Education
Master of Fine Arts, (2002) Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
Bachelor of Art, (1996) University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Bio and Affiliation
Jennifer Moon (they/she; b. 1973, Lafayette, Indiana; lives and works in Los Angeles) is a polydisciplinamorous[1] life-artist whose work investigates the co-production of ethico-onto-epistem-ologies[2] via organizing systems (social systems, institutional structures, power relations, scientific theories, emotional frameworks, etc.) and how these various systems are entangled, co-constituted, performed, and perpetuated through bodies (human, nonhuman, material, immaterial). Drawing from queer life, science, self-help, popular culture, the deeply personal, and fantasy, Moon’s work mobilizes possibilities to reconfigure our relationship to power, reignite the social and political imaginaries, and stimulate change beyond binaries, hierarchies, and capital.
Moon received their MFA from Art Center College of Design in 2002 and BA from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1996. The foundation of Moon’s practice is The Revolution, a “way of liberatory worlding” guided by two principles: abundance and expansiveness. Moon has had solo exhibitions at Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles (2018, 2015, 2012); Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena (2018); Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles (2017); Equitable Vitrines, Los Angeles (2014); and Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland (2013). Selected group exhibitions include AHL Foundation, New York (2019); Tina Kim Gallery, New York (2018); Southern Exposure, San Francisco (2016); Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2014); and Courtesy, Paris, France (2013). Moon has performed at The Getty Center, Los Angeles (2019); Onomatopee, Eindhoven, Netherlands (2017); LA><ART, Los Angeles (2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016); Human Resources, Los Angeles (2016); and Machine Project, Los Angeles (2015). Moon is the recipient of a Creative Capital Award (2022, with The Revolution School); the Harpo Foundation Grant for Visual Artists (2020); AHL Foundation Award (2019), the Korean Arts Foundation of America Award (2016), the Alpert/Ucross Residency Prize (2015), the Mohn Public Recognition Award (2014) at the Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A. 2014, and the CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists (2013).
[1] Polydisciplinamory is Natalie Loveless’s term for an expanded interdisciplinary work informed by ethical polyamory and queer love that acknowledges the inequities among disciplines and refuses to commit to disciplinary boundaries. Natalie Loveless, How to Make Art at the End of the World: A Manifesto for Research-Creation, Duke University Press, 2019.
[2] Ethico-onto-epistem-ology is a quantum entanglement concept by Karen Barad that insists on the inseparability and simultaneous co-production of the “nature” of being (ontology), knowing (epistemology), and doing (ethics). Karen Bard, Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning, Duke University Press, 2007.
Wall mural, photography, sculpture, graph, writing
Room dimensions: 32 ft x 17 ft
Made in L.A. 2014
Installation view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
June 15—September 7, 2014
Photography by Brian Forrest
Fiberglass, foam, resin, wood, model train accessories, LED lights, paint, vinyl, and gold leaf
H 54" x W 26"
Made in L.A. 2014, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Photography by Heather Rasmussen
Awards and Honors
- 2022 Creative Capital Award, The Revolution School: Dev/in Alejandro-Wilder, Dan/i Bustillo, Rino Kodama, Jennifer Moon, Clara Philbrik
- 2019 Harpo Foundation Grants for Visual Artists
- 2019 AHL – T&W Foundation Contemporary Visual Art Gold Award
- 2016 KAFA Award
- 2015 Alpert/Ucross Residency Prize – Visual Arts
- 2014 Mohn Public Recognition Award, Made in L.A. 2014
- 2014 CCI ARC Grant
- 2013 CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists – Emerging
Professional Accomplishments and Exhibitions:
Selected Solo Exhibitions, Group Exhibitions, and Performances
- 2023 Ecstatic: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- 2023 BEI Thinky Feely Tank series, The Revolution School, Artists in Residence, Feminist Center for Creative Work, Los Angeles, CA
- 2022 Cantos of the Siblylline Sisterhood, The Revolution School: Pilar Gallego, Rino Kodama, Kristen Mitchell, Jennifer Moon, Clara Philbrick, Cedric Tai, Alyce de Roulet, Williamson Gallery, ArtCenter, Pasadena, CA, July 7-October 2, 2022
- 2022 Studio 2022, The Revolution School, The Revolution School; Devin Alejandra-Wilder, Sara Barnett, Dan/i Bustillo, Pilar Gallego, Lauren Klotzman, Kristen Mitchell, Jennifer Moon, Nico Luna Paz, Clara Philbrick, Cedric Tai, REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA, April 12-17, 2022
- 2021 The Mind’s Eye: A LACMA Poster Project, Art Rise, WE RISE 2021, The Revolution School: Devin Alejandro-Wilder, Sara Barnett, Jessie Closson, Kristen Mitchell, Jennifer Moon, Nikki Luna Paz, Cedric Tai, May 2021
- 2020 MMCA Asia Project: looking for another family, Imaginaries of the Future, organized by Kang Seung Lee, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea, May 22—August 30, 2020
- 2020 Familial Technologies, curated by Anuradha Vikram, UCLA Art|Sci Center, January 2020
- 2019 Domestic Affairs AHL – T&W Foundation 2019 Contemporary Visual Art Awards Winners Exhibition, organized by Keith Schweitzer and Young Jeon, AHL Foundation Project Space, New York, NY, November 7—December 1, 2019
- 2019 At the Edge of Space and Time: Expanding Beyond Our 5% Universe, performance with laub, Ever Present: Cosmos, organized by Sarah Cooper, Getty Museum, July 13, 2019
- 2018 Familial Technologies (solo) and ✨Mr. Snuggles FOREVER✨ (collaboration with laub), Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
- 2018 A Breach in the Realm of Beliefs (solo) and ✨Mr. Snuggles FOREVER✨ (collaboration with laub), Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
- 2017 The longest journey is from our heads to our hearts, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
- 2017 We Are The Market!, performative intervention with laub in the city centre, Onomatopee, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- 2017 This Is Not a Selfie: Photographic Self-Portraits from the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Collection, organized by Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), traveling exhibition, San Jose Museum of Art, CA; Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA; and Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
- 2016 At the Edge of Space and Time: Expanding beyond Our 4% Universe, In Real Life: Performance with laub, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- 2016 S/Election: Democracy, Citizenship, Freedom, organized by Erin Christovale, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, CA
- 2016 Over the Wall, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
- 2015 Phoenix Rising, Part 3: laub, me, and The Revolution (The Theory of Everything) (collaboration with laub), Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
- 2014 Will You Still Love Me: Learning To Love Yourself, It Is The Greatest Love Of All, Equitable Vitrines, Los Angeles, CA
- 2014 Made in L.A. 2014, organized by Connie Butler and Michael Ned Holte, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- 2013 There is Nothing left but Freedom, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
- 2012 Phoenix Rising, Part 1: This Is Where I Learned Of Love, Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
Publications:
Selected Publications
- 2022, "A Letter from 2047," with Dan Bustillo, for "Considering the Future of Art and Design: The Next 25 Years at Otis College," Grid, April 22, 2022. Web.
- 2020 “Time Travel: What will be different about the art world in 2050?,” Time Capsule prediction, frieze, No. 213, September 2020. Print.
- 2020 “Old Technologies, New Embodiments / Queer Science: On Virtual Touching,” “Remote Intervention: A Symposium in Partnership with the Transformations of the Human Program at the Berggruen Institute,” Los Angeles Review of Books, August 2, 2020. Web.
- 2020 “Episode 2: Superpowers and Guiding Principles: Defining What You Want to Sustain” with Nao Bustamante, Todd Gray, Gelare Khoshgozaran, and Jennifer Moon. Moderated by Mario Ontiveros. X-TRA’s Artists and Rights, July 14 2020. Podcast.
- 2020 “Episode 1: Living a Life While Decolonizing the Mind” with Nao Bustamante, Todd Gray, Gelare Khoshgozaran, and Jennifer Moon. Moderated by Mario Ontiveros. X-TRA’s Artists and Rights, July 7 2020. Podcast.
- 2017 Definition of Abundance: Principle 1 of The Revolution. 4th ed. Eindhoven, Netherlands: Onomatopee. Print.
- 2017 “At the Edge of Space and Time: Expanding Beyond Our 4% Universe,” Artist Project with laub, co-edited by taisha paggett and Erin Silver, C Magazine Issue 132 Winter 2017. Print.
- 2016 “Take My Hand and Let’s Get Out of This 4% Universe.” Critics Page contribution with laub, organized by John Tain. The Brooklyn Rail July-August 2016. Print.
- 2014 Definition of Abundance: Principle 1 of The Revolution. 3rd ed. Los Angeles, CA: Hammer Museum. Print.
- 2013 Definition of Abundance: Principle 1 of The Revolution. 2nd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: Transmission Gallery. Print.
- 2013 This Is Where I Learned Of Love: CDCR 8/18/08 – 5/19/09. Raleigh, NC: Lulu. Print. eBook.2012 Definition of Abundance: Principle 1 of The Revolution. 1st ed. Los Angeles, CA: Commonwealth & Council. Print.
Clients and Employment History:
- 2019–current: Assistant Professor, Fine Arts, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
- 2019–2021: Visiting Faculty, Film/Video, Bard MFA, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY