JoWonder, born Joanna Woodward, is a British painter,

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

stopmotion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhib ...

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

and writer. They are noted for being from a generation of British avant-garde animators such as Brothers Quay and Phil Mulloy. Their work brings concepts from

postmodern literature Postmodern literature is a form of literature that is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, and intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues. This style of experimen ...

, the

surrealist movement Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

, and contemporary art to cinema. Their films, which use

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

, puppets, textured painting, and text, provide a counterpoint between the metaphysical and the playful. Lilliputian characters are often introduced to an apocalyptic realm ruled by giants. Jo's work combines: their own literature, religious, political, fairy-tale, and scientific themes using

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

and symbolism.

Animated films

In 1990 their animated film ''The Brooch Pin and the Sinful Clasp'' using stop frame animation, and featuring performance artist Rose English, won the Grand Prize at Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film, the Direction Award for best first animated film at the British Animation Awards and the Time Out Film Award. It was also a part of ''Between Imagination and Reality'', a programme of film and video selected by Tilda Swinton.

Video installation

In 2007, their video installation ''Flatlanders'', expressing a judgement of the scale of ambition of science at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

, was featured in

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...

in connection with a science debate organised by Surrey University called ''Is science the new religion?'' attended by

Jim Al-Khalili Jameel Sadik "Jim" Al-Khalili (; born 20 September 1962) is an Iraqi-British theoretical physicist and science populariser. He is professor of theoretical physics and chair in the public engagement in science at the University of Surrey. He is a ...

and Dr Brian Cox. The subject was based around the nuclear experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). One of their ongoing projects is ''6 Days Goodbye Poems Of Ophelia'', research funded by The Wellcome Trust and with a microbiology input by Dr Simon Park of Surrey University. ''Under The Microscope'' is an interpretation of Ophelia painted out of bacteria that incorporates messages to Ophelia from the public as part of the soundscape.

Performances

Their

performance art has included working within the experimental the Washroom Collective, which typically involves improvisation and audience interaction. *2012, May''JoWonder and the Psychic Tea Leaves'', a site-specific 45-minute performance in the tradition of a Victorian seance, using the supernatural as subject performed at the belfry of St Johns on Bethnal Green, part of First Thursdays organised by Whitechapel Art Gallery. *2019, September, ''The Woven Plait of Beatrice'' a part of a site-specific event ''The Woven'' with seven multidisciplinary artists and musicians inspired by the unique heritage of St Leonard's, Shoreditch. 2020 further developed as an experimental performance video. *2023, site-specific piece as a part of '' 'L'Age d'Or, a contemporary

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

group exhibition, curated by Iranian born Baharak Dehghan , to celebrate the film L'Age d'Or directed by

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

in collaboration with Salvador Dali The film explores themes such as: humanization, destruction, confusion, passion, fear, oppression and isolation. JoWonder’s performance took place over the weekend of the coronation of

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

in the Uk; incorporating a mock coronation of Street Artist Rolling Fool, dressed in a monkey costume. The exhibition brought together forty international artists to reflect on the question: What would Buñuel’s L'Age d'Or look like today?https://lagedorevent.com/about
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Filmography

*1980 ''The Grid'' starring Peter Murphy (musician). A New Contemporaries Prize Winner 1981, painting shown the same year. *1985 ''The Hump Back Angel'' *1989 ''The Brooch Pin and the Sinful Clasp'' (short) - NFTS. Live action and stop frame puppet animation: with performance artist Rose English *1992 ''Sawdust for Brains and the Key of Wisdom'' (short) - Channel 4 Television

Media appearances

* ''State of the Art'' - Channel 4, 1993

Selected exhibitions

*2023, 5–7 May; paintings; including a depiction of

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

being abducted by fairies*, and

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

having breakfast with his dog, shown as a part of L'Age d'Or, a contemporary surrealist group exhibition, curated by Iranian born Baharak Dehghan. The exhibition celebrated the

film: L'Age d'Or directed by

in collaboration with Salvador Dali. The L'Age d'Or exhibition and event took place at the Crypt Gallery

St Pancras New Church St Pancras Church is a Greek Revival church in St Pancras, London, built in 1819–22 to the designs of William Inwood, William and Henry William Inwood. The church is one of the most important 19th-century churches in England and is a Grade I ...

,
/ref> *

being abducted by fairies* 'Abduction of the Sleeping Prime Minister' was also shown in the London Biannale 2023, https://internationaltimes.it/the-abduction-of-the-sleeping-prime-minister/

Curated exhibitions

* JoWonder curated an exhibition on the theme of

Schrödinger's cat In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment concerning quantum superposition. In the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat in a closed box may be considered to be simultaneously both alive and dead while it is unobserved, ...

in 2022, with help from a Public Engagement Grant from the Institute of Physics which included 21 visual artists at the Bookery Gallerie, London.

References

External links

JoWonder official siteJoanna Woodward (IMDB)

UCA Animation Research Centre interviewAnimation Festival 2013Joanna Woodward at Lux Uk CollectionJoanna Woodward at BFI British Film InstituteThe aestetic microbe:ProkaryArt and EukaryArt
{{authority control 21st-century British painters British animators British curators British painters British performance artists British women artists English contemporary artists British women animators Living people Alumni of the National Film and Television School Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British women painters