Jenny Olsen is a Boston-based painter working primarily in oil. She earned her MFA in 2D Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2022.
Jenny has received several notable awards, including the Saint Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award and Grant (2022), the Mass MoCA MassArt Alum Fellowship (2022), and “Best in Show” at the CAA National Prize Show (2015).
Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Recent highlights include a solo show at the Southern Vermont Arts Center (2024) and a four-person exhibition at LaiSun Keane Gallery (2024). Upcoming exhibitions include a solo show at the St. Botolph Club in Boston and a group exhibition at LaiSun Keane Gallery, both in 2025.
Jenny's work explores themes of parallel time and overlapping places. Recurring motifs in her paintings include birthday cakes, books, bathtubs, toes, shoes, and ghosts.
Exhibition Statement:
"Coming, Going, and In Between", St. Botolph Club (May 2025)
Hellos and goodbyes, arrivals and departures - moments of coming and going, where the presence lingers even after someone leaves. The theme began with my painting, “See You Soon,” which captures the moment of two friends parting by car after a visit. The works in this exhibition explore not only the act of coming and going, but also the closeness formed through visiting, staying overnight, and the longing to meet my great-grandfather, whom I never had the chance to know in person.
Jenny has received several notable awards, including the Saint Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award and Grant (2022), the Mass MoCA MassArt Alum Fellowship (2022), and “Best in Show” at the CAA National Prize Show (2015).
Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Recent highlights include a solo show at the Southern Vermont Arts Center (2024) and a four-person exhibition at LaiSun Keane Gallery (2024). Upcoming exhibitions include a solo show at the St. Botolph Club in Boston and a group exhibition at LaiSun Keane Gallery, both in 2025.
Jenny's work explores themes of parallel time and overlapping places. Recurring motifs in her paintings include birthday cakes, books, bathtubs, toes, shoes, and ghosts.
Exhibition Statement:
"Coming, Going, and In Between", St. Botolph Club (May 2025)
Hellos and goodbyes, arrivals and departures - moments of coming and going, where the presence lingers even after someone leaves. The theme began with my painting, “See You Soon,” which captures the moment of two friends parting by car after a visit. The works in this exhibition explore not only the act of coming and going, but also the closeness formed through visiting, staying overnight, and the longing to meet my great-grandfather, whom I never had the chance to know in person.
