Meet Jody Zellen: artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jody Zellen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jody, why did you pursue a creative career?
Making and looking at art was something I grew up doing so it was never really a choice as early on I gravitated to art, studied art in high school and college and have always held art realted positions. I have worked for galleries and museums, do graphic design for artists and also write art reviews. I chose a creative career as I love looking at art, writing about art, making art and helping others get their works out there. 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
While I work in a lot of different media, I would consider myself primarily an artist who embraced digital technologies early on and an innovator in the fields of net art and app art. I also make interactive installation and augmented reality projects. Recently, I had an interactive installation at the Los Angeles International Airport that mapped worldwide employment. It would be even more relevant now, but people can still access it as an iOS app and as a web project (http://www.unemployment.world). Since the beginning of the pandemic I have returned to making net art adding animations and images to a website called Ghost City. The new “avenue” of this work is www.ghostcity.com/avenue-s. I want my art to be seen an appreciated by as many people as possible and it is for that reason I have made public art projects, net art and app art– works that can exist outside the traditional white cube of a gallery space.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
A few years ago my partner Brian Moss and I created a website called What’s on Los Angeles (www.whatsonlosangeles.com). The site lists opening and closing information on a weekly basis for over 200 L.A. art venues. I would create an itinerary that weaved through the different L.A. neighborhoods visiting art spaces– be it a gallery, non profit or museum. We tend to map a route that moves from Santa Monica to downtown each Saturday visiting anywhere between 5 and 30 shows. We love taking friends and visitors to L.A. with us on these weekly art outings.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Brian Moss

Website: http://www.jodyzellen.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jzother/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jzellen
Other: https://www.instagram.com/photonews5/ http://whatsonlosangeles.com/