ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jeff Becker is a set designer and sculptor based in New Orleans. His work utilizes innovative kinetic sets, sculpture, film, machines, and live performance. Jeff has also collaborated with several theater companies including San Francisco’s award winning Cuttingball Theater Company, Pan Pan Theatre in Ireland, Dah Teatar in Serbia and ArtSpot Productions and Mondo Bizzaro in New Orleans.

Jeff's sculptures, set design and performances have been presented throughout the United States and abroad. He is the recipient of several awards and grants including a NEA RAP Grant, a SURDNA Grant and two Big Easy Awards for set design. He recently received a 2009 Louisiana Division of the Arts Fellowship and was selected as a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Designers. He is a core member of ArtSpot Productions and currently designing their next show Go Ye Therefore that will premier in May. This is his second solo exhibition at the gallery.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

I am a sculptor and set designer. 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 embody narrative elements that I utilize in live performance. With 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 would interact with it at a larger scale. My sculptures are often maquettes that are developed into set pieces in for theatrical productions. Similar to my set designs my sculptures frequently have kinetic element that engages the viewer in some way.  Movement or the potential of it are 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.

My current body of work is strongly influenced by my summers spent in Mexico. It is here I find myself immersed in the magical realism that writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez write so eloquently of.  I spend my time reading and drawing, allowing myself to be absorbed in an enchanted space and time that is both familiar and mysterious. Common objects and creatures take on new visual meaning when they are rediscovered in this context. I find myself transfixed watching cows, chickens and other farm animals going about their daily routines. I spend a great deal of time in the markets where I watch vendors selling food, kitchen utensils, toys and religious curios. I return to the U.S.A. armed with journals full of drawings and bags full of assorted objects that become the have become the basis for a sculptural language I utilize my work.