Artist-in-Residence: John Sevigny
Samantha Jones
Issue date: 2/16/10 Section: News
"John is extremely talented," said Teresa Parker, curator of the Artist-in-Residence Program. "He hits cross disciplines and speaks to the heart of Benedictine service. He does charitable work and is interested in social causes - he fits it all in one."
The Artist-in-Residence program was established in 2005, to enhance Benedictine's culture and awareness of different variations of art expression. This term, Sevigny is teaching Social Documentary Photography.
"They are a fantastic group and I can see already, after only a few courses, that they're going to produce fantastic work," Sevigny said about his students.
During the class, the artist and his students showcase an exhibition to the entire University. The exhibit will be in Kindlon Hall after Spring Break and will last until April.
Sevigny is a Miami, FL. native and has spent ten years living along the Mexican/U.S. border. During his time there, he learned much about himself and social justice causes as well.
Sevigny has had the privilege of traveling all over the world and has had photography exhibitions held in California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Mexico Minnesota and Portugal.
"I like opening nights, when, if things go right, there's a kind of spark or electricity in the air. There's a kind of sacrament or communion at play and the photographs are right in the middle of that, making a connection between what I think and feel and what people who are seeing the photographs for the first time think and feel."
As a child, Sevigny was always as creative as everyone else who used their imagination and lived in a blissfully, innocent world; he was no more inventive than most.
"Creativity deals with problem solving. In my case, the problems I deal with are technical and artistic, but I don't think that makes me any more creative than engineers who design computers or cars.
"I aspired to everything but art. My father was an artist and I rebelled against that by deciding that I was not going to follow in his footsteps. Like all kids, I suppose, I had a lot of dreams. I grew up on the coast and spent a lot of time at the sea and for a while I wanted to be a marine biologist, an NFL quarterback or fiction writer."
He prefers to not limit himself in the art that he captures, always trying to push his work to the next level instead of relying on photographing landscapes or portraits.
"I've made a very intentional decision not to repeat myself, so every project I've done has been a reaction against the one before it. This makes my work difficult to describe, unfortunately, but there is something very tangible that holds it all together. The spirit of what I do hasn't changed at all, but the pictures have evolved, changed, gone in circles and come back again. I don't know any other way to work."
Every artist has his inspiration. For some, it's a loved one and others draw from success they hope to achieve. As in the rest of his life, Sevigny has a different inspiration than most.
"Moments inspire me. Photography is about moments and life is about moments."
His most challenging work was on a project called "Ladies' Bar," showing prostitutes in Guadalajara, Mexico from 2006-2007.
Spanning over ten months, Sevigny pushed himself to capture the essence of each person and experience he came across.
Most artists do not photograph areas like this, so "the idea of photography as an art was not really understood."
"There were a lot of rough men and rough women, tragic men and tragic women, and it was a great struggle to get through it.
I'm very pleased to have finished the project, but I would never want to repeat the experience," Sevigny said.
Traveling to our area has given him the chance to explore neighborhoods and Chicago in ways that he never has before. Sevigny is also enjoying his time in our diverse University, not wasting a moment he has to use his artistic instincts.
"I was walking across the Benedictine campus recently and the sun was rising blood-red to the east, while the moon was hovering low and large over the western horizon. I had this powerful sense that there I was, exactly in the middle of these two great objects that have been omnipresent for human beings since the beginning."
After his time at BU, he hopes that "the students will look around them a little bit more and see how big the world is, the city is, the neighborhood is.
"My life has very much been about unexpected changes and developments. I prefer it that way. It keeps things interesting. I'm happy with the road I've chosen."
On Mar. 19, Sevigny will have another exhibit in Chicago at the Gallery Cabaret.
Follow Sevigny's journeys through his blog www.gonecity.blogspot.com.
He prefers to not limit himself in the art that he captures, always trying to push his work to the next level instead of relying on photographing landscapes or portraits.
"I've made a very intentional decision not to repeat myself, so every project I've done has been a reaction against the one before it. This makes my work difficult to describe, unfortunately, but there is something very tangible that holds it all together. The spirit of what I do hasn't changed at all, but the pictures have evolved, changed, gone in circles and come back again. I don't know any other way to work."
Every artist has his inspiration. For some, it's a loved one and others draw from success they hope to achieve. As in the rest of his life, Sevigny has a different inspiration than most.
"Moments inspire me. Photography is about moments and life is about moments."
His most challenging work was on a project called "Ladies' Bar," showing prostitutes in Guadalajara, Mexico from 2006-2007.
Spanning over ten months, Sevigny pushed himself to capture the essence of each person and experience he came across.
Most artists do not photograph areas like this, so "the idea of photography as an art was not really understood."
"There were a lot of rough men and rough women, tragic men and tragic women, and it was a great struggle to get through it.
I'm very pleased to have finished the project, but I would never want to repeat the experience," Sevigny said.
Traveling to our area has given him the chance to explore neighborhoods and Chicago in ways that he never has before. Sevigny is also enjoying his time in our diverse University, not wasting a moment he has to use his artistic instincts.
"I was walking across the Benedictine campus recently and the sun was rising blood-red to the east, while the moon was hovering low and large over the western horizon. I had this powerful sense that there I was, exactly in the middle of these two great objects that have been omnipresent for human beings since the beginning."
After his time at BU, he hopes that "the students will look around them a little bit more and see how big the world is, the city is, the neighborhood is.
"My life has very much been about unexpected changes and developments. I prefer it that way. It keeps things interesting. I'm happy with the road I've chosen."
On Mar. 19, Sevigny will have another exhibit in Chicago at the Gallery Cabaret.
Follow Sevigny's journeys through his blog www.gonecity.blogspot.com.
