Jay DeFeo

American artist Jay DeFeo created diverse paintings, drawings, collages, and photographs presenting a uniquely personal perspective on the artist's surroundings, life story, and philosophical concerns.

Biography of Jay DeFeo

Jay DeFeo was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, spending most of her formative years in the San Francisco Bay Area. She pursued her higher education at the University of California, Berkeley. After completing her master’s degree in 1951, DeFeo received a fellowship and traveled across Europe and North Africa.

During a six-month stay in Florence, she created her initial significant paintings, influenced by Abstract Expressionism and Italian architectural styles, while drawing inspiration from the aesthetics of Asian, African, and prehistoric art.

Upon returning to Northern California in 1953, DeFeo became a central figure in San Francisco's vibrant Beat scene. Her artworks from this period demonstrate a dynamic blend of representational and abstract techniques. In 1959, she held her first major solo exhibition at the Dilexi Gallery in San Francisco, and her work was also showcased in "Sixteen Americans" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

In 1966, DeFeo relocated to Marin County, near San Francisco, and during the 1970s, she started incorporating new techniques and materials, including photography, into her artistic practice. She transitioned from oil to acrylic paints and from canvas to Masonite or plywood panels. DeFeo frequently integrated textured media into her paintings or added collage elements like paper, plastic, or objects onto the surface. The artist described her works from this period as "beings suspended in space and time." Many of them feature unexpected and often ambiguous interpretations of everyday items. Working frequently in extended series, she developed a complex internal network of formal and conceptual references that span multiple projects.  

In 1981, DeFeo moved to Oakland, California, and began teaching painting at Mills College. This marked a return to oil paint, seen in large and smaller canvases, as well as in works on paper. Some of these pieces revisit the imagery of her earlier works, maintaining a distinctive balance of precision and spontaneity.

Jay DeFeo passed away in 1989. Her artwork has been showcased in museum and gallery exhibitions worldwide. In 2012, the Whitney Museum curated "Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective," which later toured to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.