346 - Untitled
April 9, 2018
Judy Pfaff, 346- Untitled, 1968. Oil on aluminum circle
Judy Pfaff- known to be a pioneer of installation art in the 1970s- plays with colors, form and space in her sculptural works. 346 - Untitled was produced at the onset of her relationship with installation art. What could have been a two dimensional aluminum circle installed flat on the wall was instead twisted and bent by Pfaff in order to make a three dimensional shape that invites itself into the viewer’s space. This small object becomes a “painting in space” as it is adorned with colorful oil paints- a distinguished characteristic of Pfaff’s body of work. By taking this approach to her craft, Pfaff hopes to bring her work to life, refusing to colonize it into the tradition of flat and motionless art.
Judy Pfaff was born in London, England in 1946. In 1971, she received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and two years later, her MFA from Yale University. She has been honored with numerous awards, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award in 2004, an Honorary Doctorate from Pratt Institute in New York, and in 1998 she was selected to represent the United States at the São Paulo Bienal. 346 - Untitled was gifted to the Wayne State University Art Collection in 2008 from James Pearson Duffy.
Writen by Danielle Cervera Bidigare