Ann Stoddard

About the Artist

     Working at the intersection of art, culture, and politics, Ann Stoddard is an interdisciplinary artist who explores underlying connections across media, including video, installation, electronics, animation, sculpture, site-work, as well as painting, drawing, photography, and printmaking.  Ann Stoddard makes art that explores space- the space around and between us, the biosphere, the noisy public space of political debate, and the cultural landscape in which art can reveal connections and challenge divisions. In Stoddard’s site installations and video installations, viewers are witnesses who interact with the setting and with each other.  Stoddard’s videos and video installations often incorporate collaboration and interactivity in engaging political/cultural issues, ex. women’s rights, human rights, environmental issues, racial and ethnic profiling, and human causes of climate change.    With a background in video, painting, drawing, sculpture, and writing, Ann Stoddard sometimes combines text with drawings, lithography, painting, or media in a unique combination of directness, intellectual rigor and irreverence.               Ann Stoddard is a member of A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn. Her 25 solo shows include: “Concealed Carryland” Tuttle Gallery Baltimore MD 2019; “Seeing Things” AIR Gallery, Brooklyn, 2017; “Seeing Things” 39th Street Gallery’s Pop-Up, 2016; “WAVE (water, board)” PASS Gallery (DC) 2009; “REGISTRATION” Radford University Museum 2007; “Fish Soup” Ohio University’s Siegfried Gallery 2006; “WAITING ROOM” School 33 Art Center (Baltimore) 2003; “Surveilling Utopia II” District of Columbia Art Center 2003; “Ge/yNEAOLOGIES,” SPACES Art Center/ Cleveland. Her Invitational/ Juried Group exhibitions include: “ Th a t ’s wh a t s h e s ai d ” 2 0 1 9 , P e n n S t at e A rt G a ll e ry ; “Ti n y A c t s To p p l e E m p i r es , ” 2 0 1 8 W o s k o b F a m i l y G a l l e r y , Penn State U.; “ U p R o o t e d ”2 0 1 8 , a n d “ C re a t e C h a n g e ” 2017- Hillyer Art Space/DC; A.I.R. Gallery’s 2018, 2017, and 2016 National Members Exhibitions, Brooklyn; “Elixir” 2018 and “Implicit Bias” 2015 Smith Center/DC; “Art of Engagement” 2017 and “Art as Politics” 2016 National Juried Exhibitions, Touchstone Gallery/DC; “XXChange 2016, Baltimore; “The Personal is Political is Personal”440 Gallery,Brooklyn,2016; “Fabrications Invitational,” Art Factory, NJ, 2013; “UnderSurveillance” Nevin Kelly Gallery, DC, 2008; “Accelerating Sequences,” MOCA- GA, 2005; Society for Photographic Education’s “2004 Dialogue Exhibition”; 2004 Annual Juried Exhibition, COCA, Seattle;” From Your House to Our House” Atlanta's Contemporary Art Center 2002; “2002 Biennial,” Peninsula Fine Arts Center (VA); “2002- Biennial,” Lemmerman Gallery (Jersey City); “Culture of Class,” Maryland Institute College of Art, 2000; “Across Borders,” Art Museum of the Americas (DC). Ann Stoddard’s has been awarded numerous honors, including: 5 k Individual Artist Fellowship 2017 Prince George’s County Arts Council MD; Juror’s Award , “Art as Politics” National Exhibition, Touchstone Gallery, DC, 2016; 1st Prize, 2015 MNCPPC Juried Exhibition “N/ever Again” MD; Creativity, Individual Artist, Professional Development, and Emergency Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council; Chairman’s Award, Biennial 2002 Peninsula Fine Arts Center VA; awards from the Prince George’s Arts Council, and The Cafritz Foundation.       Ann Stoddard’s work has been have extensively reviewed by (ex.) The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, AfterImage Magazine, Athens News Review Ohio, Sculpture Magazine, The Muslim Link, The Milwaukee Journal- Sentinel. Ann Stoddard’s art writing has been published by Afterimage Magazine, the New Art Examiner, Washington Review of the Arts, and Arts Ink. Stoddard completed graduate studies at Columbia University and received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ann Stoddard earned a BA in Studio Art from Connecticut College. and completed post-graduate coursework at Ohio University, University of Maryland, Temple University, and Naropa Institute. Stoddard has served as a full-time art faculty at Ohio University, New Jersey City University, Lincoln University, and University of Wisconsin. Stoddard lives and works in Maryland,. and currently teaches art at Prince George’s Community College.  

Artist's Statement

Video Installation Social Sculptures:'who's profiling whom?' Black Angel evokes a "hands up" response to a police order,hoodies calibrated by skin color.ColorBlind reframes the viewer via grey scale/white privilege.Video mandalas invite interaction,empower profiling targets,elevate viewer.SmartSkirt, Hoodie Skirt evokes wired public space,- protective female presence,conceptual art w/collective spirit,-electronics w/low-tech sensibility.Jumping Jack (2 minute workout):video animation evokes a hands-up! response to racial profiling,-Trayvon/-/-.Seeing Things Personal Devices:random juxtapositions replace racial profiling assumptions with doubt- the 'man'could be a boy, the'gun'could be a toy.Seeing Things, Headscarf: quad-screen challenges ethnic stereotyping: Who decides when scarves are fashion?devotion?repression? Sisterhood, Shared Threads:an African-born American dons scarf,ties one on her American friend,honoring the immigrant's expert knowledge,transcending cultural differences.