​Jessica   Newman / Selected  Artwork / Biography / Artist  Statement / Past  Exhibitions

Jessica  Newman - Biography

​Jessica Newman's work focuses on urban landscapes. Some of the themes explored in her paintings include gentrification, demolition through neglect, public space and adaptive reuse.
 
Newman is originally from Syracuse, New York, a city with a lot of neglected architecture. Her work concentrates on both her current city of San Diego and various international locations.
 
In her San Diego paintings, she is documenting the changing city, and by extension, the people living there. She researches the carefully-chosen subject buildings, and photographs them at sunset, which is not only the most flattering of all natural light, but also a metaphor for architecture that is about to disappear.
 
Public space and the idea of the “third space” is a theme Newman explores in her paintings of international locations. These paintings explore different locations where people tend to gather in different cities. For example, a café in Paris, a pub in London, a city square in Italy. These paintings will be included in an upcoming book, “Painted Streets,” co-authored by Lawrence Herzog.
 
Acrylic paint on medium-large canvas allows the viewer to enter each painting and gain a sense of place.  Newman’s style is contemporary realism with a focus on pleasing color schemes.
 
Jessica Newman is a professor at the New School of Architecture and Design and the Art Institute of California, San Diego, where she has been teaching for 13 years. She is also an internationally published author. Her textbook, “Perspective and Sketching for Designers” has been published in both English and Chinese.