" Mimicking the tourist town she hails from, Jenks creates her own visual brand of theater of the absurd as “incidents” or interventions in the public domain . . . amusing scenarios and tableaux that engage and entertain.” What's New in the House That Dada Built — S.K. Duff
Debra Jenks is an interdisciplinary artist and writer whose work includes photography, drawing, sculpture, video, performance and ephemeral public projects that meld fictive and autobiographical narratives on class and consumerism. Jenks was born in Niagara Falls, NY, and lives and works in New York City. Her work has been included in exhibitions at Stux Gallery (NYC), White Columns (NYC), The New Museum (NYC), Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY), Hallwalls Center for Contemporary Arts (Buffalo, NY), Ruth Bachnor Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Gallery Lombardi (Austin Texas), Kuf-Mold, A-Locatie Gallery (Rotterdam, the Netherlands).
Her poetry and art reviews have appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, ChelseaNow, Downtown Express, The Villager, Pierogi Press, LiveMag!, CLWNWRS and Maintenant 15 (Three Rooms Press).
She is a recipient of fellowships from Yaddo, The Blue Mountain Center, Montalvo Center for the Arts, The Edward Albee Foundation, and The New York Foundation for the Arts, and has taught at University of Southern California, Alfred University, St. Michael's College, Bloomfield College and New Jersey City University.