charlotta jansenn

Artist Statement:
My present work re-imagines discarded and archival photographs of poor and working class Americans taken before, during and after the Great Depression. While at once cautionary, my images attempt to celebrate both the individual dignity and group solidarity of my subjects. Furthermore drawn to the tension between the stoic formality of the age—as expressed through uniforms, suits, dresses, hats, machines, architecture, etc.—and the piercing drama of facial expression, I seek to create images that are as humanistic as abstract. Working in acrylic, oil, and rust, I pay homage to the hard lines of comic artist Bob Kane (Batman) and the work of Grant Wood (with an urban bent) and Francis Bacon, in giving new life to the vibrant deteriorating photographs of a past, but all too prescient, era.

Bio:
I was born in Maine to German parents living in America under the Marshall plan. 1973 my family moved to Iran, which we fled during the revolution in 1979. Back in Germany, I studied painting at the University of Arts in Berlin from 1986-1989. I dropped out and travelled the world as a street musician and performance artist. 1991 I picked up my brushes again and started organising art shows wherever I travelled. 1995 I moved to New York. 2000 I opened a restaurant to showcase my work in Brooklyn. My newest body of work began in 2005 and keeps evolving.