Jen Aitken Joins TrepanierBaer Gallery
During the past decade Jen Aitken has emerged has one of the nation’s remarkable artists. She has gathered a dedicated following for her distinct sculptures, drawings, and wall mounted sculptures.
“I don’t think art should be easy. It feels more rewarding when there is a challenge. I think the same way when we look at things. When you see something in the world and it gets you the right way, it fades a bit. The things that interest me are the ones that take several visits and several lookings, that open up slowly.”
Jen Aitken’s sculptures and drawings articulate geometric volumes, planes and negative spaces, yet they have a curious duality in that they appear as recognizable in their shape, but on the other hand are unfamiliar – “slow looking” as the artist says. Her sculptures made of stacked concrete, a medium with cultural connotations of urbanization and the modern seem to tease recent art historical references without explicitly alluding to them, as if they are autonomous symbols that resist contextualization – more slow looking – which is, we believe, where the best art resides.
TrépanierBaer looks forward to representing Jen Aitken and we invite you to stay in touch with one of Canada’s notable young artists. Jen Aitken has an upcoming solo exhibition at the Power Plant in Toronto scheduled for June of 2023.
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Jen Aitken was born in Edmonton, Alberta. She grew up in Toronto where she currently lives and works. She received her MFA in 2014 from the University of Guelph, Ontario, and her BFA in 2010 from Emily Carr University in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Aitken’s work has been exhibited at various institutions in Canada and the United States, and she has participated in numerous residencies. Recent solo exhibitions include: 3, 4 1/2, 7 1/2, 12 at Royale Projects, Los Angeles (2020); and Kaloune, YYZ Artists’ Outlet, Toronto (2017). An upcoming solo exhibition will take place at The Power Plant, Toronto in 2023. Recent group and two-person exhibitions include SCULPTURE at TrépanierBaer (2022); Des horizons d’attente at the Musee d’art contemporain de Montréal (2021); Architectonic Transmissions, with Caroline Monnet at Arsenal Contemporary Art, Toronto (2021); and Paper Routes—Women to Watch 2020 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC (2020), to name a few.
In the summer of 2022, she held the RBC Emerging Artist Residency at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario. In 2019, she participated in the Eastside International Artist Residency in Los Angeles, and the A-Z West Work Trade Residency at Joshua Tree, California; and in 2018 she held a fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. Her work is part of numerous private and public collections such as the Art Gallery of Ontario, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, and the Kamloops Art Gallery.
Image Credit:
Shooniph, 2019/20
Fibre-reinforced concrete, ceramic inlay
41” x 23” x 23”