Judy Pfaff facts for kids

Judy Pfaff (born 1946) is an American artist famous for her amazing installation art and sculptures. She also creates beautiful paintings and prints. Judy Pfaff has won many important awards for her art. These include a special award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2004. She also received grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her art has been shown in big museums like the Denver Art Museum and the Saint Louis Art Museum. In 2013, she became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. You can find videos about her work on the TV series Art21: Art in the 21st Century.

Early Life and Education

Judy Pfaff was born in London in 1946. She moved to the United States when she was a child. She went to Cass Technical High School in Detroit. Later, she studied art at Washington University in St. Louis and Yale University.

Pfaff is known for working on a very large scale. Her art often takes up a whole room or even a building. She works with a team of assistants. They might spend months or even years creating a single art piece. These large artworks are called installations. They are often taken apart after a show.

Her art studio in New York is full of special tools. It has welding equipment and even a forklift! When she sets up an installation, she brings a truck full of materials. She loves to experiment with different things. One of her permanent artworks, cirque, CIRQUE, is at the Philadelphia Convention Center. It is thought to be the biggest hanging sculpture in the world.

Installation Art: Creating Worlds

In 1975, Judy Pfaff made her first big installation art piece. It was called J.A.S.O.N--J.A.S.O.N. and was shown in New York.

Pfaff says her installations tell stories. These stories are often based on her own life experiences. An art critic named Benjamin Genocchio once said that her work might look messy at first. But if you look closely, you can see a clear order in it.

In 2006, Pfaff's artwork Buckets of Rain was shown in New York. This exhibit was a tribute to her mother and another artist. It showed how Pfaff started to mix painting with her sculptures. She wanted her paintings to look three-dimensional, like sculptures.

Pfaff is very good at making her art expand into space. Her work looks like drawing, painting, and sculpture all at once. She uses many unusual materials. These include paper, burned foil, big tree roots, and even fluorescent lights. She also uses glass drops and many other things. This mix of materials is a key part of her unique style.

Each of Judy Pfaff's installations shows her artistic style. They also share different feelings, no matter their size. Every installation is connected to her own life.

Judy Pfaff always shows how creative she is. She works hard to create art in any space or with any challenge. For example, in her If I Had a Boat installation, she had to work around the building's structure.

Judy Pfaff's installation art has inspired other artists. Some of these artists include Jessica Stockholder and Sarah Sze.

Other Art Forms

Besides her large installations, Judy Pfaff also creates paintings, sculptures, and prints. She has said that prints and drawings are easier to own. Her installations require a lot of space and a whole team to set up.

Pfaff has also designed sets for plays and performances. In 2010, a gallery showed many of her works from different years. A reviewer said that her art showed the spirit of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

Solo Exhibitions and Collections

Judy Pfaff has had over 100 solo art shows. These have been in galleries and museums all over the world. Some major exhibitions were at the Elvehjem Museum of Art in Wisconsin (2002) and the Denver Art Museum (1994). Her art is also part of permanent collections. You can see her work at places like The Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She also represented the United States at a big art show in Brazil in 1998.

Pfaff's art is not just installations. Other famous works include Botanica, a mixed media piece on paper. It is owned by the Orlando Museum of Art. Another work is Imperial Hotel, a print owned by the Tampa Museum of Art.

Awards and Honors

Judy Pfaff has received many important awards and grants. Here are some of them:

• 2014: Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center.
• 2004: MacArthur Fellowship, a very special award for talented people.
• 1984: Bessie Award for her set design for a dance show.
• 1983: Guggenheim Fellowship for sculpture.
• 1986 and 1979: Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
• 2009: Elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
• 2013: Became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Recent Life

Judy Pfaff is currently a professor at Bard College in New York. She is the Richard B. Fisher Professor in the Arts. She also helps lead the studio arts program there. She continues to create new artworks, including installations and prints. Today, she lives and works in Tivoli, NY.

See also

• Inside the Artist's Studio, Princeton Architectural Press, 2015. (ISBN: 978-1-61689-304-0)