
Judy Pfaff (b. 1946, London) is a New York-based artist whose pioneering, maximal installations of dense materiality and soaring ethereal structure established her a master of contemporary site-specific work. Pfaff has continued to create intricate, expansive installations across the globe, while also working in collage, print, sculpture, and paint to explore and illuminate the infinite geometric considerations of physical space via visual and tactile presentation. Her work was included in the Whitney Biennials of 1975, 1981, and 1987. Pfaff additionally exhibited in the Venice Biennales of 1982 and 1984 and represented the United States in the 1998 Sao Paulo Bienal. Her pieces reside in the permanent collections of MOMA, Whitney Museum of Art, Tate Gallery, Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Detroit Institute of Arts, among others. She is the recipient of many awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center (2014), the MacArthur Foundation Award (2004), and the Guggenhiem Fellowship (1983).
BORN
Born 1946 London, England
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS + INSTALLATIONS
2019
Judy Pfaff. Gaa Gallery, Provincetown, MA, USA
ADAA Art Show NY. Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, USA
Judy Pfaff. Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2018
Judy Pfaff: Prints from the Raga Series. Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO, USA
× × × ÷ ÷ ÷ ☰ + + + , Gaa Gallery, Wellfleet, MA, USA
Judy Pfaff: New Prints, Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, MO, USA
New Prints by Judy Pfaff, Tandem Press Apex Gallery, Madison, WI, USA
Un Universo Di Colori. Andrea Ingenito Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy
Volta NY. Accola Griefen Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2017
Tivoli → Tisbury (A Romance). Messums Wiltshire, Tisbury, England
Project Space: Judy Pfaff. James Barron Art, Kent, CT, USA
Abstract Poetry. Andrea Ingenito Contemporary Art, Capri, Italy
Hearts and Bones. Art100, Manhattan, NY, USA
2016
Turtle. Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH, USA
Drawings Thick and Thin. Wheaton College, Norton, MA, USA.
Grasshopper. CR10, Linlithgo, NY, USA
Somewhere After. Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA
2015
Betwixt: Judy Pfaff 1985-92. Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, USA
“SCENE I: The Garden, Enter Mrs Barnes” in The Order of Things: Mark Dion, Judy Pfaff, Fred Wilson. The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Somewhere Before. York College of Pennsylvania, York, PA, USA
2014
Judy Pfaff. Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY, USA
Run Amok. Loretta Howard Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Second Nature. Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2013
Judy Pfaff: The Art of Flower Arranging. Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA, USA
Judy Pfaff. Susanne Hilberry Gallery, Detroit, MI, USA
Judy Pfaff. University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY, USA
2012
Judy Pfaff. Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO, USA
Judy Pfaff. Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York, NY, USA
Walter Gropius Master Artist Series Presents: Judy Pfaff, A Survey: 1979-2012: Thick and Thin, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia, USA
Judy Pfaff: Recent Work. Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, MO, USA
2011
Judy Pfaff: Twenty Years At Bellas Artes. Bellas Artes Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Judy Pfaff: Year of the Dog. Greenfield Sacks Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Judy Pfaff: Spring of the Print. Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Wetherill-Wilson Gallery, Hollins University, Roanoke, VA, USA
Judy Pfaff. Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA
2010
Judy Pfaff: Tivoli Gardens. Braunstein Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Judy Pfaff: Five Decades. Ameringer McEnery Yohe, New York, NY, USA
Judy Pfaff: I Dwell in Possibility. Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson, WY, USA
Judy Pfaff. David Weinberg Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Judy Pfaff. Reavley Gallery in the Cole Art Center, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, USA
2009
Judy Pfaff: Sculptures. Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI, USA
Judy Pfaff: Constructed Paper. Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Judy Pfaff: Paper. Ameringer Yohe Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
Judy Pfaff: Wild Rose, Installation. Massry Center for the Arts, The College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY, USA
2008
Judy Pfaff: Paperworks, Year of the Dog, Pig, Rat, Etc., Massry Center for the Arts. The College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY, USA
Judy Pfaff Very Recent Work, Bellas Artes. Santa Fe, NM, USA
2007
“. . . all of the above” Installation. Rice University Art Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Judy Pfaff: New Prints and Drawings. Samuel Dorsky Musuem of Art, SUNY New Paltz, NY, USA
2006
“Buckets of Rain” Installation. Ameringer Yohe Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
2005
Judy Pfaff Recent Works on Paper. Lemberg Gallery, Ferndale, M, USA
Judy Pfaff/ Works on Paper. Sears-Peyton Gallery, NY, NY, USA
Judy Pfaff / New Prints. Elena Zang Gallery, Shady (Woodstock), NY, USA
Judy Pfaff: Installations, Prints & Drawings. Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, USA
Regina. Commissioned set design for American Symphony Orchestra, Fisher Center, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA
2004
Judy Pfaff: Installations, Prints & Drawings. Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Judy Pfaff: Recent Work. Bellas Artes Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, USA
“En Restauro” Installation, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Ramp Projects, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Judy Pfaff: Recent Prints and Drawings. Ulster County Community College, Stone Ridge, NY, USA
2003
“Neither Here Nor There” Installation, Ameringer/Yohe Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Judy Pfaff: New Work. Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO, USA
2002
Judy Pfaff: Chapel and Brook. Bellas Artes, Santa Fe, NM, USA
2-D: An Installation of Works on Paper. Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
“The Squares of Savannah” Installation, Contemporary Masters Exhibition Series, curated by Judith Von, Baron Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savanna, GA, USA
2001
The Art of Judy Pfaff, Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Curated by Russell Panczenko, Madison, WI, USA
Photogravures. Flanders Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, USA
2000
New Drawings. Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO, USA
Transforming Traditions. Schneider Museum of Art, Curated by Sanford, Southern Oregon University Ashland, OR, USA
“If I had a Boat” Installation, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Curated by Russell Panczenko, Madison, WI, USA)
New Work. Bellas Artes, Santa Fe, NM, USA
“Notes on Light and Color” Installation, Jaffe Friede & Strauss Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
1999
“Yâ – Wa” Commission for ODS Tower, Portland, OR, USA
Drawings and Prints. Karen McCready Fine Art, New York, NY, USA
New Prints. Susanne Hilberry Gallery, Detroit, M, USA
“Notes on Light and Shadow” Installation in Presage of Passage, Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA
Drawings and Prints. Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO, USA
1998
“Corona de Espinhos” Installation in 1998 Bienal de Sao Paulo, USA Representative, curated by Miranda McClintic, Sao Paulo, Brazil
“Cha” Drawings Installation, Galerie Deux, Tokyo, Japan
Judy Pfaff: Sculpture and Drawings. Bellas Artes, Santa Fe, NM, USA
“Jardin De Los Cuervos” Installation, Bellas Artes, Santa Fe, NM, USA
GRANTS + AWARDS
2017
Francis J. Greenburger Award, Art OMI
Jack Wolgin Annual Visiting Artist Award, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
2015
National Academy Award for Excellence in Sculpture, National Academy Museum and School, New York
2014
Lifetime Achievement Award, International Sculpture Center
2013
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2013 Class of New Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members, field of Visual and Performing Arts
Anonymous Was a Woman, A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, New York, NY
2010
Southern Graphics Council International Conference Lifetime Achievement Award 2010, Mark/Remarque, Philagraphika, Phila., PA
2009
USA Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, New York
Dean’s Medal, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO
2006
Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Fellowship
2004
MacArthur Fellowship
2003
Nancy Graves Foundation Grant
2002
Award of Merit Medal for Sculpture, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York
American Academy of Design, New York
1999
Honorary Doctorate, Pratt Institute. New York
1998
U.S. Representative for the Bienal de Sao Paulo
Distinguished Alumni Award, Washington University, St. Louis
1997
Fellow of the Saint Gaudens Memorial
1986
National Endowment for the Arts, Sculpture
1984
Bessie Award, Set Design for “Wind Devil,” BAM Production by Nina Weiner Dance Company
1983
Guggenheim Fellowship, Sculpture
1979
National Endowment for the Arts, Sculpture
1976
Creative Artist Public Services, Sculpture
EDUCATION
1965 Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
1968 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois
1970 Norfolk Summer School of Music and Art, Norfolk, Connecticut
1971 BFA, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri
1973 MFA, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
1999 Honorary Doctorate, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
SELECTED PUBLIC + PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Seonhwa Art and Culture Foundation, Seoul, Korea
Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Elvehjem Museum, Madison, Wisconsin.
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Jennifer Bartlett
Christo
Agnes Gund
Robert Freidus
Marieluise Hessel
Sol Le Witt
Steve Martin
Randolpho Rocha
James Rosenquist
Norton Simon