Visiting Artist Paints Visions of Renaissance

 

 

Photo from lc.edu Jenny Chi's art will be featured on April 21 at 12:30 p.m. in Hatheway Cultural Art Gallery.
Photo from lc.edu
Jenny Chi’s art will be featured on April 21 at 12:30 p.m. in Hatheway Cultural Art Gallery.
Drew Myers
Staff Writer

 

1st MidAmerica Credit Union presents the Visiting Artists Lecture series, showcasing painter Jenny Chi on April 21. This lecture is the third installment of Lewis and Clark Community College’s insight to the art world.

Dealing with art at a very young age, final lecturer Chi knew that this was the career she wanted.

“It’s a lifelong passion. I clearly remember standing in front of an art studio peeking in as a kindergartener, admiring what the older kids were doing and begging for a spot for myself.  I consider myself the lucky one, with a chosen career exactly as I have ‘painted’ in my head as a childhood dream,” Chi said.

Chi studied at Lewis University and received her Bachelor in Arts degree before moving onwards to achieve her Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of Figurative Art of the New York Academy in Art.

She currently is a professor at Eastern Illinois University in their art department, teaching courses on painting and life drawing.

According to jennychi.org, Chi is well known for her paintings which are influenced by the works of the old masters during the Italian Renaissance.

“For many see the style of work I do as ‘old fashion.’ I was attracted to the muted and often solemn palette of the Renaissance Art. I consider myself a storyteller, later on in college and graduate school, I was fascinated by the richness of the narrative and symbolisms used in the artwork from the period,” Chi said.

Pieces created by Chi have been exhibited throughout United States and are found worldwide in several private collections.

Jennychi.org also explains that Chi was the recipient of many awards including: the White House Blue Ribbon Christmas Project, the Duval County Artist in Residence, a fellowship from the Cultural Council in Jacksonville, FL, the Carl Steinsieck Memorial Award for best figure drawing from the St. Augustine Art Association and a grant recipient from George Sugarman Foundation.

This last lecture will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Hathaway Cultural Center and is open to the public. Chi was the third artist to bring her artistic knowledge to L&C, following printmaker Tom Huck and sculptor Preston Scott, whom will be at Hathaway on March 25.

These lectures showcasing different artistic styles will return to L&C sometime in the future, according to Art Director Chris Brennan.

“I hope that the Visiting Artist Lectures this semester will have provided some fresh insights into the contemporary art world, particularly to those who have had limited or no exposure to the arts and culture of our region. We have deliberately selected a diverse range of artists and media in order to demonstrate the varied possibilities of art-making and expression of ideas, and we will continue to do so with future artist lectures,” Brennan said.

For more information on Jenny Chi’s works or to view the gallery of her works, visit www.jennychi.org.

 

Contact Drew at drmyers@lc.edu

 

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