ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Jeanne Vadeboncoeur was born in 1980 in California’s Silicon Valley. She received her BFA in painting from San Jose State University and continues to live and work in the Bay Area.

Vadeboncoeur embraces the traditional practice of still life paintings, rendered usually in oil—her subject matter, however, is not so traditional. With precise execution, she explores objects that we often overlook in the day-to-day banal: a pile of donuts, an assembly of gummy bears or a bag of marbles. Her paintings urge the viewer to find gratification in life’s simple pleasures.

Vadeboncoeur has shown professionally in various museums and galleries including the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, the San Jose Museum of Art, Triton Museum of Art, in Santa Clara, CA, Bryant Street Gallery in Palo Alto, CA, Gold Gallery in Boston, MA, and Simon Breitbard Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA.

Artist Statement

I take simple everyday objects that are often overlooked – or at least un-remarked upon – and render them as though they are precious icons. Their presentation suggests that they are more important and worthy of notice than we might initially give them credit for.

Familiarity may not always breed contempt, but it is all too easy to become numb and desensitized to the commonplace and ordinary. My chosen objects are taken out of their day-to-day context and isolated on a stark background with dramatic lighting that permits the item to be viewed with a fresh perspective; Ultimately appreciated in a way that they never have before. I often find great personalities in inanimate objects, beauty in broken or damaged things, or complex relationships between the most mundane items.

Despite these hidden depths the work is never meant to be too serious. I try to balance out my own efforts of dramatization with an infusion of humor and whimsy.

Education

2008 BFA, San Jose State University
2001-2003 Laguna College of Art and Design