April Issue 2002
Craven Allen Gallery in Durham, NC, Features Works by George Jenne
The North Carolina
State Fair inspired George Jenne to create a bizarre midway attraction
of his own for his new show, The Five Cent Fallen Colossus,
at Craven Allen Gallery in Durham, NC through Apr. 27, 2002. Jenne
has transformed the gallery space so that visitors will be able
to experience the meticulously crafted Colossus attraction
for themselves, in all its surreal splendor, including a mechanized
sculpture, The Nickel Shrink. In the drawings which accompany
the Colossus, Jenne goes behind the scenes to show what
he describes as "the guts of the carnival-a tangle of cable,
hoses, bolts and pig iron that rests behind the frantic glow of
each ride." Jenne's elegant, evocative ink on paper illustrations
provide a larger context for the installation.
Jenne cites a variety of sources for his particular aesthetic, including "the hazy, noir settings of old Los Angeles; the eerily lush back roads of the Southeast, and the strange yet cozy images of horror films from the nineteen-thirties and forties. The world I am trying to create is uneasy and slightly discolored. This is the world in which I feel most at home. Its marvelous atmosphere makes me cringe, then makes me smile."
In his artist statement Jenne says of his work, "This show draws from the midway of the North Carolina State Fair. These drawings depict the guts of the carnival. A tangle of cable, hoses, bolts, and pig iron that rests behind the frantic glow of each ride. The installation is the seedy and weird attraction. It is not the image of the "Colossus' and the "Nickel Shrink" that is disturbing as much as it is their cheap fakery."
He continues, "I create my images because they make me comfortable. I am trying to describe a world that doesn't exist. One that is perfect in its detail and atmosphere. There is a frozen, plastic quality to my images. They are the toys that I could never have as a child and the places that were too terrifying to explore. "
Jenne currently lives, draws and sculpts in Brooklyn, NY, where he works as a prop and model maker for television and film. He grew up in Chapel Hill and received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Jenne's short film The Belligerents has been shown in several film festivals, and he has exhibited across the country.
For more information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 919/286-4837.
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