Polly Apfelbaum
'The idea is to make the work rich enough, dense enough, or complex enough so that there is always something unexpected that may come out of that experience.'
Featuring large-scale installations of textiles, ceramics and drawings, the work of Polly Apfelbaum (b.1955, Abington) is framed by wider political contexts and the legacy of post-war American art. Apfelbaum combines a variety of media with eye-catching colours and patterns to blur the lines between painting, sculpture and installation, while also exploring the boundaries between art and handicraft. She chooses materials, such as textiles and ceramics, that are usually found in the domestic realm, and emphasises their essential qualities, especially colour and texture. In this way, Apfelbaum assumes a political and feminist position, challenging hierarchies in cultural practice.
During the 1990s she created what she calls ‘fallen paintings’, works using vibrant hand-dyed fabrics shown on the floor. She described them as ‘poised between painting and sculpture … working promiscuously and improperly’. Deep Purple, Red Shoes III (2015) is a carpet installation composed of strips woven by Oaxacan artisans, in shades of deep red and purple that flow into one another. The nature of the installation invites the viewer to walk upon it. The quality of suppleness that informs Apfelbaum’s work creates ‘a non-rigid formal language, the softness of crushed velvet, the liquidity of fabric. Things piled up, draped, lying on the floor, leaning against the wall. Serial and variable arrangements’.
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Polly Apfelbaum: For the Love of Una Hale
Arcadia University, PA, USA 3 Feb 2022Arcadia Exhibitions, Spruance Gallery 3 February–17 April 2022 Arcadia Exhibitions is pleased to present Polly Apfelbaum: For the Love of Una Hale on view from...Read more -
Words and Images
Online Viewing Room 25 Jan 202225 January–27 February 2022 To mark Shilpa Gupta’s links to language and poetry, exemplified by her large-scale sound installation For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot...Read more -
Polly Apfelbaum: Artist Talk
OnDemand Online Lecture 12 Jan 2022Virtual Clay: 'Pennsylvania Modernism' going home An OnDemand Online Lecture 12 January 2022 Polly Apfelbaum started working with Gregg Moore in August 2020, for an...Read more -
Polly Apfelbaum: Artist Talk
IPCNY, Online 22 Oct 2021Breaking Ground, Part I: Pattern And Print With Polly Apfelbaum And Jean-Paul Russell, Durham Press Friday, October 22, 2021, 12:00pm EST / 5:00pm BST In...Read more
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After the Volcano: A Summer Show of Gallery Artists 3 Jul - 14 Aug 2010 Golden SquareAfter the Volcano: a summer show of gallery artists features work by 14 gallery artists: Massimo Bartolini, John Riddy, Anna Barriball, Dayanita Singh, Dorothy Cross, Bridget Smith, Tacita Dean, Juan...Read more
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Polly Apfelbaum
Love Sculpture 28 Jun - 16 Aug 2007 Golden SquareNew York artist Polly Apfelbaum’s work consists primarily of large-scale installations, which cover vast portions of museum or gallery floors. Described by the artist as 'fallen paintings' these works are...Read more -
Resonance
The Final Exhibition at 59–60 Frith Street 3 Nov - 21 Dec 2006 Soho SquareFrith Street Gallery was established in 1989 with the intention of exhibiting drawings and works on paper. This exhibition recalls the gallery’s origins, bringing together works by gallery artists and...Read more -
Print Run
An Exhibition of Contemporary Prints 13 Jan - 26 Feb 2006 Soho SquarePolly Apfelbaum is known for her floor installations comprised of hundreds of hand-cut and hand-dyed pieces of fabric that explore issues of domesticity, femininity, and decoration. Her series of prints...Read more -
Drawings
5 Apr - 17 May 2001 Soho SquareWall-, floor-, light-based and free-hanging, the drawings in this show defy the status of the drawing as solely a preliminary study and revel in the use of colour – with...Read more