Biography
Jesse Blumenthal is an internationally exhibited, museum collected Artist and Educator residing in Missoula, Montana. Before moving to Montana in 2016, the high mountains of Southwestern Colorado were home base for both studio and community based industrial art practices for almost a decade. Their studio work has been shown in nine solo exhibitions, dozens of group shows and as many residencies across the US and Canada. In 2022 Blumenthal's solo exhibition “Endemic” was shown at Holter Museum of Art in Helena, MT. “Pedal Powered Fair and Swing Bike Rodeo” will open in July of 2025 at Palace Gallery in Ellensburg, WA, and “Lawn in a Prairie” will open in October at Billings’ Northcutt Steele Gallery.
Blumenthal has broadened the reach and accessibility of their practice through the educational opportunities presented by working in industrial materials in a community forward environment. Their community educational practice has been awarded eight separate Montana Arts Council Grants and multiple residencies in Missoula, MT and Gunnison, CO County Public Schools. They are currently a Teaching Artist with Spark Arts Integration and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in The School of Visual and Media Arts at The University of Montana. Blumenthal was raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, attended University of Massachusetts at Amherst for a BFA in Painting in 2007, and completed MFA graduate work at The University of Montana in 2019.
Jesse Blumenthal’s work reflects on both natural and immediate environments through intermedia sculptural, sonic, and video Art. Recent thematic conversations have included; the transition of the Intermountain West economy from extraction to tourism, intersections of frontier myth and bicycle culture, 90s screensavers and prairie colonisation. Recent works involving arrangements of consumer technology in sculptural arrangements are partially influenced by “Bitcore” philosophy and aesthetic; legacy technology serves as a stand-in for our contemporary anxieties towards the growing autonomy of the tech landscape. By integrating digital techniques with traditional sculptural methods, "Bitcore" embraces a hybrid practice that democratizes art-making and fosters community engagement.
Jesse’s commitment to inclusivity reflects contemporary political and social themes, allowing for richer dialogue through collaboration and collective site engagement. “Outsider Artist” collaborators are regularly invited to engage sonically with acoustic installations, welcomed into the studio to produce objects, and hired as contractors to help in production. The inclusion of outside perspectives, alongside the influence of the traditional craft knowledge from various metalworking processes present in the work, are a balance to the Artist’s long history in academia and ecological research.
Living outside of major cities and established art markets offers artists like Jesse the opportunity to cultivate deeply rooted community-based practices that resonate with local narratives and experiences. In the Intermountain West, this geographic context fosters a unique dialogue that reflects the region's cultural, economic, and environmental complexities. By engaging directly with the surroundings and collaborating with community members, this work creates something reflective of environment, but also responsive to the needs and stories of people within it. This localized approach encourages a sense of belonging and shared purpose; using place, participation, and collaboration to shape both individual and collective identities.