ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jeff Becker is a sculptor, set designer and performance artist. He received his BFA from Alfred University in 1985 where he studied sculpture and installation art. In 1989 he entered the graduate program at Ohio State University.  Working with the Visual Arts, Dance, Theater and Film Departments, he created innovative performance works.  He received his MFA from Ohio State University in 1991.

After graduating he co-founded CRISUS, a performance group that specialized in site specific performances that utilized innovative kinetic sets, sculpture, film, machines, and live performance. For ten years CRISUS toured extensively, performing its unique work in diverse spaces including parking lots, fish markets, and gymnasiums. Jeff has collaborated with several theater companies, including San Francisco’s award winning Cuttingball Theater Company, Pan Pan Theatre in Ireland, and ArtSpot Productions and Mondo Bizzaro in New Orleans.

Jeff's sculptures, set design and performances have been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. He is the recipient of several awards and grants including a NEA RAP Grant, Theater Bay Area Grant and several SURDNA professional development grants. Since 2003 he has been on the faculty of New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where he is a sculpture instructor. This is his first exhibition in the gallery.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

My work has always existed on the cusp between the world of visual arts and theater. In both my sculpture and theater work, I am motivated by political and social issues that have a profound impact on the human condition. I strive to create poetic metaphors that address these issues.

My sculptures are often maquettes that are developed into set pieces in for theatrical productions. My sculptures embody narrative elements that I utilize in live performance. In my set design I rely on sculpture to explore the integration of live performance and sculptural form.  When I create a sculpture I am constantly thinking about how a person or performer will interact with it. Similar to my set designs my sculptures often have a kinetic element that engages the viewer in some way.  Movement or the potential of it are almost always inherent in my sculpture. In my theatrical work I create environments where the viewer is not a passive observer but an integral part of the experience. I want my viewers to be transformed and totally enveloped by the environment they enter.

Currently both my sculptural work and theatrical work deals specifically with flight. I am intrigued about how our quest to fly and challenge the possibilities of our natural world has yielded unpredictable and ongoing consequences. The insatiable drive to fly has resulted in innovations that can liberate us from danger one day and reign untold devastation upon us the next. Flight provides both the means and the cause for exodus and migration.  Flying is both miraculous and mundane. We have power over time and space but it is so common it has become boring and, at times, tedious. The triumphs and disasters of human’s pursuit of flight clearly demonstrate how we have propelled ourselves into direct conflict and collaboration with nature.