About
VANESSA RENWICK
Founder and janitor of the Oregon Department of Kick Ass
Born 1961 in Chicago, Illinois. Film / Video / Installation artist. Lives in Portland, Oregon
A filmmaker by nature, not by stress of research. She puts scholars to rout by solving through Nature's teaching problems that have fretted their trained minds. Her iconoclastic work reflects an interest in place, relationships between bodies and landscapes, and all sorts of borders. Working in experimental and poetic documentary forms, she produces films, videos and installations that explore the possibility of hope in contemporary society. She is a naturalist, born, not made : a true barefoot, cinematic rabblerouser, of grand physique, calm pulse and a magnetism that demands the most profound attention.
Represented by PDX Contemporary Art
FILM AND VIDEO SCREENINGS
2008
Iowa City Experimental Film Festival, Iowa City, IO
Expanded Frames, Cinema Project, Portland, OR
Le Petit Versailles , Manhatten, NY
Citizen Jane Film Festival, Columbia, MO
Dear Joanie, I made a Movie: a survey of the Joanie4Jackie Chainletter Tapes from 1995-2007, Pacific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC, CANADA
Joanie For Jackie: the Lady Glitterati of the New Movie Uprising, Gene Siskal Film Center, The Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Needles and Pens, San Francisco, CA
Thermostat: Video and the Pacific Northwest, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Bunnell Strett Gallery, Homer, AK
Cornell Cinema. Ithaca, NY
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN
University of Tennessee, Knoxille, TN
Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI
BGSU Gish Theater, Bowling Green, OH
Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
Astoria International Film Festival, Astoria, OR
Oakland Community College, Farmington Hills, MI
Best of the NW Film and Video Festival, Portland, OR
The Village Building Convergence, Portland, OR
Short Attention Span, IFC Center, NY, NY
Pedalpalooza, Dead Baby Bikes, Portland, OR
Helsing Junction Sleepover, Rochester, WA
54th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany
CHANNELING: an invocation of spectral bodies and queer spirits,Alogon Gallery, Chicago, IL
Ghosting The Image, Courtisane Festival 2008, Ghent, Belgium
Chicago Anarchist Film Festival, Chicago, Illinois
The Way That We Rhyme, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Lokomotiva, Skopje, Macedonia
The Hunker Down To Rise Above Cinema Show, Village Building Convergence, Portland, OR
Alphabet Soup : Labeling, Identity, Stigma, Pride, Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
46th Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI
Picture Industries, Utrecht, the Netherlands
International Film Festival Rotterdam
Mix at Collective:Unconscious, NY, NY
University of Chicago Film Studies Center, Chicago, IL
Odds & Ends, Vol. 2, Gallery Homeland, Portland, OR
Focus The Nation, PNCA, Portland, OR
Olsen, Leeds,England
Caldera Salon, Sisters, OR
Art Beat, Salem, OR
2007
Art Basel , Miami, FL
OUT/EX, Salt Lake City, UT
DetroitDocs International Film Festival, Detroit, MI
34th NW Film & Video Festival, Portland, OR
Local Sightings Film Festival, Seattle, WA
Ice Film Fest, Iowa City, IA
Expresion en Corto, Mexcio City, Mexico
Nova Cinema, Brussels, Belgium
Chroma Festival, Guadalajara, Mexico
Milepost 5, Portland, OR
Bicycle Film Festival, Portland, OR
Antimatter Underground Film Festival, Victoria, B.C.
Green Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea
Naturvision, Neuschonau, Germany
B.A.B.E.fest PDX, Portland, OR
San Francisco Cinematheque, S.F., CA
Odds and Ends, Portland, OR
Changing Landscapes, City Club of Portland, OR
Images Film Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kill Your Timid Notion, Dundee, Scotland
40th Humboldt Film Festival, Arcata, CA
PDX Fest, Portland, OR
Pageant Theatre, Chico, CA
Contemporary Gallery, Reno, NV
The Red & Black, Portland, OR
The Capitol Theater, Olympia, WA
The Fried Chicken Barge, Seattle, WA
National Hobo Convention, Britt, IO
Artists Television Access, San Francisco, CA
The Replay, Lawrence, KS
The Backyard Monument, Los Angeles, CA
Birdhouse Laboratory, Knoxville, TN
The Badlander, Missoula, MT
Fools Foundation, Sacramento, CA
The Dome, Marfa, TX
Soundstage, Shreveport, LA
Warphaus, Gainesville, FL
Athens Cine, Athens, GA
The Werehouse, Winston-Salem, NC
Somecafe, Lynchburg, TN
Cinema 1818, Baltimore, MD
Union Arts, Athens, OH
The Royale, St Louis, MO
Helsing Junction Sleepover, Rochester, WA
What the Heck Fest, Anacortes, WA
MIART, Milan, Italy
TAKE OVER!, The Artistery, Portland, OR
AK Press, Oakland, CA
Mixed Company, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Siskiyou Environmental Film Festival
Dissecting Portland, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY & Cornell Cinema, Ithaca, NY
Mix Show, Art In General, NYC, NY
TRUE/FALSE Film Festival, Columbia, Mo (my favorite film festival EVER ANYWHERE!)
Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
36th International Film Festival Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Wild and Scenic Film Festival, Nevada City, CA
2006
The Big Top, New Orleans, LA
Mix Festival, NYC, NY
Olympia Film Festival, Olympia, WA
Budafest, Kortrijk, Belgium
Viennale, Vienna, Austria
Other Cinema, Telling Topographies, S.F., CA
Black Floor Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Outsider Art & Music Film Series, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Zeitgeist, New Orleans, LA
The Pit, Jacksonvlle, FL
The Creative Music and Film Society, Columbia, SC
The Elsewhere, Greensboro, NC
Flying Brick House, Richmond, VA
Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
Pleasuredome/Cinecycle, Toronto, ONTARIO
ABC NO RIO, NY, NY
The Sanctuary. Troy, NY
Jefferson Presents, Pittsburgh, PA
Detroit Film Coalition, Detroit, MI
South Union Arts, Chicago, IL
Darling Hall, Milwaukee, WI
The Belfry Center, Minneapolis, MN
Trasa Arts, Salt Lake City, UT
Half Moon Bay,CA
The Empty Vessel, Brooklyn, NY
Psychedelic Logging, Reed College, Portland, OR
Mission Creek Music Festival, A.T.A., San Francisco, CA
What-The-Heck Fest, Anacortes, WA
TBA/PICA, Audioworks, Portland,OR
Oregon Biennial, Portland Art Museum, Portland,OR
Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver, B.C.
Pesaro Film Festival, Rome, Italy
L.A. Film Forum
Other Cinema, San Francisco, CA
Cal Arts, Valencia, CA
The Red Vic Theater, S.F., CA
Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle, WA
The Smell, L.A., CA
Echo Park Cinema, L.A.,CA
New York Underground Film Festival
Big Sky Documentary Festival, Missoula, MT
International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands
Media City, Windsor, Ontario
40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
Railroad Blues, Alpine, TX
The Red Light, Bisbbe, AZ
Guild Cinema, Albq., NM
7 Dudley Cinema, L.A., CA
2005
Worm, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Viennale, Vienna, Austria
PEK Festival, The Hague, Netherlands
Premieres, Museum of Modern Art, NY
International Film Festival Rotterdam
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Other Cinema, S.F., CA
Needles and Pens, S.F., CA
Northwest Film and Video Festival, Portland, OR
Montana Artists Refuge, Basin, MT
Asagaya Art School, Tokyo,Japan
TRUE/FALSE FILM FEST, Columbia, MO
Bibliograph Zine Library, Montr�al, QC
Museum of Unfine Art, Eugene, OR
Pants Off/Party On, Casa del Popolo, Montreal, CA
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
Siskiyou Environmental Film Festival, Ashland, OR
Images Festival, Toronto, ONT.
SanFrancisco Exploratorium, SF. CA
San Francisco Cinematheque, SF, CA
Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
2004
Cinematexas, Austin, TX
NWFC, Portland, OR
Capital Theater, Olympia, WA
Consolidated Works, Seattle, WA
Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL
Recombinant Labs Compound, SF, CA
NY Underground Film Festival
TRUE/FALSE Doc Fest, Columbia, MO
DeComposer, Guild Theatre, Portland, OR
Other Cinema, San Francisco, CA
2003
30th NW Film & Video Festival
24/7: Vilnius-New York, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
M7M Proyectos/Fortaleza 302 cine series, San Juan, PR
Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN
Chicago Underground Film Festival
The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN
Apotik komik, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Shipwreck Days, Anacortes, WA
Venice International Short Film Festival, Venice, Italy
Cinematheque, Brighton,England
Other Cinema, SF, CA
Evergreen State College, Olympia,WA
Bikefest, L.A.,CA
Aurora Picture Show, Austin,TX
2002
Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Taos Talking Pictures Film Fest, Taos, N.M.
Black Maria Film Festival
Other Cinema, San Francisco,CA
New York Underground Film Fest,NY
Mini-cine?, Shreveport, LA
Baton Rouge Arts Center, Baton Rouge, LA
The a.r.k., New Orleans, LA
The Underground, Walla Walla, WA
Sotanos, Boise, ID
Trasa Urban Arts, Salt Lake City, UT
Broken Glass Gallery, Denver, CO
Taos Talking Pictures Pest, Taos, NM
Max's Studio, Santa Fe, NM
Basement Films, Albq., NM
Marfa Theatre, Marfa, TX
Notsuoh, Houston, TX
Forbidden Gallery, Dallas, TX
Alternate Current Gallery, Austin, TX
Modified, Phoenix, AZ
Congress Hotel, Tucson, AZ
Earwig Factory, Bisbee, AZ
Airpower, L.A., CA
Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, CA
The Luggage Store Gallery, S.F., CA
The Capitol Theatre, Olympia, WA
The Little Theatre, Seattle, WA
The Blinding Light!!, Vancouver, B.C., CANADA
Ragtag Cinema, Columbia, MO
Museum of Modern Art, Iowa City, IA
Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
Hi-hat, Milwaukee, WI
The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN
The Fat Back, Chicago, IL
Pittsburgh Filmmakers & Jefferson Presents, Pittsburgh, PA
Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA
MIT, Boston, MA
Emerson College, Boston, MA
Robert Beck Memorial Cinema, N.Y., NY
David Gatten presents, Ithaca, NY
LaCasa, Washington, DC
The G Spot, Baltimore, MD
Virginia Filmfest/ plan 9, Charlottesville, VA
Center for Documentary Studies, Raleigh, NC
PS211, Winston-Salem, NC
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH
Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Electric Eye Cinema, Madison, WI
Detroit Contemporary, Detroit, MI
Squeaky Wheel, Buffalo, NY
Cinecycle, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Bright Rectangle, East Hampton, MA
Oni Gallery, Boston, MA
The Bakery, Providence, RI
Other's Studio, Montreal, QC, Canada
Bread & Puppet Theatre, Glover, VT
No Exit, Chicago, IL
Not My House, Eugene, OR
The Aurora Picture Show, Houston, TX
University of Oregon, Eugene
The Smithsonian, Wash. D.C.
Reed Arts Week, Reed College, Portland,OR
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque,NM
Portland State University,OR
2001
McMurdo Station, Antartica
Melbourne Underground Film Festival,Australia
Baton Rouge Gallery, La.
The A.R.K., New Orleans, La.
Minicine, Shreveport,La.
Vancouver Underground FilmFest. Vancouver, B.C.
Smartcinema, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Cinematheque, Brighton,ENGLAND
5th Annual Portland Queer fest,Portland,OR
OtherCinema Outsider Art, San Francisco,CA
Olympia Film Festival, Olympia,WA
Peripheral Produce Invitationals, Portland,OR
Independent Exposure, Minneapolis, MN
Fringefest, Minneapolis,MN
HipMama, Portland, OR
BikeFest, Vancouver,B.C.
Sound Unseen Undercinema, Minneapolis,MN
Independent Exposure,Monterrey,Mexico
New York Underground Film Festival, N.Y.,N.Y.
Robert Beck Memorial Theatre, N.Y.,N.Y.
Peripheral Produce, Portland,OR
Other Cinema A.T.A., San Francisco,CA
The Blinding Light, Vanvouver,B.C.
Reed Arts Week/Exposure, Portland,OR
KinoKino, Lucerne,Switzerland
Black Chair Productions, Seattle,WA
2000
Catacomb-microCinema, Winnipeg,CANADA
Other Cinema, A.T.A., San Franciso CA
27th Northwest Film and Video Festival, Portland, OR
Underground Cinema of Vanessa Renwick, Cinema 21, Portland, OR
Northwest Film Center, Portland, OR
The Kitchen, N.Y.,N.Y.
Ladyfest, Olympia, Washington
Sarah Lawrence College Experimental Festival, Bronxville NY
5th Season Premiere-Independent Exposure, Seattle WA
5th Annual Bicycle Film & Video Festival, Berkeley, CA
Roe vs. Wade, Q Hut Gallery, Portland, OR
The Truck Show, Q Hut Gallery, Portland, OR
Peripheral Produce, Clinton Street Theatre, Portland, OR
1999
Orlo Bike In, Portland, OR
Hallowierd, Independent Exposure, Seattle, WA
Halloween Indies, Blackchair Productions, Prague
Bellevue Art Museum Film & Video Festival, Bellevue, WA
Olympia Film Festival, Olympia, WA
Peripheral Produce, Portland, OR
Film Fatale, The Palms, Los Angeles, CA
Art Beat, PCC, Portland, OR
The Blinding Light, Vancouver B.C.
Other Cinema, A.T.A., San Francisco, CA
Peripheral Produce Experimental Movie Night, Vancouver B.C.
NW Visions-Texas Women's University, Denton, TX
Midnight Sun, Olympia, WA
1998
OR Department of Kick Ass, 5th Avenue Cinemas, Portland, OR
oVoid Video Screening, The Drawing Studio, Portland, OR
25th Northwest Film & Video Festival, Northwest Film Center, Portland, OR
Lady X's Freak Du Jour Sideshow Cabaret, Satyricon, Portland, OR
Peripheral Produce Clinton Street Experimental Movie Night, Portland/Eugene OR, Olympia, WA
Film Fatale, LaLuna, Portland, OR and The Palms, Santa Monica CA
The 2nd Annual F Word Festival, Hollywood Theater, Portland, OR
Tidbit Gallery, Portland, OR
Map Show, The Maul, Portland, OR
Portland Cable Access 1993-1998, Portland, OR
1997
Newer Collective 1997-1998, Oak Street Art Center, Berbatis Pan, Portland, OR
Show-Off Gallery, Bellingham ,WA
History Show, The Maul, Portland, OR
Peripheral Produce, Paris Theater Show, Portland, OR
24th Northwest Film & Video Festival, Northwest Film Center, Portland, OR
Peripheral Produce, Experimental Movie Night, Hollywood Theater, Portland, OR
Portland's Queer Film Festival, Cinema 21, Portland, OR
1996
Froelick Adelhart/ACLU Uncensored Celebration, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR
1995
Plazm Media/ACLU Uncensored Celebration, Clinton Street Theater, Portland, OR
1994
Mind Over Matter, Basement Films, Albuquerque New Mexico
Montreal Film Festival, Image et Nation, Montreal Canada
II Festival of Expression of the Sexualities, Muse de Imagem e do Som, Sao Paolo Brazil
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
Pacific Film Archives, Cinematheque, San Franciso, CA
1993
The 7th New York Mix Festival, The Kitchen, New York City, NY
Punkalingus, Roxie Cinema, San Francisco, CA
Olympia Film Festival, Capitol Theater, Olympia, WA
1983
The Ninth Festival of Illinois Film & Video Artists, Biograph Theater, Chgo.IL
INSTALLATIONS
2007
Retinal Reverb, PDX Film Festival, Portland, OR
Snap Trap, Half & Half, Portland, OR
2006
Mix Festival, NYC, NY
Melancholy for Five Rooms, Buda Arts Center, Kortrijk, Belgium
Museum Boijmans von Beuningen Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2004
Hunting, Ritual and Narrative, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, ID
Lovejoy Lost, PDX Window Project, Portland, OR
Rising Up, Tollbooth Project, Tacoma, WA
The Absent Album, Department of Safety, Anacortes, WA
Case Studies, Reed College, Portland, OR
In The Streets, Luggage Store, SF
Tollbooth Project, Tacoma, WA
Drawing Resistance, Liberty Hall, Portland, OR
2003
Coresample, Portland, OR
2002
Beamsplitters, PDX Festival Portland, OR
2001
Northwest Narrative, PICA, Portland OR
2000
Lovejoy, Feldman Gallery, Portland, OR
Taking Space, Making Place, American Institute of Architecture, Portland, OR
Open Walls, PICA, Portland, OR
Disintegration:Contemporary Landscape, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Rerun, Manual Izquierdo Gallery, Portland, OR
1999
Yawn, Reading Frenzy, Portland, OR
1998
Eye Candy Show, Mark Wooley Gallery, Portland, OR
Multi-Mini, 333 Studios, Portland, OR
electriCity, Tidbit Gallery, Portland, OR
AWARDS
2008
Rockefeller Fellowship Nominee
Zooomb Pyle Commission - with Brian Borello
NAAU Couture stipend recipient
Regional Arts & Culture Council Project Grant, Portland, OR
Career Opportunity Grant Award, Oregon Arts Commission
2007
Poncho Special Recognition Award, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Bike Commute Challenge Winner, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Portland, OR
The Jim Demulling Speak Out Award for Best Social Awareness
Documentary -
Humboldt Film Festival
The Gearhead Portland Filmmaker Award
2006
The Sarah Jacobson Film Grant-The Free History Project
Wolf Recovery Foundation Field Research & Education Grant
2005
Judges Award, Northwest Film and Video Festival
Gus Van Sant Award for Best Experimental Film, Ann Arbor Film Fest
Carol Davis Scholarship, Montana Artists Refuge
Rockefeller Fellowship Nominee
2004
Mayor's Creative Initiative Grant, Portland OR
2003
NW Festival Award from James Benning
Lilla Jewel Award
Rockefeller Fellowship Nominee
2002
Rockefeller Fellowship Nominee
Best Documentary Video, Microcinefest, Baltimore, MD
2nd Place Black Maria Film Fest 2002
2001
1st Place Peripheral Produce Invitational World Championship, PDX,OR
1999
Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, OR
1998
1st Place F Word Film Festival, Portland, OR
Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, OR
1983
Weisman Grant, Chicago Illinois
PUBLICATIONS
Portrait #2: Trojan
Special Edition book with DVD plus five (5) 11X14 inch photographs and block print cover. Limited edition of 10 + 1 AP
RESIDENCIES
2008 Caldera
2005 Montana Artists Refuge
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gallagher, Erica. "Lucky Bumming." Venus Magazine, No. 14 (Winter 2002).
Gragg, Randy. "Of art, history, and columns." The Oregonian (Portland), 28 July 2000.
-. "Renwick's Experimentation." The Oregonian (Portland), 4 December 1998.
Hackett, Regina. "Mind Expanding Art." Seattle Post Intelligencer (Washington), 2 July
2004.
Hall, Emily. "Funny Obsessive Passion." The Stranger (Seattle, Washington), 25 July
2002.
Hart, Adam. "Band of Outsiders: Bill Daniel and Vanessa Renwick." RES Magazine,
January 2005.
Hatch, Eric. "Bum's Rush." Baltimore City Paper (Maryland), 2 October 2002.
Hornaday, Ann. "The Lucky Bum Film Tour." Washington Post (Washington D.C.), 29
September 2002.
Jahn, Jeff, Vanessa Renwick's Portrait #2: Trojan at 2006 Biennial Portlandart.net, 23 September 2006
Raymond, Camela. "Two for the Road." The Organ, November/December 2003.
Spoons, Bwana. "Super Duper Film Creators." Pencil Fight Magazine, No. 2 (2004).
Willis, Holly. "Follow Me To Certain Death: An Evening with Vanessa Renwick." L.A.
Weekly, 17 March 2006.
SELECTED FILM AND VIDEO PROJECTS
Miranda July, Joanie4Jackie.com,Literary Arts, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Split Screen/Independent Film Channel, Euro MTV,American Civil Liberties Union, Flying Focus Video Collective,American Torture Theater Company
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Sarah Miller Meigs
Stanford University
Emerson College
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of British Colombia
Reed College Library
Marfa Public Library
Multnomah County Library
Evergreen State College
Portland Art Museum
VIDEOTAPE/DVD COMPILATIONS
Nomads and nozones OCD Other Cinema DVD
Best of Peripheral Produce
Nature's Assistant
The Laughing Garbage Disposal
Peripheral Produce Video Tape #5
Best of the Fest 26th Northwest Film & Video Festival
Joanie4Jackie 2001 Chainletter
Big Miss Moviola Cherry Cherry Chainletter
Peripheral Produce Video Mix Tape #1
Punkalingus
Furos E Arolas
TEACHING
Instructor, Northwest Film & Video Center 1995-99