Jesse Kahn

Originally trained as a painter and printmaker, Jesse M. Kahn currently employs photography, graphic design, traditional handicrafts, and sculptural techniques to explore Gay male love, intimacy, and sexuality; and concerns over the division between public & private space, freedom of expression, and between personal & national security.

His current work speaks of Queer love and the continuing threat of violence against LGBTQ+ people. 50+ years into the modern Gay rights movement, there is finally an art history and archive to access and reflect on. Much of his work does that through direct reference to artistic forebears, particularly the conceptual work that was produced during the 1980s and 1990s AIDS crisis.

Jesse holds a BA from Earlham College and an MFA from the Art Institute of Boston. He was a 1992 recipient of a Watson fellowship during which he was an assistant curator at the Organisation for Visual Arts in London. He is a founding member of the Boston LGBTQIA Artists Alliance, the East Boston Artists Group, and of the collaborative gallery Atlantic Works.

Most recently Jesse was an Associate Professor at Montserrat College of Art. His research and teaching interests include Gay identity in the history of art, Typography, and Book Arts. He has also taught design & digital photography to urban youth, and guest lectured on art history and Queer craft.