Institute of Contemporary Art Presents Polly Apfelbaum
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, June 10, 2025


Institute of Contemporary Art Presents Polly Apfelbaum



PHILADELPHIA, PA.- The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania presents "Polly Apfelbaum," on view through July 27, 2003. The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania (ICA) is pleased to present the first large museum survey of visual artist Polly Apfelbaum. Polly Apfelbaum creates what she calls "fallen paintings," hybrid works of rare beauty that exist in a contentious, ambivalent space between painting, sculpture, and installation. Often arranged on the floor, spreading around corners in indeterminate shapes, Apfelbaum’s overall forms are comprised of intricate, nearly psychedelic layers of dyed fabric, as if myriad smaller paintings have accreted or grown from a central cluster of shapes and colors.

Apfelbaum is known for her pallete of stunning, eye-popping colors and hues. These works transform the colors of mass culture - of television, saturated magazine ads, bags of Wonder Bread - into wild, oscillating spectra bordering on the organic. Dusk red blobs fan rows of yellow leaves; teardrop shapes of black nudge indigo forms resembling paramecium, single-cells, or algae blooms. One of the most original artists working today, Apfelbaum’s painting pushes past its traditional disciplinary forms, off the wall, and into pop culture. Apfelbaum’s work calls for audiences to think about the pleasure of aesthetic experience - and to experience the pleasure of aesthetics.

This is a comprehensive survey of Apfelbaum’s work and will highlight recent paintings as well as a range of work from 1989 to the present, filling the main galleries on both levels of the ICA exhibition space. Apfelbaum will also design custom wallpaper for the ICA installation. The exhibition, curated by ICA Director Claudia Gould, will be accompanied by a fully illustrated 80-page catalog. It will include an introduction by Gould, as well as an interview between her and the artist, and essays by art historian Irving Sandler and ArtForum Editor Tim Griffin. Following its opening at the ICA, the exhibition will travel to the Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (December 5th, 2003 - February 29th, 2004) and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri (June 4 - September 5, 2004).

Apfelbaum (b. 1955, Abington, Pennsylvania) is a graduate of Tyler School of Art and has had solo exhibitions at Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art NYKY, Helsinki, Finland; and Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine. She currently lives and works in New York.

ICA acknowledges the generous funding support awarded by The Buddy Taub Foundation; the Peter Norton Family Foundation; Altria Group, Inc.; the Artists and Scholars Program of the Pew Fellowships in the Arts, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by the University of the Arts; The Ford Family Foundation; and Stephen B. Klein. ICA is also grateful for the generous support of the members of ICA’s New York Leadership Circle: Christopher J. Carrera Foundation; Ashley & Jason Bernhard; Cecile & Christopher D’Amelio; Karen Finerman; Virginia & David Ford; Glenn R. Fuhrman; James N. Gray Foundation; Katherine Greenberg; Amy Segal & Phillipe Heilberg; K. Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc.; Janedesign, Inc.; Craig Beresin; Anurag Bhargava; Paula & Robert Hoy; Nicole & Michael Kubin; Eric S. Lane; Marc Lisker; Ladd McQuade; Amy & John Phelan; Pamela & Arthur Sanders; The Right Stuff Foundation; Daniel C. Scheffey; Joey & Christopher Schlank; Victoria Voytek & Robert Fogelson; & Candace Worth. Additional support has been provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Dietrich Foundation Inc., the William Penn Foundation, William G. Butler, Chris Mattsson, the Overseers Board for the Institute of Contemporary Art, friends and members of ICA, and the University of Pennsylvania. (Information complete as of 4/2/03.)











Today's News

June 10, 2025

Introducing VENUE: a new digital journal of the Midwest Art History Society

So far, so close: Guadalupe, Mexico, in Spain opens at the Prado Museum

Miller & Milller announces results of 5 days of auctions

Morphy's June 21 Santa Fe Old West auction features Clayton Moore's Lone Ranger mask and Colt Revolvers

Olafur Eliasson, 'Long daylight pavilion' & 'Viewing machine' in Helsinki

Yoshitomo Nara retrospective opens at Hayward Gallery, marking UK solo debut

Major public and private investment secured for the transformation of Tate Liverpool

Exhibition featuring the work of Julia Margaret Cameron on view at The Morgan Library & Museum

Alte Nationalgalerie unveils "Camille Claudel and Bernhard Hoetger: Emancipation from Rodin"

V&A opens Design and Disability exhibition

BAMPFA appoints Chief Development Officer

Ivan Falardi brings "Eyes in Havana" to Cuba: A fresh look at vision

Three iconic Ferrari Daytonas offered exclusively through a sealed bid at RM Sotheby's

Exhibition showcases the vibrant history of Eugene's lesbian community

Tarik Kiswanson, Fatima Moallim, Lisa Tan: 3 somrar/3 summers opens at Lunds konsthall

Museum Angewandte Kunst celebrates 100 Years of The New Frankfurt

Edwin Hale Lincoln's "Wild Flowers" on display at Boston Athenaeum

Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Jonny Briggs

Freudian Typo (Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi): Condensed Word, Displaced Flesh at Delfina Foundation

Ali Cherri's "The Watchers" opens at [mac] Marseille, weaving new narratives with city collections

Deichtorhallen Hamburg presents second Viral Hallucinations symposium

Antonis Donef declares himself "Time's Witness" in new Kalfayan Galleries show

Rachel Jones unveils "Gated Canyons" at Dulwich Picture Gallery, her first UK solo show

Ruby City acquires work by artist Robert Hodge




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor:  Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt
(52 8110667640)

Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful