Eileen Maxson (born 1980) is an American interdisciplinary artist working at the confluence of

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

, installation and

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

. Her works focus on contemplating an identity mediated and perforated by a contemporary world. She is the first recipient of the

Arthouse An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...

''Texas Prize''.

Early life and education

Born in 1980

Rockville Centre, New York Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated Village (New York), village located in the Hempstead, New York, Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long ...

, Maxson "is an interdisciplinary artist working at the confluence of video, performance, installation, and photography," also received her MFA from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

in 2008, her BFA from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

in 2002 and attended the

De Ateliers De Ateliers (formerly Ateliers '63) is an independent art school in located in Amsterdam. It was founded in Haarlem in 1963, among others by Ger Lataster, Mari Andriessen, Nic Jonk, Theo Mulder and Wessel Couzijn. This "group of established ar ...

program in

Amsterdam, Netherlands Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the D ...

from 2008-2010.

Career

Maxson's works have been seen at museums and

microcinema A , mini cineplex (), or microcinema is a type of independent movie theater that is not under the direct influence of any major film companies. Mini theaters are characterized by their relatively smaller size and seating capacity compared to ...

s from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, including The Dallas Museum of Art, TX;

Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and film distribution, exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent film, independent, experimental film, ex ...

, NY;

Art in General Art in General was a Non-profit organization, non-profit contemporary art exhibition space known for its vibrant and ground-breaking projects as a formidable and longstanding New York City alternative space, focused on giving meaningful resource ...

, NY;

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

, Los Angeles;

Light Industry Light industry are Industry (economics), industries that usually are less Capital intensity, capital-intensive than heavy industry, heavy industries and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consum ...

, Brooklyn; Museo Tamayo de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City; the

New York Underground Film Festival The New York Underground Film Festival was an annual event that occurred each March at Anthology Film Archives in New York City from 1994 through 2008. It was founded by filmmakers Todd Phillips (''Road Trip (2000 film), Road Trip'', ''Old School ...

; Portland Documentary and Experimental Film Festivals and on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. In 2008, ''Lost Broadcasts'', a DVD compilation of Maxson’s videos, was released by the nationally recognized, Houston-based microcinema Aurora Picture Show in conjunction with Microcinema International. In 2006, Maxson was called "''...a transmedia

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

for the

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

generation...''" by New York ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' media critic

Ed Halter Ed Halter is a film programmer, writer, and founder of Light Industry, a microcinema in Brooklyn, New York. He currently teaches at Bard College, where he is Critic in Residence. Criticism His writing has been featured in '' Artforum'', '' Th ...

. Halter had previously named her to a "sweet 16" list of experimental film and video, 2003.

Texas Prize

In 2005, Maxson was named as a finalist for the inaugural ''Texas Prize'', a $30,000 art prize established by the

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, non-profit

and the largest art prize in the region at the time. Maxson was awarded the prize in a ceremony presided over by former

Texas Governor The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constitut ...

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, ...

References

External links

*
Biography

Faux Interview before 2007 Texas Prize

Eileen Maxson on testsite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxson, Eileen 1980 births Living people American women experimental filmmakers American interdisciplinary artists American video artists Artists from Dallas People from Rockville Centre, New York Artists from New Jersey University of Houston alumni