J Jiang

Born 2000, Shanghai.

J Jiang is a conceptual artist based in Chicago and Shanghai.
Bachelor of Fine Arts, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2023.

As a conceptual artist, I use work to explore the future of the human body, particularly within the context of impending technology advancement. I employ language, artifacts, and bodily reactions as 3 components of a cyclical model to approach the complexities of contemporary existence. My work manifests through site-specific performances and performative sculptures. Language takes the form of instructions, artifacts emerge as physical visualizations resulting from those instructions, and bodily reactions unfold in real-time movements.

‘A North Pole Iceberg’ is a performance that embodies this approach. A 200m long, 80m tall iceberg described in language initially is shown as a piece of holdable ice in a pacifier shape after the instruction. Eventually, the performer ate the ice and spit up a piece of bone. Three chapters of performance work for a multifaceted way of understanding transformation. Instructions are written from a retrospective perspective on what has effectively shaped artifacts. Artifacts exist as a thing and an extension of the human body at the same time. Reaction taken by the real body is a personal perspective that addresses how individuals process the thing and the extended bodies respectively and collectively. Also, I make sculptures to explore how human relate their bodies to artifacts, by visualizing gravity, scale, materiality, and decay on artifacts at site-specific places. I cast a flesh-tone silicone apple filled with expired pills and affixed it to a fruit tree by an arrow in the forest. I used a bedding set to make a Band-Aid with a scar on it, placing it in 8 libraries to catch visitor’s responses.

Looking forward, I envision further engagement with artificial intelligence. I will investigate more about the nature of creativity and how it embodies on future human body. I consider my work to serve as a critical reflection and creative speculation on the possibilities that lie ahead.

CV



Education

2023 BFA Sculpture & Performance, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US


EXHIBITIONS

2023 Fall Undergraduate Exhibition 2023, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Gallery, Chicago, IL, US
2022 Round Ken, Solo Exhibition, Ming Art Museum, Suzhou, China
2021 Hangzhou 3rd Good Art Fair, Special Artist Exhibition, Notting Hill, Hangzhou, China
2020 Artbash, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US
2018 WHO AM I, Museum of Contemporary Art 3rd floor, Shanghai, China


PUBLIC ART

2023 Analog, Art on The Mart, The Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL, US


PERFORMANCE

2023 Impact Performance Festival 2023, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Gallery, Chicago, IL, US
2023 Cho-Cho-Cho-Choo Station, Comfort Station, Chicago, IL, US
2023 READINGS, Watershed Art and Ecology, Chicago, IL, US
2022 White Box-LOVE, ‘A Place We Long For’, The Research House for Asian Art(RHAA), Chicago, IL, US


RESIDENCY & FELLOWSHIP

2024 PILOTENKUECHE International Art Program, Leipzig, Germany


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2021-present Founder & Art Teacher, Shanghai Baishi Educational Technology Company, Shanghai, China
i.e. An art curriculum held in museums in Shanghai, which collaborates with multiple art museums and galleries in Shanghai including Perrotin gallery, Power Station of Art, Fosun Foundation, West Bund Museum.
2022-present Undergraduate Assistant/Technician, Performance Department, SAIC, Chicago, IL, US
2021 Teacher Assistant, Contemporary Practice, SAIC, Chicago, IL, US
2021 Teacher Assistant, Art Therapy Department, SAIC, Chicago, IL, US
2020-2021 Art Teacher & Art Curriculum Designer, MUMA K12 Art Center, Shanghai, China