Jenny Wu, Magically Found $768,000,000,000, 2022

Jenny Wu constructs her paintings through a complex process that involves pouring thick coats of latex paint onto a glass surface, one color at a time, and waiting for each layer to dry before moving on to the next. The dried paint is then cut to reveal the layers of color in the cross-sections, which are then assembled on a flat surface. The organization of each piece follows a specific pattern that utilizes the subtle imperfections and differences in each cross-section. Wu titles her works with phrases pulled from tweets, headlines, and other forms of mainstream media. Magically Found $768,000,000,000, whose title is derived from a tweet by Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, references the 768 billion dollars allocated by the United States in 2021 for national defense programs. The full tweet reads: "Magically found $768,000,000,000 for a defense budget, but the same folks can't fully fund the $45-$60 billion needed to remove lead service lines in our country." Wu’s painting invites both close looking at the surface’s sculptural materiality and a productive dialogue about the United States’ controversial priorities.

Jenny Wu (b. 1989) is a sculptural painter and educator, currently an assistant professor in studio art at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Wu was born in Nanjing, China. She holds a B.A. in Studio Art and Architectural Studies from William Smith College and an M.F.A. in Studio Art from American University. Wu has evolved her artist craft through multiple fellowships, grants, and artist-in-residence programs, including those at the Pollock Krasner Foundation (2012), the Vermont Studio Center (2013, 2014), the Torpedo Factory Art Center (2015), the Touchstone Foundation Artist Fellowship (2018–2021), and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellowship Grant (2021, 2022). Wu has been exhibited multiple times, including at Denise Bibro Fine Art (2010, New York, U.S.A.), the Katzen Museum (2014, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.), the Vilnius Academy of Art (2015, Vilnius, Lithuania), the Reed Museum (2018, 2019, Tennessee, U.S.A.), the CICA Museum (2019, Gueonggi-do, South Korea), and the Huntington Museum of Art (2021, California, U.S.A.).