Polly ApfelbaumSampling a Sampler Sampling
Museum Exhibition
St. John´s College / Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum
Annapolis, MD
USA
19 Jan – 21 Apr 2024
This exhibition consists of a single artwork created by the artist onsite from fabric remnants and samples she purchased in Manhattan’s Garment District. It asks such questions as, “What is painting?” “What is order?” “What is originality?” and finally, “What do we look down on?” A critique of judgment is at the core of New York-based artist Polly Apfelbaum’s work, which comprises textiles, and, as of late, ceramics. At /m, she is creating a new installation of unaltered, commercially produced fabrics laid out in a grid on the floor. The installation is an evolution of her well-known “fallen paintings,” which are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Experiencing “Sampling a Sampler Sampling,” we are forced to look down, literally, on artwork that encompasses design, craft, and traditional women’s work. Any superiority one feels, however, is quickly undermined when we realize that the single artwork, light as it is, asserts a claim to the entire gallery while we, the viewers, stand with our backs against the wall. The installation poses several questions, among them, “What is order?” “What is originality?” “What are the bases of our judgments?” and “What do we look down on?”
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Photo
- Tony J Photography
- Courtesy of Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum, Annapolis, MD;
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