Juror

Jason Pollen

Jason Pollen, professor and chair of the fiber department at the Kansas City Art Institute, paints and prints with dyes on silk, creating vibrant, colorful abstract works that are exhibited in the U.S. and around the world. He also designs prints for the surface design and textile industry, and is president of the Surface Design Association, an international organization of fiber artists and textile designers.

In 2006, Pollen was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in recognition of outstanding artistic achievement and leadership in the field — an award given only to artists who have worked 25 years or more in his respective craft field.

In 1992, he was the first-place winner from the U.S. in the International Textile Design competition sponsored by the Japanese Fashion Foundation, and that same year he received the Italian Idea Como award for most outstanding printed fabric. As a designer, he has created printed fabrics for Yves Saint Laurent, Perry Ellis, Wamsutta Sheets, Jim Thompson Thai Silks in Bangkok and Jack Lenor Larsen furnishing fabrics.

Pollen has had several solo exhibitions in Europe and the United States, including the Temple Gallery in Philadelphia and, in Kansas City, the Leedy Voulkos Gallery, the Gallery of Fine Arts, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Dolphin Gallery, which currently represents him.

His recent group exhibitions include Reed Whipple Cultural Center Gallery in Las Vegas, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Lodz Textile Museum in Poland; and the Max Berk Museum in Heidelberg, Germany.

Major installations, collections, and commissions include the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Hallmark Cards, Inc., The H&R Block Foundation in Kansas City and Printmaker International, Ltd. in New York.

Pollen spent 10 years in Paris, London, Zurich and Madras as an artist and textile designer. Before joining the KCAI faculty in 1983, he served on the faculty at the Royal College of Art, Pratt Institute and the Parsons School of Design in New York. He regularly lectures and teaches workshops throughout the U.S, Canada and Europe.

January 01 2008 03:24 pm