Klompching Gallery is delighted to present the first exhibition of Jennifer Greenburg’s newest body of work, Constructed Portraits.

The photographs that make up the Constructed Portraits are complex, fascinating, innovative, and visually stunning. In this work we can find smart references to art historical movements, and resonances with key historical art figures and artworks. Exquisitely printed, these fascinating photographs build on Greenburg's past work, bringing a new sophistication to her long-standing creative practice. She employs many devices in her methodology of making, making visible the gesture of the artist's hand in a myriad of expanded ways.

In dialogue with my past work, I continue to examine the optics of female representation and call into question our belief in the veracity of the photographic image. The subjects in this work appear to know they are being photographed. In repose, they seem to have an understanding that the moment is important and permanent. One can also detect self-conciousness and an underlying sexual energy. However, neither a person nor a moment is preserved in these images.

(Jennifer Greenburg)

Jennifer Greenburg (1977) is a contemporary artist who works with photographic imagery. She holds an MFA from The University of Chicago and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute. Solo shows of her work have been held at The Print Center, Philadelphia, and The Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago. Group shows include The Museum of Contemporary Photography at 40. She was an artist in residence at Light Work, Syracuse, in 2005 and is a recipient of two Illinois Arts Council Grants.

Her work is part of the permanent collection of The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The CherryHurst House, The Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, The Museum of Photographic Arts, Light Work, The Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Ontario.

Greenburg held a CherryHurst House Fellowship at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston in 2022.

The artist is also an Associate Professor of Photography and the Program Director of Photography at the University of the Arts. Her area of concentration is in conceptual art and the articulation of ideas. In addition to speaking on the topic of her visual works, Greenburg has also given talks on cultural appropriation in photography, the meaning of images, and on the topic of the role images play in our decision making in the era of social media.

Jennifer Greenburg lives and works in Philadelphia.