Jene Highstein Biography
Jene Highstein (1942 – 2013) was born in 1942 in Baltimore. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Maryland in 1963, completed postgraduate studies in philosophy at the University of Chicago, and began practicing art in 1966. He then went on to study drawing at the New York Studio School before gaining a postgraduate diploma from the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 1970. Highstein's first solo exhibition took place at the Lisson Gallery, London, in 1968, and on his return to New York he began exhibiting at 112 Greene Street. In the mid-1970s he began exhibiting with Holly Solomon and ACE Gallery. In the late 1960s, influenced by Minimalism, Highstein began creating large-scale works with simplified sculptural forms and monochrome images on paper, often the formal basis for future works, displayed alongside the sculptures. However, Highstein's process has evolved into a manipulation of wood, stone and glass, creating what appear to be organic, fundamental forms. These forms, although deliberately abstract and conceived in his studio, derive from experiences of nature or associations with it. Later works moved from dark depictions of negative space to lighter forms that emphasized dimension and fullness, with subtly hand-modeled surfaces. Highstein has received four National Endowment for the Arts grants, the John Simon Guggenheim Award, and a St. Gaudens Memorial Prize. His public sculptures are installed at sites including the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Carnegie Bank, Stockholm; and Villa and Panza Collection, Varese, Italy. He also had solo exhibitions at the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., in 1991; the Art Museum of Memphis, in 2001; PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, in 2003; Madison Square Park, New York, in 2005; and other. Highstein has also designed sets for theater productions, working with the ELD Dance Company in Stockholm and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. Highstein died in 2013 in Salem, New York.
