Corporate Box (2013/14)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1202 x 1604 x 45 mm 1
The Seduction of Zealandia (2013/14) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1203 x 1603 x 45 mm
The Ascension of the Bankers (2013/14) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1204 x 1602 x 45 mm
Sons of Adam Smith (2013/14)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1203 x 1604 x 45 mm
Bread and Circuses (2013/14)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1205 x 1601 x 45 mm
Wheel of Fortune (2013/14)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1204 x 1601 x 45 mm
Riders (2014)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 559 x 711 x 38 mm
Barber (2014)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 558 x 713 x 38 mm
Corral (2014)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 557 x 707 x 38 mm
Off-grid (2014)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 559 x 709 x 38 mm
Chess Game (2014)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 560 x 711 x 38 mm
Make-do and Mend (2014)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 560 x 712 x 38 mm
States of Emergency is a major body of work from Dunedin artist Jenna Packer and represents a significant development in her practice. She explores the political, economic and social constructs that shape contemporary society at both global and local levels. Using a rich, metaphoric language, Packer’s paintings confront the viewer with questions about the seen and unseen forces that control our day-to-day lives.
The artist adroitly conflates universal questions of privilege, entitlement, and power with intimate observations of humanity which remain strongly rooted in her own version of regionalism. Packer does not shy away from Otago-specific commentary, and issues surrounding fracking, mining, and de-forestation all rear their heads in States of Emergency. What raises this series far beyond a parochial discussion of current affairs is Packer’s consummate ability to relate these to a system that encompasses nation-states and governments, as well as municipalities and councils.
Central to States of Emergency is Packer’s appropriation of Merrill Lynch’s corporate logo, the bull. Immediately associated with power and aggression, Packer’s bull dominates the canvas. In The Ascension of The Bankers it is a hollow idol, blind to the populace over which it towers. Akin to the Trojan Horse of Greek mythology, it appears initially as a treasure of great price but proves false, providing only protection for those intent on pillage. It looms over the houses of government and the towers of industry and commerce, while its functionaries escape the chaos below. The ‘bull market’ has truly come to pass, complete with collateral damage.
Packer extends this metaphor to the idea of the bull ring or the circus in its original context – a place where stage-managed violence offers catharsis to the multitudes. Drawing its title from Roman satirist Juvenal (1), Bread and Circuses references the most famous circus of them all, the Coliseum, and also hints at the ill-fated Tower of Babel, a symbol of man’s vanitas. Packer’s outstanding skills of visual story-telling are seen in the way she integrates tiny scenes of the everyman into the overarching, meta-narrative of the painting.
In Bread and Circuses, all roads lead to the stadium and it is the obvious focal point of the work; look more closely however, and the small labours of the masses come into focus. Clustered around fires, sheltering under blue tarpaulins and lining up for soup kitchens, Packer is just as interested in telling the stories of how the ‘precariat’ continues its daily existence as she is in turning a critical gaze on the powermongers.
These paintings are an arresting combination of a strongly visualised concept illustrated with finely-honed techniques. Utilising techniques drawn from fresco painting, the layers of pigment and glaze give each work a luminous quality and the sepia tones Packer chooses reinforce the idea that she is documenting a history, albeit one that may yet come to pass.
Jenna Packer’s States of Emergency is a powerful commentary on New Zealand (and global) society, presented in the artist’s striking language of symbol and story. As in ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, she points, and dares us to see that the ruler is indeed naked.
1.Juvenal,SatireX,lines10.56-89 “The mob follows Fortuna and caresfornothing but bread and circuses.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satires_of_Juvenal#Satire_X:_Wrong_Desire_is_ the_Source_ of_Suffering. Accessed 5/2/14
JENNA PACKER
lives Waitati
TheAscensionoftheBankers(2013-14)
Painting metaphorical and alternate histories, Jenna Packer comments on journeys of discovery, evolution, the survival instinct of escape, fragility and the endless possibilities of life.
"Jenna Packer's startling art is unlike that of any other artist active in New Zealand. Her busy, excellently composed scenes depict images of an alternative timeless, time-filled Otago, its coastlines plied with vessels from throughout history and imagination... She gives viewers the feeling of "saudade", that peculiar wistful longing for things that never were but could have been, and lets our minds wander and wonder at this history that may have resulted." (1)
Jenna Packer draws on a lifelong interest in history and the telling of it, and in image making. "I am looking at the past in order to find some clues to what is happening, what to expect and how to live it. This is not just in painting but reading, conversations, thoughts. I keep returning to the period of the 1930’s and to the exodus of people across Europe at the onset on WWII. I want to affirm the fragility and the possibility of life, but the dark shadows which have been in the background – (sometimes as zeppelins or parachutes) keep encroaching further into the pictures." (2)
Graduating from Ilam School of Art in 1988 with a Bachelor Fine Arts, Jenna Packer then went on to complete a BA (History) (First-Class Honours) at the University of Canterbury in 1989. Through the 1990’s she continued her education with time spent at Glasgow Print Workshop, Otago Polytechnic, The Slade School of Art (London) & La Rouelle Studio (France). A painter, printmaker and illustrator, Packer has been exhibiting her work since 1990 both within New Zealand and abroad.
(1) James Dignan,"Art Seen",Otago Daily Times,November 2010 (2) Jenna Packer, Artist Statement,2009
JENNA PACKER
lives Waitati
EDUCATION
1996-97 3 months total) La Rouelle Studio (printmaking), France
1996 (July) The Slade School of Art (Fresco), London
1995 Otago Polytechnic School of Couture (Couture), Dunedin
1992 (March – May) Glasgow Print Workshop (printmaking), Glasgow
1989 BA (History) (First-Class Honours), University of Canterbury, Christchurch
1988 Bachelor Fine Arts, Ilam School of Art, Christchurch
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 TBA, Milford Galleries Dunedin
2012 Anchored, Milford Galleries Dunedin
2010 Provisioning, Milford Galleries Dunedin
2009 A History of Flight, Milford Galleries Dunedin
2008 Plant, Gallery on Blueskin, Waitati
2007 The Island, Solander, Wellington
2006 The Island, Milnes Court Gallery, Port Chalmers
1995 Imprints, Ground Essence, Dunedin
1994 Moroccan Notebook, Ground Essence, Dunedin
Etchings (solo), Ground Essence, Dunedin
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013 The Review, milford galleries queenstown
New Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin
The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown
2012 The Surreal, Milford Galleries Dunedin
2009 Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown
2008 Etched in Memory, PaperGraphica, Christchurch
Opening, Gallery on Blueskin, Waitati
2007 The Paper Show, The Artists’ Room, Dunedin Spring Exhibition, Anderson’s Park Art Gallery, Invercargill
The Knowne Worlde Illuminated, Salisbury House Art Gallery, Dunedin Impressed Atatoi, Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton
2006 ‘10’, The Print-makers’ Studio, Dunedin
1997 Féte de Papier, Maison de Josianne, Génolac, France
1995 Three Printmakers, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch
Fishing for Camels in the Bush, Arthouse Gallery, Dunedin
1994 Exposure II (Invited Dunedin Artists), Applied Art NZ, Christchurch
Nakhodka – Dunedin – Otaru, Sister Cities Art Exhibition, Otaru, Japan
Five Printmakers, Left Bank Art Gallery, Greymouth
Women Show, Arthouse Gallery, Dunedin
1990 Printmakers Exhibition, Aigantigue Art Gallery, Timaru
Prints: Jenna Packer and Neave Fraser-Davies, CSA Gallery, Christchurch
COLLECTIONS
The James Wallace Arts Trust
Work held in private collections in NZ, Australia, UK, Canada, France and Italy.
