From melted plastics to acrylic paint on paper from old Indian ledgers, Judy Pfaff’s use of traditional and non-traditional art materials continues to set her exuberantly colored new assemblages apart. Now on view at Miles McEnery Gallery, her new riotous new creations are dominated by circular and organic forms. Part of a series of pieces title ‘Quartet,’ they find harmony in difference. (On view through March 9th in Chelsea).
Known for abstract art crafted with a superabundance of non-art materials, Judy Pfaff outdoes herself in two solo shows at Chelsea’s Pavel Zoubok Gallery and Loretta Howard Gallery. Here, she uses paper lanterns, honeycombed paper and expandable foam in a floor-to-ceiling artwork that suggests explosive force, high temperatures, decay and fossilization. (This piece included in Pavel Zoubok’s installation, both shows through Nov 15th).
Judy Pfaff, Belle Starr/Blue Duck, paper, pigmented expanded foam, acrylic, resin and honeycomb, 118 x 132 x 24 inches, 2014.
Judy Pfaff’s new sculptures, on view at Chelsea’s Ameringer McEnery Yohe Gallery, channel Lynda Benglis’s neon colors and puffy forms, Louise Bourgeois’ or Yayoi Kusama’s profusion of phallic protrusions, and the commanding presence of a more recent wall-mounted Frank Stella. Yet the profusion of optical seduction is typical Pfaff, as seen in pieces like ‘The Path to the Center was Clearly Marked’ (2012), an over 7ft wide tour de force created from honeycomb cardboard, pigmented expanded form, melted plastics, fluorescent and incandescent light. (Through November 10th.)
