Artist Mary Judge Installs Her Exhibition Studies in Segmented Form
June, 2007
York artist Mary Judge was surrounded by puffs of dust as she quickly and systematically—using only a cartoon, pigment-filled fabric sacks, plastic bags, and some painter’s tape—installed an image directly onto a gallery wall at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in preparation for her exhibition Mary Judge: Studies in Segmented Form. The new exhibition will be on view from June 24 through September 3, 2007.
The exhibition will focus on the relationship between this twenty-nine-foot-long drawing and a large-scale cast concrete sculpture sited in the Museum’s inner courtyard, adjacent to the corridor gallery.
The theatrical installation involved the application of pigment directly onto the wall’s surface, using a technique known as “pouncing.” The drawing is made by attaching a perforated stencil directly to the wall, so it can be pounced with a sack of powdered pigment, so that dust passes through the holes and leaves marks or dots that create an image.
“The version of this technique which I have developed derives from the ‘spolvero’ (meaning dust in Italian) and was used by Renaissance artists to transfer drawings to the wall for fresco painting,” Judge notes. However, she uses this transferal method to create a finished product, rather than a preliminary sketch, bringing an old world technique into a contemporary context.
Aldrich intern Jennifer Cuminale viewed the installation, “The pouncing process lasted a little over an hour, and was a beautiful artistic performance that resulted in an exceptional work of art. Judge’s creation is both delicate and commanding, but sadly not permanent. This contemporary mural will unfortunately disappear as soon as Judge’s Aldrich exhibition is concluded.”
The exhibition will also feature several smaller pieces of sculpture, drawings, and unique prints that enjoy a close formal relationship to one another and the environment.
The Aldrich is one of the few non-collecting contemporary art museums in the United States. Founded on Ridgefield’s historic Main Street in 1964, the Museum enjoys the curatorial independence of an alternative space while maintaining the registrarial and art-handling standards of a national institution. Exhibitions feature work by emerging and mid-career artists, and education programs inform adults and children about the importance of connecting to our world through contemporary art. The Museum is located at 258 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877. For more information call 203.438.4519.
Image: Artist Mary Judge installs at The Aldrich
