Jemison uses time-based, photographic, and discursive platforms to examine "progress" and its alternatives. Jemison's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including the Brooklyn Museum, the Drawing Center, LAXART, the New Museum,the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, Laurel Gitlen,Team Gallery, and other venues. Her publishing project, Future Plan and Program, commissions literary work by artists of color and has published books by Martine Syms, Jibade-Khalil Huffman, and Harold Mendez, among others.
Steffani Jemison was born in Berkeley, California, and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2009) and a BA in Comparative Literature from Columbia University (2003). She teaches at Parsons The New School for Design, the Cooper Union, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The Critical Issues in Contemporary Art Practice lecture series brings together artists and thinkers on the forefront of contemporary art practice to share ideas, raise questions, and engage with curious thinkers in both the UW School of Art + Art History + Design and the community at large. This annual series is organized to accompany the course Art 361/595, Critical Issues in Contemporary Art Practice, taught by guest lecturer Eric Fredericksen.
The series is made possible by the integral support of The New Foundation Seattle, a nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging the production of contemporary visual art through dynamic initiatives that stimulate artistic development, research, and presentation.