31 Oct 2012

Judy Pfaff at Robischon Gallery, Denver

It is with great pleasure that Robischon Gallery announces its fourth solo exhibition for preeminent American artist Judy Pfaff will be extended through December 29th, 2012. Recognized as a pioneer in American installation art, Pfaff takes command of the gallery by igniting the space with eleven sculptures and thirteen framed assemblages. In this exhibition, Pfaff's new and recent works are predominantly inspired by the unique culture of place – reflecting the artist's travels to India, China, and Japan. Specifically, Pfaff's newest sculptures are titled with reference to the Jataka Tales, a voluminous body of Sanskrit literature recounting the many births of the Buddha in both human and animal form. Internationally recognized as a ground-breaking artist, Pfaff's work has been noted by artist/writer Buzz Spector as, '[having] done more to expand the parameters of site-specific installation than perhaps any other artist of the past thirty years. Her work invites entry into spatial arrays that surround viewers – often in fact, but also, always, metaphorically – in an affect of abundance.' This exhibition exemplifies Pfaff's ceaseless creative imperative and presents an opportunity to intimately view the work of a singular artistic force – ever influential and relentlessly pushing the boundaries.

Judy Pfaff has a BFA from Washington University, St. Louis, MO and an MFA from Yale University along with an honorary doctorate degree from Pratt Institute. She has been the recipient of some of the highest honors in her field including: a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Art Grants, a Guggenheim Fellowship, Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Fellowship, Nancy Graves Foundation Grant, the Dean's Medal from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Southern Graphics Council International Conference Lifetime Achievement Award, and is a member of the American Academy of Art and Letters, NY. In 1998, she was selected as the US representative to the Bienal de Sao Paulo. Her work is in many public collections including: Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Whitney Museum of American Art, Albright-Knox Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Denver Art Museum, High Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Art, Elvehjem Museum, Madison, WI, Sun Hwa Art and Culture Foundation, Seoul, Korea and the Sammlung Ludwig, in Aachen, Germany.

Michael Paglia reviews the exhibition here: www.westword.com/2012-10-18/culture/judy-pfaff-katy-stone-ana-maria-hernando/