The Residential College Art Gallery presents the most recent work of Jo Q. Nelson in her installation REDO, from March 12 through April 9, 2010. On Friday, March 12 from 6 to 8 pm, join the free, public reception to meet the artist.

REDO, is just that.  Nelson will recreate her dorm room in East Quadrangle from memory using translucent materials and including any objects she still owns from that time including books, cassette tapes, memorabilia and ratty clothing.  During her stay on campus, she will present her work to current Residential College students encouraging them to transform their own rooms into event or exhibit spaces for the night of the show’s opening in the Residential College Art Gallery.

Jo Q. Nelson was born in Oberlin, OH in 1977, got her BA from the Residential College at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, a MA in jewelry/metalwork from Kent State University and her MFA in Combined Media at Hunter College in New York. She currently lives and works in New York.

Nelson’s work is a hybrid of narrative built environments, fantasy models and proposals, and collaborative projects.  Recent projects include Softbox, a live/work warehouse space in Queens, New York that hosted short term residencies for artists, screenings and performances. She has also done several projects that involve sculptural reactions to interviews about the psychological impact of space in New Orleans and New York.

Gallery installation-Recreation of RC dorm room from memory

-Constructed from semi transparent Coroplast panels, utilizing existing architecture of the RC that is present in the Gallery and including belongings I still own from my time at the RC.

Corollary events:

-Lecture on my work and its historical/art historical context given at beginning of residency.

-1 week residency to construct installation in gallery and to workshop ideas with students transforming their dorm rooms into event spaces or social sculptures.

-Opening/Open house event. Students participate in opening night by opening their rooms in East Quad or nearby off campus housing. Students create their own micro events such as hosting an event, a performance, or creating installations. Students invited to publicize and document event as they choose: fliers, zines, social networks.