JESSE MCLEAN
MEDIA
Jesse McLean, Lose Yourself (video still), 2011, 5 min, Video
BIOGRAPHY
Jesse McLean's work is motivated by a deep curiosity about human behavior and relationships, especially as presented and observed through mediated images. Her recent work continues an ongoing interest in probing this complex transference between what is seen on screen and what is absorbed in the viewer’s mind. Interested both in the power and the failure of the mediated experience to bring us together, her work asks the viewer to ply the line between voyeur and participant.
Jesse McLean was the recipient of the Ghostly Award for Best Sound Design at the 2012 Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Overkill Award at the 2011 Images Festival and the Barbara Aronofsky Latham Award for Emerging Experimental Video Artist at the 2010 Ann Arbor Film Festival. She has presented her work at museums, galleries, and film festivals worldwide, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Venice Film Festival, Italy; Transmediale, Berlin; 25 FPS Festival, Zagreb, Croatia; European Media Arts Festival, Osnabrück, Germany; Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; Interstate Projects and PPOW Gallery, both in New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit; and Gallery 400, Chicago; Impakt, Utrecht, The Netherlands; CPH:DOX, Copenhagen; Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Kassel, Germany; and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Three Walls, Chicago; the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH. She is currently based in Iowa City, IA where she teaches cinema production at University of Iowa.
EXHIBITIONS
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Film Threat, Finkelstein, David, “Magic for Beginners,” September 14, 2012
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Arched Art Now, “Jesse McLean: Remote @ The Contemporary Art Museum,” February 29, 2012
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Bad at Sports, Malmed, Jesse, “The Link to Reality Stretches but Doesn’t Break: An Interview with Jesse McLean,” January 17, 2012
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Artforum, Cahill, Zachary, “Jesse McLean-Critic’s Pick,” November 19, 2011
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New York Times, Johnson, Ken, “Magic for Beginners,” August 11, 2011
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Cinema Scope Online, McCormack, Tom, “Heaven and Earth and Television Magic: The Cinema of Jesse McLean,” April 1, 2011
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art: 21, O’Brien, Nicholas, “Center Field-Is Local Needed? Netart in the Midwest” November 23, 2010
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Format Court, Chesson, Adi, “Look into the light,” September 22, 2010
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Bad Lit, Everleth, Mike, “2010 ATA Film & Video Festival; Short Film Reviews,” October 21, 2010
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San Francisco Chronicle, Beltran, JD, “Meditations of Life, on Film,” October 21, 2010
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GenderAcrossBorders.com, Samer, Roxanne, “Facing Human Expression: Women and American Experimental Cinema,” June 26, 2010
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Chicago Art Magazine, Born, Kathryn, “Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival,” June 15, 2010
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New City, Lee, Nate, “Jesse McLean/Medicine Cabinet,” October 26, 2009
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Artslant, Ritchie, Abraham, “The Magic Wand for Iraq," June 2009
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New City, Stabler, Bert, “Threewalls: Jesse McLean,” May 2009
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