The artist and curator Jenni Crain died on 16 December, aged 30, from "sudden complications related to Covid-19". The news was announced yesterday on Instagram by Gordon Robichaux gallery, which represents Crain.
A true art world multi-hyphenate, Crain was not only on the roster of Gordon Robichaux, but worked there too, both as a dealer and an organiser of exhibitions. On Instagram, the gallery describes her as a curator whose pursuits involved the "championing of women, particularly those who made important contributions to the development and legacies of feminism", including Tee A. Corrine and March Avery.
Crain devised exhibitions at Charim Schleifmühlgasse in Vienna and the Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College in upstate New York, where she received her masters degree in curatorial studies earlier this year.
Her own art practice included sleek, modular wood sculptures, and canvas paintings made from cooled wax and pastel, spread in a manner to resemble cement. These aesthetically spare works broached questions around the relationship between art, and by extention the body, to the architecture and interior space in which it is placed.
Two exhibitions of Crain's work will open in New York in 2022: a sculptural installation at Kerry Schuss Gallery (29 January- 6 February) and a solo show at the Gordon Robichaux in May.
Earlier this year, Crain was appointed director at the New York gallery Miguel Abreu. She previously served as a director at kaufmann repetto gallery in New York and from 2014-2016 ran the seasonal gallery Topless in Rockaway Beach, New York.
Crain attended Art Basel in Miami Beach earlier this month, where she was working with Miguel Abreu gallery.
A memorial service will take place in the coming months.