Jo Ann Callis (born 1940) is an American artist who works with photography and is based in California. Her work is held in various public collections.

Life and work

Callis was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Though she initially pursued a degree at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1958, she dropped out in her second year when she got married. She and her husband moved to Southern California in 1961. Her father died after the birth of her first son, Stephen, in the same year. In 1963, her second son Michael was born. Callis enrolled at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) in 1970 initially in graphic design. When she took a course from

Robert Heinecken Robert Heinecken (1931 – May 19, 2006) was an American artist who referred to himself as a "paraphotographer" because he so often made photographic images without a camera. Early life and education Born in Denver in 1931, Heinecken grew up in Ri ...

in photography, she was encouraged by Heinecken to explore things within her mind. In 1975, while still a student at UCLA, a year before finishing her Masters in Fine Arts, she was offered a position to work at

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

, where she works as of 2017. Callis's work is primarily

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 ...

. Her themes have included domestic spaces and the role of motherhood, as demonstrated in ''Dish Trick'' (1985).

Exhibitions

* ''Woman Twirling'',

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 2009

Publications

*''Woman Twirling.'' Los Angeles, CA:

, 2009. Text by Judith Keller. *''Decor.'' Thistle & Weed, 2013. Essay by Jennifer A. Watts. *''Other Rooms.'' New York:

Aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

, 2014. .

Collections

Callis' work is held in the following public collections: *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York. *

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. *

, Los Angeles.

References

External links

*
Rose Gallery: Jo Ann Callis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callis, Jo Ann 1940 births Living people Artists from Cincinnati California Institute of the Arts faculty Photographers from California UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture alumni Ohio State University alumni 20th-century American women photographers 20th-century American photographers American women academics 21st-century American women artists