NIRVANA, Polly Apfelbaum
The Don Russell Clayton Gallery at the Bernard A. Zuckerman Museum of Art presents
NIRVANA, Polly Apfelbaum
August 29 – December 9, 2023
Curated by Cynthia Nourse Thompson
Nirvana features large-scale installations of ceramics, prints, and textiles by artist Polly Apfelbaum. Best known for combining a variety of media with vibrant saturated colors and patterns to obscure the lines between painting, installation, sculpture, and everyday objects, Apfelbaum actively interrogates the boundaries between art, craft, and design. Rainbow Nirvana Houndstooth, a two-panel rug originally created for a group exhibition by the Dior fashion house at the Grand Palais in Paris, exemplifies this best. This work blends the French fashion house's signature houndstooth pattern with the artist’s own palette scheme, creating a monumental work that viewers are invited to directly become part of by standing upon it. In addition to recently created ceramic works, a suite of six woodblock prints titled Hudson River Valley Nirvana continues to play with an expanded spectrum of colors and complements the large-scale rug on view, marking the first time these works have been displayed together.
NIRVANA, Polly Apfelbaum
August 29 – December 9, 2023
Curated by Cynthia Nourse Thompson
Nirvana features large-scale installations of ceramics, prints, and textiles by artist Polly Apfelbaum. Best known for combining a variety of media with vibrant saturated colors and patterns to obscure the lines between painting, installation, sculpture, and everyday objects, Apfelbaum actively interrogates the boundaries between art, craft, and design. Rainbow Nirvana Houndstooth, a two-panel rug originally created for a group exhibition by the Dior fashion house at the Grand Palais in Paris, exemplifies this best. This work blends the French fashion house's signature houndstooth pattern with the artist’s own palette scheme, creating a monumental work that viewers are invited to directly become part of by standing upon it. In addition to recently created ceramic works, a suite of six woodblock prints titled Hudson River Valley Nirvana continues to play with an expanded spectrum of colors and complements the large-scale rug on view, marking the first time these works have been displayed together.
