Judy Pfaff: A Walk in the Park

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.

Drawing from her memories and extensive repertoire, Pfaff revitalizes three-dimensional components from past works, imbuing them with fresh meaning and energy. In pieces like A Walk in the Park, which lends its name to this exhibition, painted steel structures, originating from industrial origins, engage with expanses of epoxy infused with vibrant pigments. Within these resinous surfaces, a multitude of geometric shapes, both large and small, intertwine with artificial flowers, appearing to exist in a perpetual state of flux as they merge into and emerge from the epoxy with a graceful fluidity. This collection of panels serves as a canvas for a nuanced interplay between the synthetic and the organic, the manufactured and the natural. It presents a tableau where precision and randomness coalesce, challenging viewers to discern the boundaries between the two realms.

For Pfaff, drawing serves as the genesis of her artistic exploration, preceding the sculptural manifestations that follow. Delving into her methodology, Pfaff describes the physicality inherent in her drawings—cut pieces of paper, burnt fragments, and collages—a testament to the tangible nature of her creative expression. Drawing, in Pfaff's practice, acts as both a precursor and a guide, shaping her movements and informing her approach to sculpture. Despite her adeptness in drawing, Pfaff acknowledges the necessity of restraint, recognizing the pitfalls of excessive skill and bravado. Sculpture, with its inherent demands for deliberation and physicality, serves as a counterbalance to the swiftness of drawing, allowing Pfaff to immerse herself in a more contemplative creative process.