Janene Higgins

New York-based media artist Janene Higgins's work focuses on print, motion design, and video art. She has had a varied career; a former art director for Vanity Fair magazine and RCA Music Group, her video Over Water: Transitive States was presented at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2021, and her projection design for the opera Die Grösste Fuge premiered at the Beethoven festival "BTHVN 2020" in Bonn, Germany.[1]

Higgins' projection design for the set of Port Bou, opera by Elliott Sharp (Jenny Lin on piano; bass/baritone Nicholas Isherwood; and William Schimmel on accordion). Konzerthaus Berlin, 2015. Photo courtesy of the American Academy in Berlin.

Higgins' career began in editorial design, where she held positions at Esquire, Fame, and Working Woman, culminating in three years as a designer for Vanity Fair. As an Art Director for Polygram, she designed the iconic CD cover and soundtrack package for the Larry Clark film KIDS.[2] At RCA Music Group, she oversaw the art direction of over 100 CDs and corresponding marketing collateral. Her work in motion design exists in numerous projects for Marc by Marc Jacobs, Condé Nast Publications, and Saks Fifth Avenue, among many others.[3]

Professional work in the time-based art of motion graphics led to an interest and exploration of video art: single channel pieces, installation, live video performance, and projection design for theater. Higgins has collaborated with many preeminent composers and improvisors of New Music.[4] Her work has been performed and exhibited at the Ruhrtriennale,[5] The New York Video Festival at Lincoln Center; Documenta in Kassel, Germany; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon; City of Women festival, Slovenia;[6] and numerous NYC performance venues such as Roulette,[7] Experimental Intermedia, and Eyebeam Art + Technology Center. Her video and projection design can be seen in the operas Binibon,[8] Port Bou,[9] Filiseti Mekidesi,[10] and Die Grosste Fuge.

Higgins has organized seven events for MOMA PS1’s Clocktower Gallery in Tribeca, NYC. These included “Release”, an evening of solo performances by a sampling of New York’s foremost noise musicians; and “Timebomb”, a four-night series of music, poetry, film/video, and cyberculture. This series was documented in the CD release Timebomb: Live At The Clocktower Gallery issued by PS1 Contemporary Art Center. [11]