Jess Holdengarde
Jess Holdengarde (b.1991) is a South African artist who works predominantly in photography, film and auto fictional narrative. Jess’s current practice investigates the entangled relationship of precarity and temporality with the natural environment. Through the consideration of her subject and the materials she uses, Jess considers the role of a lens-based practitioner in an ecological crisis. Her process creates a counter narrative to the natural world being separate and opposed to humans whilst challenging binary knowledge systems that reject the very reality of our intertwined existence . Jess has recently focused on combining plant based chemistry, queer ecology and auto ethnographical experiences in order to make sense of the world we co-exist within. The artist utilises the natural environment - as both a subject and a resource - to explore a deeper understanding of the role of an artist in environmental ruin.
Education
2016 Bachelor’s of Fine Art (Distinction in Studio Work) Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town
2021 Masters in Fine Art (Distinction), The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
Group Exhibitions
2013 Rhodes Student Exhibition Grahamstown National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape
2014 Where The Wild Things Are, Curated by Nina Liebenberg, Michaelis Upper Gallery. Cape Town, SA
2015 LunchBox, The Eye Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 In bed with Series/Friends, performance with Dr Alexandra Ross, World Art Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2016 Orms Staff Show, CTSP, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 By Way of Hand, CTSP, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 Out Of Nowhere, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2017 Redemptive Beauty, Eclectica Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2017 Orms Staff Show, CTSP, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 Re (union), Art.b Gallery, Belleville, SA.
2017 Salad, Summer Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2018 Close Encounters Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2018 Meditative Moments, Group Show, Gallery One11, Cape Town, SA
2018 Summer Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, SA Art Fairs
2018 Investec Cape Town Art Fair with SMITH Gallery, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, SA
2019 Emphatic Whispers, Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town. SA
2019 Someone You Love Has an Abortion Story to Tell, Constitution Hill, Women's Jail, Johannesburg, SA
2021 The 195th RSA Annual Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK. [online]
2021 Hot Wheels, GSA MFA Showcase, The Glue Factory, Glasgow, UK
2021 In Process, an exhibtion by Fix Photography Collective and GSA, The Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow, UK
Collaborations
2021 a holding place, Collaborative Publication with Glasgow based artist, Lydia Davies, Glasgow, UK
2021 Dreaming Lockdown, ongoing video project with Glasgow based artist, Beth Shapeero, Glasgow, UK
2020 What's the name of that yellow flower (Temporal Landscapes), in conversation with Catrin Menai, The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, UK (Supported by GSA Sustainability Award)
2020 Recantations, in collaboration with Kate Holford, The Savings Bank, Glasgow, UK.
Collections
2017 Zeits Mocca personal collection, bought from the Michaelis Silent Auction, hosted by Eclectica Contemporary, Cape Town, South Africa.
Residencies and Internships
2017 Berlin Art Institute, Berlin, Germany
2018 Warren Editions, Printmedia Internship, Cape Town, South Africa
2022 Artist in Residence, Ilali Collective, Berlin, Germany (Supported by Creative Scotland)
Workshops/Activations
Inkcubeko Nezobugcisa NPC, Xhosa language LGBQT ACTIVATION SESSIONS, 2021
Xhosa speaking photographic activation sessions for LGBQT creatives in South Africa by an Initiative in Woodstock, Cape Town. This has been I worked with the initiative on a consultation basis helping them design a sustainable community project. This is currently taking place on a bi-weekly basis.
Art+Feminisim Activation Sessions
Co-host with Dr Alexandra Ross for a series of online and in person wiki-edit-a-thons for the Art+Feminism Campaign. The organisation is committed to closing information gaps related to gender, feminism, and the arts, beginning with Wikipedia.We hosted our first session in South Africa together in 2016, and have hosted a series of events in South Africa and Glasgow each year.
Awards
2022 Creative Scotland Open Fund for Ecologies of Perception Project
2020 Re-rewarded The Oppenheimer International Memorial Scholarship
2019 The Oppenheimer International Memorial Scholarship
2019 The Glasgow School of Art Governor's International Scholarship
2017 Shortlisted for Arts and Thread Future Creator Award
2016 Degree with Distinction in Studio Work, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, SA
2016 Humanities Scholarship, University of Cape Town, SA
Upcoming
FIX photographic Collective, 2021
Christina Mcbride and I are in the process of establishing a photographic collective in Glasgow called FIX Photography Collective. Our aim is to create a resource and alternative educational space which has more concern for the environment and community. The Collective will have a number of key aims which includes: A specific focus on analogue practices and building/establishing a resource which promotes more sustainable analogue practices and materials.Establishing a community-based darkroom which provides a resource and alternative educational space for lens-based practices.