| 
|
|
|
Jason
Engelund's Traveler, Air is a collection of over 50 photographs
exploring an abstracted, visceral sense of flying. The work is
the first in a series exploring the four elements: air, water,
land and fire. These photos, ranging from subtle to abstract landscapes,
use traditional film and digital format cameras. Engelund employs
digital and alternative process development with triptychs printed
up to 92" x 40".
Critics,
artists, and gallery directors at the 2008 PhotoAlliance Our
World Review described Traveler, Air:
"The
work puts the viewer in a sculptural, psychological space, somewhere
in-between linear places."
"There's
both a formalism and a conceptual framework. And I'm aware of
time passing. All of those elements are in the work as different
strata."
"There's
a minimalism. Elements of the compositions disappear. Less and
less, until everything is gone."
"There
are a variety of ways he abstracts his subject matter, some of
which are organic."
"Emotional,
cinematic, subtle."
The
departure point for the series Traveler, Air was Engelund's
critically acclaimed experimental short film Leaving the Ground.
Hailed as a "mesmerizing tone poem", Leaving the
Ground was the unanimous jury selection for the 1999 Berkeley
Cinema of Fine Arts Short Film Showcase, special guest juror Richard
Beggs, sound designer Apocalypse Now.
About the Artist
Engelund's
work has been well received throughout the west coast and beyond.
The horizon line that captivates many to both contemplate and
to travel can be seen throughout the survey of Engelund's work.
His improvisational brush work and meditative themes took him
to residency in Auroville, India while his photographic work took
him to Seville Spain assisting in documenting flamenco culture.
"With a camera I explore exterior landscapes that activate
interior ones."
(1971)
Born in California, Jason Engelund earned his bachelor of fine
arts degree with distinction from the California College of the
Arts. Engelund's involvement with California College of the Arts
continued when he was employed to help start the Center for Art
and Public Life, a department focused on innovative applications
of the arts to address issues of social justice, diversity, community
development and education. Branching out from his work in action
paintings of the bullfight, his support of the arts as a part
of cultural life includes founding SF Flamenco, the San Francisco
Bay Area's flamenco arts resource and web magazine. Engelund is
a memeber of the Nordic
5 Arts group, dedicated to supporting and promoting Scandinavian-American
artists in the San Francisco Bary Area. Engelund lives and works
in Oakland, California.
|
|
RESIDENCIES
and PROJECTS |
| |
SF
Flamenco
SF
Flamenco is the San Francisco Bay Area online Flamenco arts magazine.
Published monthly this online resource works to support flamenco
artists and culture and now reaches thousands of international readers.
|
|
|
| |
Official
Visual Artist Portland Flamenco Festival 1
Painting, Portland Oregon July 2005 |
| |
| |
La
Carboneria: the Flamenco House, Decades in Andalucía
Photographic production assistant, Seville SPAIN, December 2004 |
| |
| |
Improvisational
ink drawings
Auroville Press, Tamil-Nadu, INDIA 2002 |
|
| |
Days
of the Dead
Installation project administered with Oakland Museum of California,
lead artist Rosa De Anda. Oakland Museum of California October -
November 2004
Altars
created by CCA students, pictured left. |
|
| |
El
Otro Lado / The Other Side
Aesthetic, Cultural and Geographic Transitions
CCA Alternative Spring Break class, collaboration with Julio Caesar
Morales and Sergio de la Torre, San Diego U.S.A. / Tijuana, Mexico
March 2003
La
Mona, Armando Muñoz's sculpture Tijuana, BC Mexico pictured
left. Photo by unknown. |
|
|
PUBLICATIONS
AND LECTURES |
|
|
| |
"Flamenco
and Duende in the Arts"
Online art gallery and book of international artists whose work
includes themes of flamenco and duende. To be released in 2008
Untitled
work by Vicente Escudero 1920, pictured left. Collection of Jason
Engelund.
|
| |
| |
Aesthetics
and Culture of Flamenco
Guest lecturer
"Thinking through Art" graduate course
Instructor Larry Rinder, California College of the Arts 2006
|
| |
| |
CCA
Center for Art and Public Life Students In Action 2000 - 2005
Retrospective of community arts programs, catalog
A founding staff member of the California College of the Arts Center
for Art and Public Life, Jason developed the Students in Action
programs to utilize the arts in addressing issues of social justice,
diversity, equity, community development and education. Center Student
Grant projects have taken place in Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvador,
with Maidu peoples indigenous to the Sierra Nevada foothills, and
up to 55 internship placements each year in the arts throughout
Bay Area public schools, community organizations, museums and health
centers. Jason’s programs have helped secure the largest endowment
in the history of the college and pave the way for CCA to launch
the nation’s first Community Arts bfa program.
Chacala
Design/Build Partnership in Mexico; lead Artist Jake MacKenzie collaborates
with community to rebuild hurricane swept fishing village, pictured
left. Photo by unknown. |
|
|
| |
Duende
in Flamenco and the Bullfight
Guest lecturer
"Mysticism of Andalucía" undergraduate
course
Instructors
Josef Chytry and Sarah Dehghan Hojat, California College of the
Arts 2002
|
| |
|
|
|
