Janet Goldner

My work explores culture, identity and social justice in various media: sculpture, photography, video, installation and writing. My work consistently bridges diverse cultures, focusing on the unique beauty and genius of each as well as what we have in common. Cultural preservation is important to my work. My research takes the form of immersive field work. My annual visits to Mali provide me with inspiration.
My social consciousness and my deep and continuing interest in African art and culture also fuel my work.

Long-term collaborations, particularly with Malian artists, are clearly in the realm of social art practice. We are all, at the same time, researcher and object of research producing dialogues and concrete works of art. My many community projects internationally and in the US include participation with diverse groups of artists and non-artists.

My life experiences play an integral part in the development of my work. A master welder, I work in three dimensions as well as on paper, on the floor, on walls, and suspended from the ceiling, indoors and outdoors. My installations include steel sculptures, video, photography and sound. My work combines poetry, patterns, forms and African themes that engage in social discour...

1981 New York University, M.A. in sculpture

1974 Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH, B.A. in art

1973 Experiment in International Living, Year-long independent research, arts in West Africa

SELECTED MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
2014 Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography, The Museum of Art and Design, NY
2010-11 Global Africa Project, The Museum of Art and Design, New York
2008 Beyond Reading: Books As Art, Suffolk Museum, Suffolk, VA
2007 Pencil to Public II, Liberty Museum, Liberty, NY
2000 Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
1996 Sticks & Stones, Klutznick Museum, Washington, D.C.
1989 Women Facing AIDS, New Museum for Contemporary Art, New York, NY

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012 Interchurch Center, New York, NY
2010 Bintou's Salon, Kiva, New York, NY
2008 Sundiata, the Loft Theatre. Dowling College, Oakdale, NY
2006-7 Have We Met? A Portrait of Mali; Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
2003 Zig-Zag, Art Resources Transfer, New York, NY
2002 Can We Heal?, Art Resources Transfer, New York, NY
1998 Statements in Steel, Walton Art Center, Fayetteville, AK
1997 Most Of Us Are Immigrants (outdoor sculpture), Sara Roosevelt Park, New York, NY

SELECTED PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
2006 American Embassy, Bamako, Mali, Negelan
2004 Ossining, NY, private collection, Garden Gate,
2003 Gratz High School, Philadelphia, PA, Book of Hopes and Fears,
2002 Segou, Mali, public sculpture in collaboration with Assn. Seg...