A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.
Image of Jan Tichy

Jan Tichy

Professor

Bio

Associate Professor, Photography, Art and Technology (2010). BFA, 2002, Jerusalem School of Photography; MFA, 2007, Bezalel Academy of Arts, Tel Aviv; MFA, 2009, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Exhibitions:  Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Kunsthalle Osnabrueck, Germany; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago; The Broad Museum, Michigan State University. PublicationsArtforum; Art in America; Frieze; Domus. Bibliography: Aesthetics of Terror; Chicago Makes Modern; After Architecture. Collections: Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Magasin 3 Stockholm Kunsthall. AwardsNathan Gottesdiener Foundation; Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Personal Statement

Jan Tichy is a contemporary artist and educator. Working at the intersection of video, sculpture, architecture, and photography, his conceptual work is socially and politically engaged. Born in Prague in 1974, Tichy studied art in Israel before earning his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he is now Assistant Professor at the Department of Photography. Tichy has had solo exhibitions at the MCA Chicago; Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago; CCA Tel Aviv; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; No Longer Empty, NY and Chicago Cultural Center among others. In 2011, he created Project Cabrini Green , a community-based art project that illuminated with spoken word the last high rise building at the Cabrini Green Housing Projects in Chicago during its month long demolition. In 2014 Tichy started to work on a long-term, NEA supported, community project in Gary, IN—the Heat Light Water Project.

image credits: profile photo- Hynek Alt, documentation - Jan Tichy

 

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

This 3 hour reading and discussion class is designed to familiarize students with historical and contemporary philosophy, critical analysis, and contemporary thought relevant to photography and the visual culture. The course's aim is to prepare students for a higher level of discourse in anticipation of either graduate school or life as an artist in the greater realm of the ?art world.? Discussions of contemporary work in this atmosphere are aimed at making clear the connection between theory, research and an artist's practice. Students are expected to do critical readings (generally one essay per week), complete short, informal writing assignments, participate in class discussion, and to engage in theoretical research as part of their own practice.

Class Number

1540

Credits

3

Description

In this course, we'll delve into the intriguing intersection of photography and printmaking, acquiring light and pressure-based printing skills and conceptually integrating them into an art practice that approaches print as a site-responsive medium, sensitive to light, pressure, and context. The introductory section explores the material sensitivity of embossing and frottage, treating them as akin to documentary photography. The second section introduces light sensitivity through cyanotype and gelatin silver processes, engaging directly with objects and surfaces. The final segment employs digital fabrication to create laser-engraved linoleum blocks and printed photogravure plates, enabling relief and intaglio inking techniques and printing processes.
The course will introduce pivotal artists associated with taught printing techniques and their historical context. We'll explore the works of artists such as Anna Atkins and Albrecht Durer, who played significant roles in the development of their respective techniques. We'll also examine figures like Alfred Stieglitz and Robert Overby, who influenced the trajectory of their media, and contemporary artists like William Kentridge and Do Ho Suh, who have reshaped our perception of print. Additionally, we'll read and screen 'Contact: Art and the Pull of Print' by Jennifer Roberts from Harvard, and invite her for an online discussion with our students.
The coursework will adhere to a media and technique-based structure, with the creation of six bodies of work with separate critiques.

Class Number

2200

Credits

3

Description

In this course, we'll delve into the intriguing intersection of photography and printmaking, acquiring light and pressure-based printing skills and conceptually integrating them into an art practice that approaches print as a site-responsive medium, sensitive to light, pressure, and context. The introductory section explores the material sensitivity of embossing and frottage, treating them as akin to documentary photography. The second section introduces light sensitivity through cyanotype and gelatin silver processes, engaging directly with objects and surfaces. The final segment employs digital fabrication to create laser-engraved linoleum blocks and printed photogravure plates, enabling relief and intaglio inking techniques and printing processes.
The course will introduce pivotal artists associated with taught printing techniques and their historical context. We'll explore the works of artists such as Anna Atkins and Albrecht Durer, who played significant roles in the development of their respective techniques. We'll also examine figures like Alfred Stieglitz and Robert Overby, who influenced the trajectory of their media, and contemporary artists like William Kentridge and Do Ho Suh, who have reshaped our perception of print. Additionally, we'll read and screen 'Contact: Art and the Pull of Print' by Jennifer Roberts from Harvard, and invite her for an online discussion with our students.
The coursework will adhere to a media and technique-based structure, with the creation of six bodies of work with separate critiques.

Class Number

2201

Credits

3

Description

This course embraces the concept of projection as a broad field of art practice. Starting with the magic lantern, the course investigates the history of projection related practices that shape the parameters of visual perception and communication. Deconstructing the concept of the screen, the course focuses on projection in sculptural and installation contexts.

Microcontrollers and Adobe software is used in unorthodox ways to shape visual elements for digital light projection. History of visual, technical and conceptual use of light is accessed to investigate the interactions of projections with objects and space.

Class Number

1236

Credits

3

Description

This course embraces the concept of projection as a broad field of art practice. Starting with the magic lantern, the course investigates the history of projection related practices that shape the parameters of visual perception and communication. Deconstructing the concept of the screen, the course focuses on projection in sculptural and installation contexts.

Microcontrollers and Adobe software is used in unorthodox ways to shape visual elements for digital light projection. History of visual, technical and conceptual use of light is accessed to investigate the interactions of projections with objects and space.

Class Number

1824

Credits

3

Description

Public Light and Space examines concepts and develops plans for art projects based on light, space and public interaction. The projects are conceptualized and planned in response to the opportunities afforded by specific locations around the city of Chicago. Particular attention is focused on elements such as digital light projection, controlled light sources, and light-responsive materials.

The course investigates concepts and understandings of public space and the history of art in these spaces. The class offers a critical examination of the active role played by light and its dynamics in selected art movements.

A series of technical workshops builds proficiency to lend support to the development of the final, publicly exhibited project. Visiting artists, critics and Chicagoans assist in refining the project ideas, as they are being chosen and developed.

Class Number

1123

Credits

3

Description

Public Light and Space examines concepts and develops plans for art projects based on light, space and public interaction. The projects are conceptualized and planned in response to the opportunities afforded by specific locations around the city of Chicago. Particular attention is focused on elements such as digital light projection, controlled light sources, and light-responsive materials.

The course investigates concepts and understandings of public space and the history of art in these spaces. The class offers a critical examination of the active role played by light and its dynamics in selected art movements.

A series of technical workshops builds proficiency to lend support to the development of the final, publicly exhibited project. Visiting artists, critics and Chicagoans assist in refining the project ideas, as they are being chosen and developed.

Class Number

1533

Credits

3

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Class Number

1700

Credits

3