Jennifer Anne Bennett grew up in Lemon Grove, California. She earned an AA from Grossmont College, a BA from San Diego State University, and an MFA in Painting from Bowling Green State University, Ohio. She enjoys learning about and from her students at Grossmont College, where she has been a Professor of Art since 2006. Jennifer is a painter and printmaker. She also enjoys gardening, cats, practicing pilates, and serving on her community council. She is married to artist John Brinton Hogan.
Statement
The Forests of La Sarthe paintings and monoprints explore how one may experience the landscape as we move through it. The works were inspired by the 1971 film Le Mans, which depicts the iconic 24-hour motor race that takes place annually on the Circuit de la Sarthe, a track composed of roads winding through densely beautiful forests in the region.
We constantly consume imagery- through observation, imagination, film or photography, memory, or other artworks. I want to create a space where we can enter, explore, daydream, rendezvous with a lover or friend, hear music, or encounter the unexpected. We yearn to experience the sublime and a personal connection to nature, hoping to find solace in its grounding presence. Whether driving to it, hiking through it, or sleeping under it, there is something primal about the natural terrain, the tall trees, the countryside, the sun setting or rising, and the wilderness wrapping around us.
As we start 2025, a new year and a re-focus on balance and giving space, it was appropriate that Vicki chose works from 2015 for this show. It prompted me to look at the decade since and the complete circle I have made with my work and life.
I cannot believe I made all of this work that year- with a thyroid cancer diagnosis, surgery, and treatment. I think the meaning of this work has evolved; perhaps the message is to fight less, listen more, and look to art.
CV
b. 1974 Honolulu, HI. Lives in San Diego, CA
Education
2001 MFA Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
Studio Art Centers International Florence, Italy
1998 BA San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Select Exhibition Record
2025
San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, March 26
2024
Grossmont Open, Hyde Art Gallery, Indiana Woods I & II
2023
Boundaries Edge, Techne Art Center
The Last Group Show, Bread and Salt
2022
A Map Project, 60 Artists 60 Maps, City Gallery, San Diego City College
2021
Best Practice, Auction Fundraiser, San Diego
2020
Campus Creatives: From the Classroom to the Museum, California Center for the Arts, Escondido
2019
C-Note, Auction, San Diego Art Institute
2018
You Are Here, San Diego Central Library
Campus Creatives: from the classroom to the museum, California Center for the Arts, Escondido
Feminism Now, Shoebox Gallery, Los Angeles and Krogen Amerika, Stockholm, Swededn
2017
Nasty Women, Helmuth Projects, San Diego, CA
All Natural, San Diego State University Downtown Gallery
Fiesta of Prints and Bookmaking, Athenaeum Art Center, San Diego, CA
2016
Feminism Now, Gallery D, San Diego, CA
Art Auction and Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Wouldn’t it be nice… Selections from San Diego, H Gallery, Mesquite, TX
MAS Attack 11, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
2015
Cuts and Links: Bhavna and Friends, The Rose Art Gallery, San Diego, CA
Monotypes: Jennifer Anne Bennett, Bay Park Press, San Diego, CA
2014
Labor Migrant Gulf 2, Uri Eichen Gallery, Chicago, IL
Object Object!!, Helmuth Projects, San Diego, CA
Labor Migrant Gulf, Southwestern College Art Gallery, San Diego, CA
2013
15 Minutes of Fame, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
Gift, Feminist Imagery Group, San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, CA
Altered Horizons, Art Produce, North Park, CA
Object Object!, Helmuth Projects, San Diego, CA
2009
Trade Show, California – Turkey, San Diego, Los Angeles, Turkey
2007
OMA Regional 5: Oceanside Museum of Art Juried Exhibition, Oceanside, CA
Painting, Works by Jennifer Bennett and Robin Bright, Hyde Art Gallery, El Cajon, CA
Bibliography
2017
Fiesta of Prints, Athenaeum Art Center (catalog)
2016
Feminism Now, Gallery D, San Diego, CA (catalog)
Under Pressure: printmaking today, Hyde Art Gallery, curator, (catalog)
2015
Ross, Andrew, Gulf Labor: High Culture, Hard Labor, OR Books 2015
56th Venice Biennale, The Arena Plan, Gulf Labor. “A New Wave of Arts Activism?” slide presentation on Gulf Labor West, August 5, 2015, Venice, Italy
2014
Object Object!!: A Selection of Smaller Works, Helmuth Projects (catalog)
Chute, James. “Artists and Workers Unite”. UTSanDiego.com. March 12, 2014
Perez, Andrew, Southwestern Sun, “Gatekeeper’s Children,” Feb. - April 2014
Bittar, Doris, "Bi-Cultural Settlements: Gulf Labor and Global Solidarity,” Project Muse, WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly, Vol 42, Nos 3-4, Fall/Winter 2014, pp 253-266
2013
Object Object!: A Selection of Smaller Works, Helmuth Projects (catalog)
2010
Takas Sergisi/ Trade Show, Kultur Merkezi Mithatpasa Sanat Galerisi (catalog)
2006
Koppman, Debra. “Jennifer Bennett and Robin Bright.” Artweek. December 2006
2005
Kromer, MaryAnn, “Paintings portray possibility, potential.” Advertiser-Tribune. 30 October 2005
2001
McGilvery, Kelly. “The fragile beauty of art in war (as inspired by a garlic painting).” Dialogue. November/ December 2001, p. 80
Langston, Bonnie. “Waxing Artistic.” Daily Freeman. 13 September 2001, p. D1
“Event Briefs; Encaustic Works 2001.” Blue Stone Press. 7 September 2001
Lane, Dakota. “Ancient encaustics and modern movies; the art that remains.” Art Box, Almanac. 27 September 2001, p. 5
Encaustic Works 2001, Muroff-Kotler Arts Gallery (catalog)
1999
Pincus, Robert L. “Full Steam Ahead: Street People; Taking Art to the Public was a Major Wake-Up Call for the City.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. 16 September 1999, Night & Day: p. 34
Pincus, Robert L. “Floating Images: emblems and relics are the backdrops for two exhibitions.” The San Diego Union-Tribune. 18 May 1999, Night & Day: p. 53