About the Artist
Mimi Jensen is a realist, fascinated by the way things look. Through keen observation and attention to detail, she translates that fascination into convincing portrayals of reality, whether painted from real life or from her own imagination. Her widely collected works range from still life to imaginary realism. Each piece begins when some simple observation captures her attention — the shadow on a drawn window shade, a silver vase on a friend's shelf, or perhaps a concept. Jensen's intent in painting it is to entice the viewer to linger long enough to notice what otherwise might be overlooked and to conjure a narrative from his or her own experience.
Jensen also harbors a lifelong love of language, so she enjoys nudging that narrative with thoughtfully chosen titles for her work. Many evoke whimsy ("American Idol") or wit ("Family Reunion" or "The Blues"). Some derive from personal experience — "Homage" identifies a favorite New York café scene she happened to be painting at the time of 9/11. Occasionally, an idea occurs to her first ("Passages" or "Lunch with Andy & Marilyn"), and the portrayal follows its lead.
When she finds a particularly inviting subject or concept, Jensen stays with it, working in series ("A Week at the Met," "Upstairs Downtown," "Voyages"), returning to it again and again.
In her STILL LIFE work, Mimi Jensen presents an often playful mix of everyday objects. She selects her subjects from a variety of sources — her collection of thrift-store finds, the ripe, colorful fruits found at farmers markets, almost any happened-upon object that intrigues her. With a photographer's eye for composition, she arranges and re-arranges these objects until the rhythm feels right. With great attention to detail, she paints these objects life-size from an orthographic perspective. By spotlighting her subjects "on stage" she asks the viewer to notice them as much as she does, to look at their texture and color and shape, and how they interplay. The allure of the still life revived in 2003, inspired by a workshop with the artist John Morra, and it continues to be her joy and her challenge. More recently, she fulfilled a dream of spending an entire week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This resulted in an on-going series of paintings, "A Week at the Met," exhibited for the first time in 2010.
In her INTERIORS, Mimi Jensen paints edges, shadows, and glimpses that suggest only a hint of what's beyond. Often sparked by something observed, such as an intricate play of light and shadow on a wall, Jensen takes that inspiration and builds an imagined environment around it. Although her settings evidence a human presence, no one is there at the captured moment. Jensen paints what she wants you to see. But she also urges the viewer to pause and consider what has not been emphasized or has been left out. Jensen wants the viewer to wonder what's around that corner.
Chance and imagination dominate Mimi Jensen's HORIZONS work. This imagined realism adds an unexpected sensuousness and compelling beauty to familiar objects. The truths in her paintings draw from any number of sources — relationships, voyages, balance. Both intrusion and a touch of romance might also find their way onto the canvas. Her richly realized spaces might welcome pears or chairs, bridges or balls. One scene embellishes reality, another interprets the public domain through an abandoned arrangement of chairs. Whatever her theme, Jensen's careful use of scale and color seduces the viewer into entering unknown terrain.
Biography
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- 2010 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2007-1994 Bi-annual Solo Exhibitions at Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1992,91,90,89 Convergence Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1993 So. Bay Contemporary Museum, Sales & Rental Gallery, Torrance, CA
- 1990 "Paper Shadows", PVAC Collectors Gallery, Palos Verdes, CA
- 1988 Fred Segal, Santa Monica, CA
- 1988 The Wave, Playa del Rey, CA
- 1987,86 WSL Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
PUBLICATIONS, AWARDS, REVIEWS
- 2007 California Home+Design, p.74, September 2007 issue, San Francisco, CA
- 2007 "Natural Curiosities", American Art Collector, pp. 138-141, Sept 2007 Issue, Vol. 23, Scottsdale, AZ
- 2005 Cover Art, Strategies for Reading & Arguing About Literature, Prentice Hall, NJ
- 2004 Nott, Robert, "Valentine's Stroll", The New Mexican, 2/13/04
- 2002 Cover Art, Short Fiction, Classic & Contemporary, 5th ed, ed. Bohner, Prentice Hall, NJ
- 2000 New American Paintings, Vol.31, Open Studios Press, Wellesley, MA
- 1999 Cover Art, Short Fiction, Classic & Contemporary, 4th ed, ed. Bohner, Prentice Hall, NJ
- 1999 "Connecticut Review", Fall 1999 Issue, New Haven, CT
- 1999 Cover Art, Reading Lessons, Carpenter, Prentice Hall, NJ
- 1997 "Hayden's Ferry Review", Fall/Winter 1997 Issue, Tempe, AZ
- 1997 Poet's Market, ed. Martin, Writer's Digest Books, Cincinnati, OH
- 1996 Cover Art, "Hayden's Ferry Review", Fall/Winter '95 Issue, Tempe, AZ
- 1995 Award of Excellence, "Manhattan Arts International", Summer '95 Issue
- 1994 Finalist, "Northwest Poets and Artists Calendar"
- 1993 Silver Award, "Art of California Magazine Discovery Awards", Winter Issue
- 1991 "Art Business News", April '91
- 1990 L. Montgomery, "Artist Captures Quiet Solitude in Exhibit", News-Pilot, 3/90
- 1988 R. Trotter, "Muscarelle Has Visual Feast...", The Virginian-Pilot, 4/88
- 1987 C. Curtis, "'87 'Images' A Cut Above Usual", L.A. Times, 8/87
- 1985 S. Gottlieb, "Visions with Feminine Perspective", L.B. Press-Telegram, 10/85
- 1985 -1997: Numerous Awards in Juried Exhibitions
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- 2007,05,03 "Arcadia: Artists Celebrate Trees" Invitational, San Francisco, CA
- 2005 Chicago Contemporary & Classic, Chicago, IL
- 2005 Art Miami, Miami, FL
- 2004 Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY
- 2003 WAM 20th Anniversary Invitational Exhibition, Long Beach, CA
- 1997 Golden West College Fine Arts Gallery, Huntington Beach, CA
- 1996 Gallery Concord, Concord, CA
- 1996 Sacramento Fine Arts, Sacramento, CA
- 1990 BACA, Berkeley, CA
- 1990 Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito, CA
- 1989 Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, TX
- 1989 Hatley Martin Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1989 Art Institute -Permian Basin, Odessa, TX
- 1988 Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, VA
- 1988 Cafe Montana, Santa Monica, CA
- 1988 Beckstrand Gallery, Palos Verdes, CA
- 1988 The Woman's Building, Los Angeles, CA
- 1987 Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA
- 1987 California State University Gallery, Long Beach, CA
- 1986 Horizon Gallery, Manhattan Beach, CA
- 1986 San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
- 1985 "Women Art Makers" (4-Person Show), Hippodrome Gallery, Long Beach,CA
EDUCATION
Graduate Studies, Drawing and Painting, Photography, CA State University Long Beach
B.A., Psychology, California State University Northridge
COLLECTIONS
More than 150 collections throughout the United States, Russia, Europe, Australia and Asia
