Jennifer Greenburg
Revolutionary Romanticism
Online Exhibiton
Re. Lewis Baltz | Vogue Tyers, 2015
Unity: A model to live by. 2015
Revolutionary Romanticism presents a collection of previously unshared works from Jennifer Greenburg’s series A Substitute World, some new, others early samples. This work was first presented in a gallery exhibition in 2020 when the world was on lockdown during the pandemic. Photographs belonging to the project were made by the artist are a mix of self-indulgence and resistance.
A Substitute World was first culled out of what now amounts to nearly two decades of photographs. These spaces were grand and visually striking- overwhelming. Undeniably, they demand an image be made, however, they had no use belonging to her formal practice- only impetus to be created.
I am not proud. 2019
Re. Lee Friedlander | The Department of Transportation, 2019
The world has changed, and changed again. Circumstance- the danger posed by a communicable virus spread- first caused these works begin to belong to one another. The work continues now with sharpened intention. New images expand context, the base-set is reinforced by a greater whole.
A Substitute World provides visual escape at a moment we longed for new experiences, but these are not just vacant spaces of formal beauty. There is a defining subtext. Greenburg writes of this work, “A Substitute World [is] made using the formal qualities and underlying frameworks of traditionally male-dominated practices in photography. [It offers] baronial clarity without the expected gender-normative sentimentality. I create in contrast to the implied gender hierarchies and boundaries applied to women artists, who are canonized chiefly for personal, intimate exposures.”
While everyone else is doing it 2017
Rockaway exceeded my expectations. 2004
This could be almost anywhere. 2020
One time, there was a cat here. 2015
Through different bodies of work- The Rockabillies, Revising History, and Constructed Portraits Jennifer Greenburg has employed approaches from documentary photography to AI collaborations to demand our more earnest assessment of visual language, its substructure, and its role in reinforcing cultural norms.
The headline image which from which this exhibition takes its title, Revolutionary Romanticism: A Collab, 2025 is both playful and deadly serious. It pokes fun at the dialectic and attitudes of social media culture- collaborations between users- and it references a philosophy that seeks to terminate free speech and expression. Visual language is powerful and can easily subvert thought, but we have forgotten to be careful visual consumers. The subject of the oil painting inside the window is Elon Musk. The gallery’s open sign reflected in the window and the self-portrait reflection of the artist herself. This multi-layered portrait is Greenburg’s undercut and warning. This image cautions agains dangers of leaders who also seek to control the platforms of communication and connection from the public forum of social media to the spaces of high culture. “Revolutionary Romanticism” references the visual language prevalent in China during the early years of the Cultural Revolution.
But it’s ok to have colonized Hawai’i, right? 2025
Series Price Structure:
Archival pigment prints
Ed. of 3 (varied by size)
*Standard: 30 x 40 in. | from $3,000 - $5,500
*Large: 40 x 60 in. | from $6,000 - $9,000
* approximate scale - dimensions varies by source-format.
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