A Walk in the Park: Judy Pfaff
When I work, I circumambulate everything. I avoid the question, and then, at the end, I have to figure out what it is, and finish it. When I start a new piece, I find that everything starts off where I left off before. I begin again. The work gathers relationships, and I realize I have advanced. I understand the materials better and make better decisions. It’s wonderful to watch what you know. You don’t know what you are going to do. But, you start from what you do know, and it evolves from there.
— Judy Pfaff, "Beer with a Painter: Judy Pfaff" by Jennifer Samet for Hyperallergic (2020)
For over four decades, Judy Pfaff has boldly defied categorization, dynamically shaping space with her distinctive vision. Her artistic journey has forged a path that now subtly infiltrates the ethos of the Post-Modern avant-garde. Since her emergence in the early 1970s, Pfaff has cultivated a narrative vocabulary that skillfully navigates the convergence of reality and abstraction within immersive, three-dimensional environments. Johnson Lowe Gallery proudly presents A Walk in the Park, an exhibition showcasing Judy Pfaff's groundbreaking work for the first time with the gallery.
Celebrated as a pioneer of installation art, Pfaff's practice integrates painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture to create expansive, spatial compositions. Her artistic evolution is characterized by an unconventional exploration of materials and a seamless transition between dimensions. Pfaff's monumental creations transcend conventional boundaries, inviting viewers into site-specific worlds infused with vibrant energy and evocative imagery. Uniting works from her recent institutional showcase, Picking up the Pieces at the Sarasota Museum of Art, and other recent works, this exhibition at Johnson Lowe Gallery features several large-scale works of installation and sculpture adorned with dynamic colors, LED and neon lights, and a collage of found objects and paintings.
This homage to nature exudes a jubilant celebration of flowers, foliage, and illumination, embodied within a collection of mixed-media works. It reflects Pfaff's enduring reverence for organic forms and the intricate, scientific complexity of the natural world. Employing a diverse array of materials including melted plastics, flowing insulation foam, resins, dried leaves, twisted tree branches, metals, artificial flowers, and delicately crafted paper lanterns, Pfaff orchestrates a mesmerizing narrative of objects and collages. Together, they construct an ethereal, enigmatic environment rich with allusions to the cyclical rhythms and elemental substances found in nature's tapestry.
