Janet Biggs

Janet Biggs (born 1959) is an American video artist, photographer and performance artist living in New York City.

Biggs' video works often include images of individuals engaged in obsessive and athletic activities. She has worked with champion wrestlers, football players, synchronized swimmers and equestrians. Biggs often uses the image of the [http://www.claireoliver.com/artists.html?artist_no=32&offset=9 horse] as an emblem of female sexual sublimation and masculine power. Her earlier video work dealt with issues of psychosis and psychotropic drugs.cite news
last =Hirsh
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title = Janet Biggs at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
work =Art in America
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date =July 1, 2003
url =http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-104836794.html
accessdate = 2008-01-03 ]

Her recent work includes multi-discipline performances, often including multiple large-scale videos, live musicians, and athletes. At the 2007 Miami art fairs, she premiered " [http://www.claireoliver.com/press/32/02PressRelease_EnemyoftheGood.pdf Enemy of the Good] ", which featured classical pianist Jose Luis Hernandez-Estrada, cellist Wil Martina, and equestrian Andres Rodriguez. Biggs has also worked with musicians Blake Fleming and Steve White (of the Blue Man Group).

Biggs' video work has been recently presented at the Gibbes Museum of Art (Charlotte, NC), Claire Oliver Gallery (New York City), Smack Mellon (Brooklyn, NY), Lumen Eclipse, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (Ithaca, NY), North Sea Film Festival for Underwater Movies (the Hague, Netherlands), and the Houston Center of Photography.

In 2006, Herm%C3%A8s commissioned Biggs to create a new work of art for their flagship New York store. Biggs installed 11 large monitors in the store's Madison Avenue windows, as well as photographs of equestrian-themed images.cite news
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title = Nearby Explosion Adds Extra Drama to Video Installation at Hermès
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date =August 11, 2006
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accessdate = 2008-01-04 ]

"Contemporary Magazine" profiled Biggs in their March 2007 issue, and one of her photographs was used as the cover of "Spot" magazine's Summer 2007 issue.

Biggs was a recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman grant in 2004 cite news
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title = Anonymous Was a Woman Awards 10 Women Artists with $25,000 Grants
work =Absolute Arts
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date =January 11, 2005
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accessdate = 2008-01-19 ] , and received a painting fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1989.

Biggs lives and works in New York City, and is represented by the Claire Oliver Gallery (New York) and Solomon Projects (Atlanta).

Selected Bibliography

* [http://www.chelseanow.com/cn_63/pulpfiction.html Jenks, Debra: "Pulp Friction - Artists explore the underside of American culture." "Chelsea Now", 14 December 2007.]
*Maschal, Richard: "Newly Minted" "Charlotte Observer", 19 October 2007.
* [http://artkrush.com/mailer/issue64/#feature "Sport and Spectacle," "Artkrush" online magazine. 8 August 2007.]
*Byrd, Cathy: "Janet Biggs." "Contemporary", March, 2007.
* [http://www.nileport.com/products/details/511/1.asp?id=511 Matsumae, Ayano: "Janet Biggs" (review of Behind the Vertical at Hermés, New York ). "Nileport Magazine" (Japan). November, 2006. ]
*Dunning, Jennifer: "A Horse and Dancers in an Ode to Interspecies Ties." "New York Times", 10 October 2005.
*Tommelleo, Donna: "Former UConn Players' Drills Become a Work of Art." "Boston Globe", 27 November 2004.

References

External links

* [http://www.jbiggs.com/ jbiggs.com] Janet Biggs' web site
* [http://www.claireoliver.com/artists.html?artist_no=32 Claire Oliver Gallery]
* [http://www.solomonprojects.com/ Solomon Projects]
* [http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/01/art-space-talk-janet-biggs.html Biggs interviewed by MyArtSpace]