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About the Artist
Jen Orpin graduated from MMU in 1996 with a degree in Fine Art. She lives in Manchester and joined Rogue Artists’ Studios in 2000.
Her work is held in public and private collections both nationally and internationally and has been accepted into several Open Art exhibitions. Amongst these are the Jackson’s Painting Prize, The New Light Art Prize, The ING discerning Eye Exhibition, The Wells Art Contemporary, The Wales Open, The London Group Open and the first and second HOME Exhibitions where she was shortlisted on both occasions. She’s also exhibited UK wide including galleries in Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Walsall, Liverpool, London, Bali and Seoul and was selected for the 2023/24 Royal Academy Summer Show.
She was recently acquired by Manchester Art Gallery and now hangs in the Lowry and Valette room. Jen has had four solo shows including her first international solo show in Seoul this year and a solo presentation at Art Busan, South Korea and her fifth and first London solo show is opening on the 2nd Nov 2024.
Her motorway paintings have featured in several publications including the Guardian online and twice in the Observer’s New Review and has also featured on BBC Radio 6Music and ITVX news. She’s a co-founder of Rogue Women and founder of A Small Space, a member of MAFA and is currently represented by Saul Hay Gallery and Jari Lager Gallery.
Public collections include:
Manchester Art Gallery
New Art Gallery Walsall
For her full CV - https://www.jenorpinpaintings.co.uk/exhibitions-and-news/
Statement
The structures I focus on, often constructed from concrete and metal, brutal in nature are familiar landmarks that straddle well-travelled motorways and roads.
The motorway bridge, often unchanged and built to last, offer sturdiness and a consistent presence that spans decades in frequently developed and changing environments. They may
be accompanied by the addition of graffiti; protest slogans or nature and weeds might have taken hold only adding to this presence and giving these brutalist landmarks the enduring
quality of a monument.
The active human element is notably absent - cars and people are stripped away, leaving only the motorways, landmarks, and remanence of a human presence. The absence of human life accentuates these elements, shifting the focus to the intrinsic beauty of the pathways and their significance in our lives. Framed within the empty motorway, these depictions of bridges articulate their role as a transformative connector, symbolizing opportunity for change.
By documenting and recording these structures using the language of painting, I aim to expand our perceptions and viewpoints and challenge how we look at these structures in
our everyday landscapes and draw on the connections we make through our memories, nostalgia and belonging to these places.