Jo Ann Callis, After Blossfeldt #1, Vintage Silver Gelatin Signed Photograph, 1988

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Jo Ann Callis (American, b. 1940) After Blossfeldt, 1988; Gelatin silver print; Signed, dated and numbered A/P 1; 13 5/8" … Read more Jo Ann Callis (American, b. 1940) After Blossfeldt, 1988; Gelatin silver print; Signed, dated and numbered A/P 1; 13 5/8" x 10 7/8"

Jo Ann Callis (born Cincinnati, Ohio 1940) is an American artist who works with photography and is based in California.
Though Callis initially pursued a degree at Ohio State University in 1958, she dropped out in her second year when she got married. She and her husband moved to Southern California in 1961. Her father died after the birth of her first son Stephen in the same year. In 1963, her second son Michael was born. By 23, she was married with two children; she later separated from her husband. Callis enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1970 initially in graphic design. When she took a course from Robert Heinecken in photography, she was encouraged by Heinecken to explore things within her mind.
Both sensual and unsettling, these scenes showcase erotic imagination in its many forms, all intimate and deeply human. Although the work may sound like a very contemporary investigation of desire, it was made some 40 years ago, predating the staged photographs of Cindy Sherman and Gregory Crewdson. In 1975, while still a student at UCLA, a year before finishing her Masters in Fine Arts, she was offered a position to work at California Institute of the Arts (S. CA), where she works up until now (2017).
Callis's work is primarily surrealist. Thematically, she has traditionally been invested in drawing attention to and complicating domestic spaces and the role of motherhood. These characteristics are demonstrated in pieces such as Dish Trick (1985)

Publications
Woman Twirling. Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2009. Text by Judith Keller.
Decor. Thistle & Weed, 2013. Essay by Jennifer A. Watts.
Other Rooms. New York: Aperture, 2014.

Select public collections:

Museum Of Modern Art, New York.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Gallery Min, Japan.
References
Bohnacker, Siobhan (March 6, 2014). "Jo Ann Callis's Color Work".
Drohojowska-Philp, Hunter. "Culture Monster All the Arts, All the Time"
Cecilia Alvarez, Ana. "Go behind the lens of Jo Ann Callis' odd arousal". Dazed.
Callis, Jo Ann. "Photography and Media Faculty".
Muchnic, Suzanne (1989). "A Late Start is No Drawback for Callis". Los Angeles Times.
Drohojowska-Philp, Hunter. "Jo Ann Callis' long lens on domestic life". LA Times.
Zellen, Jody. "Burning Down the House: Ellen Brooks, Jo Ann Callis, Eileen Cowin".
"Jo Ann Callis MoMA".
"Jo Ann Callis LACMA Collections".
"Jo Ann Callis (Getty Museum)". The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles.

Image: 12 13/16 × 10 in. (32.5 × 25.4 cm) Sheet: 13 5/8 × 10 7/8 in. (34.6 × 27.6 cm)

Her work has been widely exhibited in such venues as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Hammer Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art, all in Los Angeles; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Gallery Min, Tokyo. In 2009 a retrospective of her work, Woman Twirling, was presented by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Callis has received three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other awards and prizes. See less