Jaclyn Conley Canada, b. 1979

In her dynamic portrayals of human form, Jaclyn Conley fuses references to iconic art historical images with poignant reflection on the social and political concerns of American life. Drawing on archival photographs of ordinary people gathering in hope or in protest amid twentieth-century political upheavals, Conley constructs social history paintings of the present moment. The artist methodically locates documentary images in remote archives, unearthing anonymous scenes to interrogate the notion of national self-image and its influence on one’s sense of self: “What I find most interesting about these archive collections, other than the often candid documentation, is that they were created in order to give Americans a picture of themselves.”

Often turning to images of crowds or communities at political rallies, festivals, or social events, Conley seeks to ‘inhabit’ each individual subject via her deliberately slow and considered painting process. Rooted in archived images, yet compositionally referencing works by Gustav Courbet, Peter Bruegel, James Ensor, among others, the paintings explore the historical as well as universal forces that can bring people together or pull them apart in times of socio-political crisis. Alternating vigorous gestural marks with areas of nuanced brushwork, Conley constructs composite, almost fragmented images to slow down the process of reading the painting for the viewer and allude to her diverse visual sources. Resisting a language of painting that would suggest a seamless picture, the artist previously painted on panels which she cut and collaged to build the composition, turning to painting on canvas in her recent body of work.

Jaclyn Conley (b. 1979) was born in Ontario, Canada, and is now based in New Haven, CT. Conley has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including The Painting Center, NY, NurtureArt, NY, Projective City, Paris, Wynick-Tuck Gallery, Toronto, and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield CT. Conley has been an artist in residence at NXTHVN, the Vermont Studio Center and The Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver Canada. Conley has received grants including a Connecticut Office of the Arts Fellowship, Canada Council for the Arts Visual Arts Project Grants, an Elizabeth Greenshields Award and a Fellowship from the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation. Her work has been reviewed and featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, Canadian Art, Border Crossings, and New American Painting.