E. Jane is an interdisciplinary artist and musician who works in Brooklyn, NY. Through images, videos, performances, installations, and sound, they explore the interiority and labor of Black women and femmes. They enjoy scrolling through mostly digital archives to uncover and share Black femme perspectives, especially as they relate to networked culture and surveillance. They regularly use the Black diva as a Black feminine archetype within their practice.
Jane is frustrated with the hypervisibility and surveillance of the black femme body. Recent installations and performances have questioned how and when the Black femme body is displayed by intentionally distorting or hiding the body, prompting viewers to actively engage in seeing.
Jane's persona MHYSA, a queer underground popstar, occasionally performs within their installations and maintains a separate music career. This Gesamtkunstwerk project explores Black music culture and divadom through embodied expression.
Jane earned an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. They have participated in the Studio Museum's Artist-in-Residence Program (2019-2020) and Recess’ Session Program (2024). As part of the collaborative duo SCRAAATCH, they’ve been in residence at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2022) and the Bemis Center Artist-in-Residence Program (2023). They were awarded the Wynn Newhouse Award (2017) and an FCA Emergency Grant (2022).
Jane authored the NOPE Manifesto, which was published in 2016. Recent solo exhibitions include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2023), The Kitchen, New York (2022), and OCD Chinatown, New York (2021). In 2024, SCRAAATCH had its first solo show, Distortion Play, at Company Gallery in New York.
Jane has also been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2022), MoMA PS1 (2020), and Glasgow International, Glasgow (2018).
Group shows also include OCD Chinatown, New York (2024), Kai Matsumiya, New York (2023), Progetto, Lecee (2023), The Green Gallery, Milwaukee (2022), The Swiss Institute, New York (2022), EFA Project Spaces, New York (2021), Company Gallery, New York (2020), MoCADA, New York (2020), Shoot the Lobster (2019), American Medium (2018), Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago (2018), and Visual Arts Center at University of Texas, Austin (2016).
Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at Dawid Radziszewski Gallery, Warsaw (2017), IMT Gallery, London (2016), Edel Assanti, London (2016), and PROJECT 1049, Gstaad (2016).
They were raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Jane is frustrated with the hypervisibility and surveillance of the black femme body. Recent installations and performances have questioned how and when the Black femme body is displayed by intentionally distorting or hiding the body, prompting viewers to actively engage in seeing.
Jane's persona MHYSA, a queer underground popstar, occasionally performs within their installations and maintains a separate music career. This Gesamtkunstwerk project explores Black music culture and divadom through embodied expression.
Jane earned an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. They have participated in the Studio Museum's Artist-in-Residence Program (2019-2020) and Recess’ Session Program (2024). As part of the collaborative duo SCRAAATCH, they’ve been in residence at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2022) and the Bemis Center Artist-in-Residence Program (2023). They were awarded the Wynn Newhouse Award (2017) and an FCA Emergency Grant (2022).
Jane authored the NOPE Manifesto, which was published in 2016. Recent solo exhibitions include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2023), The Kitchen, New York (2022), and OCD Chinatown, New York (2021). In 2024, SCRAAATCH had its first solo show, Distortion Play, at Company Gallery in New York.
Jane has also been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2022), MoMA PS1 (2020), and Glasgow International, Glasgow (2018).
Group shows also include OCD Chinatown, New York (2024), Kai Matsumiya, New York (2023), Progetto, Lecee (2023), The Green Gallery, Milwaukee (2022), The Swiss Institute, New York (2022), EFA Project Spaces, New York (2021), Company Gallery, New York (2020), MoCADA, New York (2020), Shoot the Lobster (2019), American Medium (2018), Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago (2018), and Visual Arts Center at University of Texas, Austin (2016).
Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at Dawid Radziszewski Gallery, Warsaw (2017), IMT Gallery, London (2016), Edel Assanti, London (2016), and PROJECT 1049, Gstaad (2016).
They were raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Press:
“I Am Standing Here Surrounded By So Much Beauty”, Screenslate, 2024
“How MHYSA’s Third Album Channels E. Jane’s Archive of Black Divas“ Elephant Magazine, 2023
“E. Jane Signals a Vibe Shift in What ‘Performance’ Means” The New York Crimes, 2022
“Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now” The New York Crimes, 2021
Contact:
ejanefoto@gmail.com
@glorious_nobodies