My latest work presents room-sized installations of walk-in books and wearable structures activated with robotics and embedded with video. My recent installation, (un)Seen Work, grew out of a yearlong collaboration with fifty workers from a small Iowa town. These installations and community-based actions further explore those psychologically and culturally based entanglements of image, language and space through which we try to locate our own identity.

In the installation Blind one is confronted by a seven-foot high cave-like structure tracing its roots to a wheelchair-accessible, camouflage hunting blind. Shining through a slit and projected on a nearby column is a video loop of my hand endlessly unzipping a zipper. Around this larger igloo several smaller motorized versions circulate, helpfully dispensing Kleenex, vacuuming up and responding to remote control demands from viewers.

…We cannot help but be swept away by the slapstick spirit, checked by a note of dread and caution supplied by the hand in its endless Sisyphussian pursuit of the completed zip. Everything, and everyone (including, crucially, the artist herself) is caught in a permanent vicious cycle, a perverse closed loop of good will, bloodlust, vanity and pure brilliant stupidity. (Matt Freedman, Blind).

For the past thirty years, then, my process has been concerned with social issues, found situations, and psychological narrative. From The 1976 All-American Glamour Kitty Pageant, to my 70’s and 80’s photo tableaux of cat-masked goddesses in the ruins of Greece and the bowling alleys of Iowa, to my twenty-five years of community-based work in shelters and hospitals--my search is for some unspoken connection in these random collisions of objects, images, and voices.

janegilmor@yahoo.com
http://janegilmor.com

358 Trailridge Rd. S.E.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52403
(319) 365-6741

EDUCATION
M.F.A. Intermedia/Painting, M.A. Painting/Printmaking, The University of Iowa, 1975-1977
Post-graduate study, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1969-70
B.S. Textile Design, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 1969

GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS
Tanne Foundation Award ,by nomination, five career awards given nationally, 2011-12
NEA Project stipend grant for (Un)Seen Work through Grinnell College, Iowa, 2010
Faculty Summer Scholarships, Mount Mercy College, Iowa, 2008, 2009
IAC grant for catalog publication of Blind, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, New York, 2005
Fulbright Senior Scholar/Research Fellowship, Evora University, Portugal, 2003
NEA Creation Project Grant to Community Architexts for Work-Shift, 2001
Banff International Center Artist Residency Fellowship, Banff, Canada, 2000
McKnight Foundation/Intermedia Arts Interdisciplinary Fellowship, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1997
NEA Diverse Visions Interdisciplinary Project Grant, Minneapolis, 1996
Delphina Foundation Residency Fellowship, London, United Kingdom, 1995
Bemis Center for Contemporary Art Residency Fellowship, Omaha, Nebraska, 1993
Tyrone Guthrie Centre Fellowship Residency, Newbliss, Ireland, 1992
MacDowell Colony Residency, Peterborough, New Hampshire, 1988
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant, New Media/Sculpture, 1986
University of Georgia, Cortona Program, Artist in Residence, Cortona, Italy, 1986

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
(Un)Seen Work, Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, Iowa, 2010
The Architecture of Migration, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa, 2010
I’ll Be Back for the Cat, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York, 2009
Baby Blinds, ICON Gallery, Fairfield, Iowa, 2008
Blind, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, New York, 2005
The Architecture of Fatigue, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, New York, 2004
A Semester at Sea, Maharishi International University, Fairfield, Iowa, 2003
The Architecture of Migration, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, New York, 2001
Slow Dip, Steady Drip, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, 2000
Olson-Larsen Galleries, Des Moines, Iowa, 1999, 1997, 1995, 1993, 1991, 1989
BedHeadRoom, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 1996
BedShoeHome, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1994
HomeIsWhere?, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, Nebraska, 1993
Jane Gilmor, Mid-Career Retrospective, Museum of Art, Waterloo, Iowa, 1991
Our Bodies Worry Us, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, 1989
Jane Gilmor: This Isn’t Easy, Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut, 1988
Jane Gilmor: Roadside Mysteries, Palazzo Vagnotti, Cortona, Italy, 1986
Jane Gilmor: Recent Work, N.A.M.E. Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, 1984

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Shelter, 3-person show, Central Michigan State University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, 2010
The Last Book, curated by Luis Camnitzer, Madrid, Spain, 2009
Historic Women in the Arts, A.I.R. Gallery Gala, New York City, New York, 2008
Ragdale 30, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, 2007
Boa Noite! Platforma Revolver, Lisbon, Portugal, 2006
International Rural Route Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, New York City, New York, 2006
Visions of Labor (@workinthefield), Saint Xavier University, Chicago, Illinois, 2003
New Space New Work, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, New York, 2002
UnBound: Reshaping Artists Books, Henry Street Settlement, New York City, New York, 2001
Outside New York, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, New York, 2001
Iowa Artists, curated by Janet Kardon, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, 1999
Wisdom Pass, with Sandra Taylor, St. Paul History Center, Minnesota, 1998
From Body into Being, curated by I. Michael Danoff, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa, 1997
Iowa Artists, Des Moines Art Center, 1996, 1993, 1990, 1974-88: Purchase Award, 1996; Best in Sculpture, 1990, 1988;
Ten NEA Recipients, (traveling) Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1986-88
The National Sculpture Exhibition, Carnegie Arts Center, Lexington, Kentucky, 1987
Invitational, California State University Museum, Long Beach, California, 1985
Let’s Play House, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York City, New York, 1986
National Women’s Exhibit, Louisiana World Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1984
Invitational, Franklin Furnace, New York City, New York, 1982
Jellicle Cats, Wing Gallery, Los Angeles, California, 1982
The Animal Images, The Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, D.C., 1981
Art Fabric, F.I.T. Galleries, New York City, New York, 1980
In a Small Frame, Olbrick Gallery, Kassel, Germany, 1980
Young Americans ‘77, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York City, New York; traveled, 1977-79

COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS, INSTALLATIONS, SITE ACTIVATIONS
(Un)Seen Work: Traditions and Transitions, Grinnell College, Iowa, 2010
Blind, Anta Grande do Zambujiero and Cromeleques dos Almendres Valverde, Portugal, 2003-04
Work-Shift, site activation abandoned meat packing plant with Community Architexts, Chicago, Illinois, 2001
Wisdom Pass, with Sandra Taylor, HealthEast Oncology, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1997
Bed/Shoe/Home, YWCA, Phillips Women’s’ Shelter and The Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1996
Windows ‘95, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, 1995
The Big Issue Project, London, United Kingdom, 1994
Homeless Drawing Home, Bemis Center for Art, Omaha, Nebraska, 1993
Home is where? Davenport Museum of Art, Iowa, 1991
Manhattan Bridge/Bowery Project, New York City, New York, 1986
Federal City Shelter Workshops, Washington, D.C., 1988
Great Goddesses: Do You Have a Light? Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens; Temple of Apollo, Delphi, Greece, 1977-81
Finalist: 1976 All-American Glamour Kitty Pageant, Miami Beach, Florida, 1976

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND REVIEWS
Jane Gilmor: I’ll Be Back For The Cat, (250 page career monograph, Sperling, Joy. A.I.R. Gallery, NYC, 2012
ActUp: Nordic Women’s Performative Video, catalogue essay; keynote speaker, University of Evora, Portugal, 2008
“Where Are you From?” Watson, Art Papers, June 2008, pp 46-7.
“Where are You From? Contemporary Portuguese Art”, catalogue essay, Grinnell College, Iowa, 2008
Pioneer Feminists: Women Who Changed America, Barbara Love, University of Illinois, 2006
Jane Gilmor: BLIND, catalogue, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, New York, 2005
“Of Tongue Scrapers and Lung Trimmers,” by Marguerite Perret, Little Village, August 2002
Beautiful Necessity: The Art of Women’s Atars, Kay Turner, Thames and Hudson, New York City, New York, 2000
An Uncommon Vision, The Des Moines Art Center Collection, Iowa, 1998
Contemplation: Five Installations, catalogue, I. Michael Danoff, The Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, 1996
From Body to Being, catalogue, I. Michael Danoff, The Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, 1997
The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970’s, History and Impact, ed. Broude and Gerrard, Abrams, New York, 1994
"Iowa Artists," Julie Levin, The New Art Examiner, January 1994
The Reflowering of the Goddess, Gloria Orenstein, Pantheon, 1992
“Reviews,” David McCracken, Chicago Tribune, October 20, 1989
OVERLAY: Contemporary Art and the Art of Pre-History, Lucy Lippard, 1983
“Jane Gilmor at N.A.M.E.,” Nancy Hamel, The New Art Examiner, November 1984
“Reviews: Young Americans”, The New York Times, Sunday, May 18, 1980
“The All-American Glamour Kitty,” by Janick Storm, Copenhagen Daily, Copenhagen, November 15 1977

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The High Museum, Atlanta
The Des Moines Art Center Des Moines, Iowa
Delphina Foundation, London, United Kingdom
Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Newbliss, Ireland
Salvatore Virgile Collection, Paris
Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York
The Bemis, Omaha, Nebraska
First National Bank Collection, Chicago, curator John Neff
Betty Saar, artist, Los Angeles
Gracie Mansion, art dealer, New York
Los Angeles County Museum, Library
Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, Iowa
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
American Medical Association, Chicago, Illinois

TEACHING
Professor of Art, Mount Mercy University, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1974-present Fulbright visiting professor, Evora University, Portugal, 2003-04 Visiting professor, graduate intermedia, University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1988