JENNY GRÄF SHEPPARD

Jenny Gräf is a sound and visual artist. Several of her works are long-term collaborations with individuals and groups, including several long-term collaborations with people with memory loss. One such project was The Guitars Project, in which 6 women with Alzheimer’s developed strategies for playing electric guitar that challenged notions of memory, identity and age. Since 1996 she has been a member of experimental sound duo Metalux which performs internationally. She is currently working with Chiara Giovando on Proud Flesh, a Western shot in the Badlands of South Dakota that features two older female protagonists as well as many Baltimore artists and musicians. Release date is set for early 2008.

Releases (see below) on Load, Ehse, 5rc, Hanson, Veglia, No Fun Productions, Resipiscent and BoxMedia

Press:

The Guitars Project Record- Arthur Magazine Bulltongue review by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley

Chicago Reader article on the Guitars Project

Baltimore City Paper on Harrius

Metalux Press

Teaching/Professional

2004 - 2007 Professor, Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD
2000 - 2004 Arts Instructor, Street-Level Youth Media, Chicago
2000 - 2004 Adjunct Professor, Time Arts, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2000 - 2003 Adjunct Professor, Experimental Animation and Graduate Seminar, University of Illinois in Chicago
2003 - 2004 Adjunct Professor, Experimental Video, Columbia College, Chicago
2002 - 2001 Adjunct Professor, Digital Media, Robert Morris College

Grants/Awards/Residencies

2003 Depart. of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, IL, Community Arts Assistance Program Grant Recipient
2002 Experimental Sound Studio Residency, Chicago, IL
2002 Depart. of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, IL, Community Arts Assistance Program Grant Recipient
2001 Sonic Circuits Festival, Metalux selected for ‘Live’ category of Festival, Minneapolis, MN

Exhibitions/ Screenings/ Performances

2005
High Zero Festival of Improvised Music, Baltimore, MD
Sound Installation (MOPCOSM)
No Fun Festival, Brooklyn NY
Metalux Performance

2004
International Music on Film Film on Music Festival, Prague
Screened "Exchanges"
Performance for High Zero Festival of Improvised Music, Baltimore, MD
Street Performance

2003
Selected for the 2004 Decomposure Series for original soundscore sompositions
WNET: Reel New York Series, Channel 13, June 27th Grandpa's Apartment:Aa Grand Street Story,
Original score by Jenny Graf Sheppard
International Arts Group Exposition 2003 (I've got an answer / I've got an
Anthem) - Organized by Red76 Arts Group, The Laurelhurst Theater, Portland, OR
The Guitars Project – Iconic Distortions I and II
Binder Archives and Audio Relay, Temporary Services Project, University of Wisconsin,
Sponsored by the Lawton Gallery, The Guitars Project – Iconic Distortions I and II

2002

Version 02, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Media Convergence and Symposium on the future of the digital commons
Metalux performance with set design and animation
Metalux European tour - performances in Germany, France, Belgium, and The Netherlands
Synesthesia, Carrie Secrest Gallery, Chicago, IL, Exchanges video and Guitars Project photos
Women in the Director’s Chair Film/Video Screening, The Empty Bottle Chicago, IL
Metalux performance, and screening of The Guitars Project - Exchanges
All Tomorrow’s Parties, curated by Sonic Youth, Los Angeles, CA, performance by Bride of No No
Deadtech Gallery, Chicago, IL, Metalux performance of new compositions

2001

Pairs, The Butchershop Gallery, Chicago IL, Reflex Lux, interactive light and sound installation
Division Street, USA, A public, site-specific storefront video installation
Public Art component to Nomads and Homesteaders Symposium, The Art Institute of Chicago
New Video Series Screening, Art In General, NYC, Freeze Young Man, video

2000

Hilgos Project Exhibitions, 1996 – 2001 – Sound & video installations in retirement homes & galleries.
New Video Series Screening, Art In General, NYC, Freeze Young Man, video

1999

Detroit Contemporary Electronic Sound Festival
Sound and Silent Images, University of Chicago, IL. Metalux performance with early animation
Hilgos Foundation Benefit Fashion Show - Organized fashion show to benefit Hilgos Scholarship,
which now funds intergenerational artistic collaborations in Chicago.
Film Screening Series, Scott Pfaffman Gallery, NYC. RoundTrip, a 16mm film by Melissa Lohman.
Original sound score by Jenny Graf Sheppard

Audio Recordings

2007 Hand-cut lathe record, Endleseries
2006 Metalux/John Wiese, Load Records
2005 Victim of Space, 5rc (Kill Rock Stars)
2004 Waiting For Armadillo, Load Records
2003 The Guitars Project – Iconic Distortions I and II, BoxMedia records
Bride of No No, Atavistic Records, Chicago IL
2002 Filler, parallel groove record. Composition by Steve Lacy, Whitewalls and Academy Records
(Contributing sound artist)
2002 Metalux - Diversion of Left and Right, Hanson Records, Detroit MI
Select Media CD Rom compilation, Metalux animation and sound, Chicago IL
2001 Metalux -Fluorescent Towers, Hanson Records
Wigs on Fire compilation, Nihilist Records, Chicago IL
Winter Construction compilation, Dead CEO Records, Chicago IL
Bride of No No - Bonn Appetit!, Atavistic Records, Chicago IL
Mix Tape Compilation, Troubleman Records, NYC, Bride of No No track
2000 Metalux III, Hanson Records, Detroit, MI

Conferences

Poster Day: Innovations in Dementia Care, Memory Health andWellness, 2002, Northwestern University’s
.Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Ctr Alzheimer’s Association,. The Guitars Project presentation.

Jury Member

Women in the Director’s Chair Annual Film/Video Festival, Chicago IL 2002
Hilgos Scholarship Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2003

Curatorial/ Establishing Memeber/Other

Open Listening: Theater of the Mind, broadcast of student audio pieces on WHFC 91.1, 4/2005
Established the Hilgos Fellowship Award, Art Institute of Chicago,1999, funds intergenerational art projects