Jane Venis is a New Zealand multimedia artist, musician and writer. She focuses on the "absurdities and concerns of contemporary popular culture," which she chooses to show through objects, video, sound and performance works.

Biography

Venis gained a Master of Fine Arts from the Dunedin School of Art, and then a PhD in Fine Arts from

Queensland College of Art The Queensland College of Art and Design (QCAD), established as Brisbane School of Arts and formerly known as Queensland College of Art or (QCA) after other name changes, is a specialist visual arts and design college located in South Bank, Br ...

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

, Australia. Venis taught 'Music Making' night classes in the 1980s and has made musical instruments since 2001. She is currently Professor of Creative Studies in the School of Design at

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic is a public Education in New Zealand#Tertiary education, New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell, New Zealand, Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provides career-f ...

, and she teaches in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Venis describes her work as "crafted assemblage" and creates musical instruments from reworked scrap and rubbish materials. Her work references the Japanese art of Chindogu - objects freed from the chains of usefulness.

Notable exhibitions

* ''Dual'', 2020 at the CICA Museum. A joint show with Hannah Joynt featuring video, drawing and audio works recorded in real time. * ''Drawn to Sound'', 2019 at Ashburton Art Gallery. This joint show with Hannah Joynt as part of the Summer Season series featured multimedia and performance-based works. Earlier in 2019 Venis and Joynt undertook a residency in Portugal at the Buinho Creative Hub. * ''The Lost Object Ensemble'', 2016 at Forrester Gallery in Dunedin. This exhibition featured a collection of musical instruments made from found materials. * ''Gymnaseum'', 2011 at

Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as ...

. * Chindogu exhibition as part of the

Dunedin Fringe Festival The Dunedin Fringe Festival, or Dunedin Fringe, is an 11-day fringe arts festival held each March in Dunedin, New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the ...

, 2009. * ''The Blathering, Gossiping about Gossip'', 2003 at Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venis, Jane New Zealand artists New Zealand women artists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Queensland College of Art alumni Academic staff of Otago Polytechnic People educated at King Edward Technical College