John Yau reviews Jen Bervin: Source in Hyperallergic. Of the artist’s first West Coast survey and the inaugural exhibition at Catharine Clark Gallery's newly expanded 9,200 square-foot space, he writes: "An unclassifiable artist and a deep reader, Jen Bervin has expanded the notion of what it is to be a poet in the 21st century."
Published for the first survey exhibition of artist and poet Jen Bervin (b. 1972), Shift Rotate Reflect features 23 individual and collaborative projects from 1997 to 2020. The works demonstrate the range of her interdisciplinary research, including the legacies of women artists and writers, relationships between text and textiles, and abstractions of language and landscape. This 192-page monograph includes: poet and playwright Claudia Rankine's far-ranging 20-page conversation with Bervin; Jennifer Yee's (Director of Public Programs at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum) in-depth interview with Bervin and artist Charlotte Lagarde about their collaborative project, Su Hui's Picture of the Turning Sphere; exhibition curator Kendra Paitz's essay on Bervin's monumental River; scholar Jayme Collins's essay on Bervin's Silk Poems; a facsimile chapter from Bervin's stitched artist's book The Desert; a visual index of Bervin's book projects; and an illustrated biography. Edited by Kendra Paitz and Jen Bervin. Designed by Brett Yasko. Available.
In this new artist book from Granary Books, Bervin responds to the omission of the word 'no' in The Concordance to the Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by S.P. Rosenbaum (Cornell University, 1964). A concordance indexes the words a major author has used in her work over the course of her lifetime. Each word is listed alphabetically and chronologically, indexed, and cited in order of frequency. Dickinson used the 'nonsignificant' word 'no' 395 times. 'Yes' which was included? Four. What is significant to a poet writing to further 'no?'
An Infinite and Omnivorous Sky, a group exhibition about the mysteries and militarization of outer space, features thirty works by artists that critically engage in poetic, scientific, and geopolitical views of the cosmos. The works in the exhibition prompt dialogue about the need for rigorous scientific exploration, unrestrained artistic practice, and informed political action. Artists: Amy Balkin, Jen Bervin, James Bridle, william cordova, Rohini Devasher, Ala Ebtekar, Spencer Finch, Dianna Frid, Carrie Gundersdorf, Basim Magdy, Brittany Nelson, Demetrius Oliver, Kambui Olujimi, Lisa Oppenheim, Trevor Paglen, Katie Paterson, Dario Robleto, Cauleen Smith, and Kerry Tribe. The exhibition and catalogue were supported by grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Texts by Amy Balkin, Jen Bervin, william cordova, Basim Magdy, Kambui Olujimi, Megan Prelinger, and exhibition curator Kendra Paitz. Designed by Alice J. Lee.
Jen Bervin’s work has been covered in national and international publications and media outlets such as NPR, The Nation, Artforum, Art in America, Frieze, The New York Times, Times Literary Supplement, Hyperallergic, and The New Yorker.