WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Joan Jonas

Joan Jonas

Joan Jonas

Artist

WA-00027774

New York, USA

TextilePerformance ArtNew Media

Representation

None documented

14

Institutional Exhibitions

33

Works in Collection

65

Assets Indexed

1

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ453808 ULAN500058309

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

The Arts for Television

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1989

No image

For 25 Years: Crown Point Press

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987–1988

No image

Selections from the Video Study Collection: 1968�1987

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987

No image

New Work on Paper 3: Spatial Relationships in Video

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985

No image

New Work on Paper 3

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985

No image

A Survey: Artist's TV Lab, WNET/Thirteen

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1984–1985

No image

Video and Ritual

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1984

No image

Video Art: A History

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1983–1984

No image

Performance Video

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1982

No image

Selections From the Art Lending Service

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1981–1982

No image

Projects: Video XV

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1977–1978

No image

Projects: Video IX

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1976

Field Verification (1 fields)

1 cross-verified · 0 single-source

LocationGallery Generic· 72%✓

Source Registry (2)

Gladstonehttps://www.artsy.net/artist/joan-jonas
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2930
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Joan Jonas pioneered video art and performance as primary media in the 1970s, constructing layered narratives that blend ritualistic gesture, found objects, and projected imagery. Working across video, sculpture, and live performance, she treats the body and domestic space as material sites for investigation rather than representation. Her practice emerged from a postwar artistic context that questioned the boundaries between visual art and theater.

Source: Gladstone · Trust score: 100% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Performance Art

Medium

Textile

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (33)

Whale heart drawing

Whale heart drawing

2024 · Pencil on paper

21 1/2 × 14 3/4" (54.6 × 37.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

To Touch Sound

2024 · Three high-definition videos (color, sound; 11:42 min., 9:00 min., and 9:07 min.) and painted wooden structure

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled from Art Against Immigration Ban Letter Portfolio

Untitled from Art Against Immigration Ban Letter Portfolio

2017 · One from a portfolio of nine digital prints

composition: 11 1/4 × 7 13/16" (28.5 × 19.8 cm); sheet: 11 5/8 × 8 1/4" (29.6 × 20.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Mirror Pieces Installation II

Mirror Pieces Installation II

2014 · Super 8 color film transferred to digital video, silent, 3 min. 24 sec. loop; mirrored glass, costumes from performance (cotton twill, polyester, and mirrored glass), wooden hangers, and white nylon cord

Installed: 360 × 172 × 146 cm (141 3/4 × 67 3/4 × 57 1/2 in.); 360.1 × 172.1 × 146.1 cm (141 3/4 × 67 3/4 × 57 1/2 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

2010 · Multimedia installation with four videos (color, sound and silent) projected on custom screens; prefabricated house structure; two benches made by Ed Gavagan; crystal sculpture; two video sculptures with wood, trestles, and video (Under the Glacier [color, sound; 18:33 min.] and Fish [color, silent; 8:51 min.]); fifteen ink drawings on paper; three oil stick drawings on paper; and two china marker wall drawings

Museum of Modern Art

Waltz from Point of View: An Anthology of the Moving Image

Waltz from Point of View: An Anthology of the Moving Image

2003 · Video (color, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

My New Theater I: Tap Dancing

My New Theater I: Tap Dancing

1997 · Video sculpture with painted wood box, wooden trestles, and standard-definition video (color, sound; 4:15 min.), gelatin silver prints, and wooden props

Overall dimensions: 65 1/2 x 20 x 73'' (166.4 x 50.8 x 185.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Volcano Saga

1989 · Video (color, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

Big Market

1984 · Video (color, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

Double Lunar Dogs

Double Lunar Dogs

1984 · Video (color, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

He Saw Her Burning

He Saw Her Burning

1983 · Video (color, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

Script for Upside Down and Backwards

1980 · Paint on glass

Overall: 18 × 18 × 1/4 in. (45.7 × 45.7 × 0.6 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Upsidedown and Backwards

Upsidedown and Backwards

1980 · Video (color, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

Heart from Hurricane Series

Heart from Hurricane Series

1979 · Aquatint

composition and sheet: 23 7/16 × 35 3/8" (59.6 × 89.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Rainbow from Hurricane Series

Rainbow from Hurricane Series

1979 · Aquatint

composition and sheet: 23 3/8 × 35 3/8" (59.3 × 89.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Hurricane from Hurricane Series

Hurricane from Hurricane Series

1979 · Aquatint

composition and sheet: 23 7/16 × 35 7/16" (59.5 × 90 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Reflexion from Hurricane Series

Reflexion from Hurricane Series

1979 · Aquatint

composition and sheet: 23 1/2 × 35 3/8" (59.7 × 89.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Sun from Hurricane Series

Sun from Hurricane Series

1979 · Aquatint

composition and sheet: 23 9/16 × 35 3/8" (59.9 × 89.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Hurricane Series

1979 · Portfolio of five aquatints

composition and sheet (each approx.): 23 7/16 × 35 3/8" (59.6 × 89.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Mirage

1976 · Multimedia installation with six standard-definition videos, props, stages, and fourteen photographs

Dimensions variable

Museum of Modern Art

I Want to Live in the Country (And Other Romances)

I Want to Live in the Country (And Other Romances)

1976 · Video (color, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

Good Night Good Morning

Good Night Good Morning

1976 · Video (black and white, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

Glass Puzzle

1973 · Video (black and white, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

Barking

1973 · Video (black and white, sound)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 33 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

33 published of 62 catalogued · 56 with image

MoMA
29 publishedof 58 catalogued55 img
The Met
2 published
Art Institute Chicago
1 published1 img
Whitney
1 published

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Mirror Pieces Installation II (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Mirror Pieces Installation II (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

7

Movements2

Performance Art New Media

Collections5

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago Whitney Museum of American Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art