Print Portfolio, Curated by Wuon Gean Ho

Locket, Love It, Leave It, Island Weiss Gallery, New York, New York

Art Herning 2015, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2014 Tell Them Stories, The Foundry, NYC, New York

Unbound: Contemporary Woodcut Prints, Ming Yuan Art Museum, Shanghai, China

Formative Impressions, KCPA International Printmaking Exhibition- 8 Pacific Nations (traveling show)

Jincheong Printmaking Museum, South Korea

Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea

NYAA Summer Juried Exhibition, Flowers Gallery, NYC, New York

2014 Object/Abject the Figure in Contemporary Printmaking (traveling show)

Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California

New York Academy of Art, NYC, New York

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

2018 Artist-in-Residence, Museum fur Druckkunst Leipzig

2013 Artist-in-Residence, Cill Rialaig Residency program, Co. Kerry, Ireland

2012 Artist in Residence, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China

2011 New York Academy of Art Travel Stipend to Der Spinnerei, Leipzig, Germany

2010 Artist-in-Residence, Cill Rialaig Residency program, Co. Kerry, Ireland

2008 Artist-in-Residence, Anchor Graphics at Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois

2007 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Works on Paper

2002 Pollack Krasner Grant to fund ongoing woodcut book

2000 MacDowell Colony summer residency May/June, Peterborough, New Hampshire

1998 Ragdale Foundation/NEA Fellowship and summer residency, Lake Forest, Illinois

1996 Artists Fellowship New Hampshire State Council on the Arts

1994 Basil Alkazzi Award

Artists Fellowship New Hampshire State Council on the Arts

1993 Fulbright Extension Grant

1992 Miguel Vinciguerra Fulbright Fellowship to study in Florence, Italy for 10 mo. Fulbright Travel Grant to and from Italy

1991 Roswell Art Center Residency Grant one year residency, Roswell, New Mexico

1989 Elizabeth Canfield Hicks Award, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, STANISLAUS

Dr. Ellen Junn, President

Dr. Kimberly Greer, Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs

Dr. James A. Tuedio, Dean, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

DEPARTMENT OF ART

Martin Azevedo, Associate Professor, Chair

Tricia Cooper, Lecturer

Dean De Cocker, Professor

James Deitz, Lecturer

Daniel Edwards, Associate Professor

Patrica Eshagh, Lecturer

Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Professor

Daniel Heskamp, Lecturer

Chad Hunter, Lecturer

Dr. Carmen Robbin, Professor

Ellen Roehne, Lecturer

Dr. Staci Scheiwiller, Associate Professor

Susan Stephenson, Associate Professor

Jake Weigel, Associate Professor

Mirabel Wigon, Assistant Professor

Alex Quinones Instructional Tech II

Kyle Rambatt, Equipment Technician II

UNIVERSITY ART GALLERIES

Dean De Cocker, Director

Kory Twaddle, Gallery Assistant

SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Brad Peatross, Graphic Specialist II

John Jacobsmeyer - A Ludicrous Build

August 30–October 19, 2022 | Stan State Art Space, California State University, Stanislaus | 226 N. First St., Turlock, CA 95380

100 copies printed. Copyright © 2022 California State University, Stanislaus • ISBN 978-1-940753-71-3

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. This exhibition and catalog have been funded by Associated Students Instructionally Related Activities, California State University, Stanislaus.