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jovischnell@gmail.com

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In her interdisciplinary practice, Jovi Schnell creates vibrant semi-abstract paintings on canvas and large murals in institutions and public spaces. Her current studio series, “Bouquet Play,” utilizes collage as a visual model to create floral Still Life, blending the interplay between positive and negative spaces using cut-up texts and a personal alphabet of forms. The works explore themes of nature’s life cycles, text-to-image dynamics, pattern play, color exploration, metamorphosis, and her personal inventory of materials and processes. Her recent public art projects incorporate gameplay and formats designed for inclusion, facilitating co-creative community participation.

Jovi’s nomadic adventures began in the Ozarks in Arkansas, where her deep fascination with biological systems and experimental culture took root. Her journey led her to Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco and she currently resides in Los Angeles. She earned her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in ‘92 and her MFA from UC Berkeley in 2017.

Additionally, she has completed residencies at the De Ateliers in Amsterdam, NL, Skowhegan School of Art, and the McDowell Colony. She received the Pollack-Krasner award for painting.  Her speculative poem “THE ELECTRIC SPACE GARDENERS” was published by the Center for Expanded Poetics, Montreal QC in 2019, inspiring an experimental opera score released by Bay Area composer Wayne Grim in 2023.

In the same year, she completed a frieze/mural co-created through public engagement inside the El Segundo Public Library in Los Angeles. Currently, she’s working towards a large-scale mixed media ceramic mural for a historical street passageway in the City of Tampa, FL, set to be installed in 2024.

Ms. Schnell’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and institutions including the Stedelijk Bureau Museum in Amsterdam, The Brooklyn Museum and The Berkeley Art Museum. Reviews of her work have been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Flash Art, and Art in America. Jovi's professional experience includes eighteen years of art instruction in higher education



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