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Draft:Jeffrey Augustine Songco

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Jeffrey Augustine Songco
Born
Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materCarnegie Mellon University, San Francisco Art Institute
Known forsculpture, installation, photography, video, performance

Jeffrey Augustine Songco is a multidisciplinary artist whose mediums include installation, digital photography, video, performance, and sculpture. He lives and works in Michigan, USA.[1][2] His work has been exhibited at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, SPRING/BREAK Art Show in New York City, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.[3]

Education

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He holds a B.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.F.A. from San Francisco Art Institute.[4]

Early Life

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Themes and motifs of Songco's work are influenced by his early life, include his suburban upbringing, his experiences as a child actor, being the gay child of Catholic Filipino immigrants, and issues of race and identity in America.[5] He studied dance at the New Jersey School of Ballet and made his professional acting debut at age 10. He appeared in many stage productions at Paper Mill Playhouse,[6][7] and has reflected that, “As a child actor, I would go into New York City to audition for roles that were primarily for white people. As a young kid, I would read these casting calls that my mom would share with me, and I would hope that the very end of that paragraph said, ‘All ethnicities welcome.’”[8]

Career

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Songco's artwork has been exhibited at venues including the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco,[9][10] the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle,[11] Spring/Break Art Show in New York City,[12] and FLXST Contemporary in Chicago.[13] His large-scale sculpture series “Facets” is on permanent display at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[14][15]

Facets

In 2023, Songco was selected by the Gerald R. Ford International Airport to create a series of suspended sculptures titled Facets for the newly renovated Concourse A.[16][17] The sculptures use acrylic "gems" to depict various parts of the West Michigan landscape.[18] Michigan NPR described the installation as, "three suspended sculptures that might make travelers feel like they are suddenly a part of the piece — as though they are composed beneath hundreds of small colorful connected shapes all hanging overhead." [19][20]


ArtPrize

In 2015, Songco's work titled “Revelry” was accepted by art competition and festival ArtPrize. Songco's installation was a temporary site-specific outdoor work presented at Calder Plaza that consisted of 27,000 plastic beaded necklaces knotted to a 200-foot long metal chain link fence. In addition to the installation, Songco distributed thousands of necklaces to visitors inviting them to wear them, share them, or add them to the fence.[21] On the fourth day of the competition, visitors to the installation began removing the necklaces and by the evening, most of the necklaces were gone. “When you put a work of art in the public space, you never know how the public will react,” Songco said, “much like the initial reception of the citizens of Grand Rapids when Alexander Calder's 'La Grande Vitesse' was installed in 1969”.[22] Following the dismantling of the fence, Songco’s experience was widely circulated in the local media. He continued the conceptual parameters of the work and distributed necklaces and encouraged visitors to add the necklaces to the fence. Visitors also returned to the artwork to bring back their necklaces. "Someone came by, and he apologized for him and his sons and that they were kind of following other people and they didn't know, and he came back with the beads and really gave me a sincere apology," Songco said. "It's been really lovely to have people come and bring their beads back, and now other people can enjoy the process of adding to the art."[23] Songco also stated "Is it vandalism? Or is it the evolution of art? In an amazing turn of events, people began to add to the fence once again. The work of art evolved with the public, and the public evolved with the work of art."

In 2017, Songco received the Installation Category Juried Award for his artwork “Society of 23’s Locker Dressing Room”.[24] The artwork was shortlisted for the Juried Grand Prize by artist, juror, and previous ArtPrize winner Anila Quayyum Agha who described the installation as “finesse to the last detail. It was amazing to walk in, see the materials, the space being utilized so beautifully — it was just like everything was in its place and it just felt right.” She added, “It’s talking about something really important about diversity, our sexuality, and the way we are, and the way we live in this world, and how kindness is sometimes absent when we are dealing with each other”.[25]

Writing

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Songco has been a contributing writer to art publications including Art21 Blog,[26] Bad at Sports,[27] and Hyperallergic.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Walsh, Brienne (April 28, 2021). "In Jeffrey Augustine Songco's America, You Can Be Both A Bro And A Queen". Forbes. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  2. ^ Kina and Bernabe, ed. (May 2017). "3". Queering Contemporary Asian American Art. University of Washington Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780295741376. Retrieved March 23, 2024. Filipino Diasporic Queer Killjoy: Recuperating Failure in Jeffrey Augustine Songco's Guilty Party and BOMH Series
  3. ^ Songco, Jeffery Augustine (May 9, 2018). "Asian American Oral History Project: Jeffrey Augustine Songco Interview" (Interview Transcript). Interviewed by Yara Cruz. DePaul University. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  4. ^ Kina and Bernabe, ed. (May 2017). "3". Queering Contemporary Asian American Art. University of Washington Press. p. 84, 85. ISBN 9780295741376. Retrieved March 23, 2024. Filipino Diasporic Queer Killjoy: Recuperating Failure in Jeffrey Augustine Songco's Guilty Party and BOMH Series
  5. ^ Kina and Bernabe, ed. (May 2017). "3". Queering Contemporary Asian American Art. University of Washington Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780295741376. Retrieved March 23, 2024. Filipino Diasporic Queer Killjoy: Recuperating Failure in Jeffrey Augustine Songco's Guilty Party and BOMH Series
  6. ^ "Cast of South Pacific at Papermill Playhouse, 1994". Ovrtur.com. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  7. ^ Lefkowitz, David (September 16, 1998). "Betty Buckley-Deborah Gibson Gypsy Opens At NJ's Paper Mill". Playbill. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  8. ^ Shipp, Pasha (May 3, 2021). "ArtPrize entry launched career". Grand Rapids Magazine. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  9. ^ "Proximities 3: Import/Export". Asian Art Museum (Press release). November 5, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  10. ^ "SFAQ Review: "Proximities 3: Import/Export" group exhibition at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Curated by Glen Helfand". SFAQ. February 12, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  11. ^ "Guilty Party" Artist Talk. Wing Luke Museum. April 5, 2021 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Vartanian, Hrag (March 7, 2018). "Spring Break is an Oasis for Art Fair Haters". Hyperallergic. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  13. ^ "Jeffrey Augustine Songco". Chicago Gallery News. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  14. ^ "Ford International Airport Selects Local Artist for Aerial Art Installation in Newly Expanded Concourse A". Gerald R. Ford International Airport (Press release). July 27, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Shipp, Pasha (February 8, 2024). "Artist explores pageant culture through self-portraiture". Grand Rapids Magazine. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  16. ^ Drummond, Justin (July 27, 2023). "Gerald R. Ford Int'l Airport selects artist for Concourse A suspended installation". Website. Fox17 West Michigan. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  17. ^ "Ford International Airport Selects Local Artist for Aerial Art Installation in Newly Expanded Concourse A". grr.org. July 27, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  18. ^ "Grand Rapids' Airport is Full of Art". Experience Grand Rapids. April 2, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  19. ^ Bush, Aaron; Meyers, Ethan; Mejia, Mercedes (August 16, 2024). "The creative world of Jeffrey Augustine Songco". www.michiganpublic.org: Michigan NPR. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  20. ^ Bunchman, Meghan (July 27, 2023). "Planned Ford Airport sculpture to 'tell a story' about West Michigan". WoodTV. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  21. ^ "Confusion leads to visitors dismantling ArtPrize entry". Detroit Free Press. Associated Press. September 29, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  22. ^ Kaczmarczyk, Jeffrey (September 28, 2015). "Was ArtPrize 2015 entry vandalized or misunderstood? Artist asks for its return". MichiganLive. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  23. ^ "Beads being brought to damaged ArtPrize entry". WZZM. September 30, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  24. ^ "Grands Rapids' ArtPrize Nine names winners". The Detroit News. October 6, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  25. ^ ArtPrize Nine Juried Awards Shortlist (Television production). WOOD-TV. September 25, 2017 – via YouTube.
  26. ^ "Jeffrey Augustine Songco". Art21 Magazine. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  27. ^ "Jeffrey Songco". Bad at Sports. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  28. ^ "Jeffrey Augustine Songco". November 20, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
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