Grace Graupe-Pillard: Grace Delving into Art
© Grace Graupe-Pillard, What Is Inside the Greek Vase at the Met?, Terra Cotta Neck Amphora,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
About The Exhibition
I am an artist who has spent a lifetime making art that reconciles the personal with the political. My background as a child of German Jewish refugees who fled persecution from Nazi Germany resulting in the loss of my paternal grandparents as well as seventy relatives, has imprinted upon me an acute awareness of injustice. My antenna is sensitized to those who are not integrated into “mainstream” society, “outsiders” whose lives have been bruised or shaken; those who do not have a steady footing on an ever-shifting ground that no longer is a bedrock of constancy.
I document global genocide and the anguish of innocent civilians caught in a spiral of death and destruction in large-scale “history” paintings. Since 2003, in a world where terrorism, ethnic cleansing and cultural upheaval have dominated the news cycles, I look at the devastating impact of hostilities on the populace correlating the displacement of residents in war-torn countries with a visual dissolution of form fragmenting the picture plane.
Another intense focus is on portraiture conveying the vitality and diversity of 21st century contemporary culture which is rampant with selfies and iPhone photographs depicting the ineffable moments of our lives. This is the intimate breath I wish to capture in my paintings.
Feminism has been important in shaping my artwork and my philosophy of life. Since 1977 my work has dealt with feminist issues beginning with paintings of larger-than-life frontal nudes of men and women of various ages who do not “fit into” the dictates of the “gaze” of the male-dominated art history/museum network. My subjects are not models but friends, neighbors, acquaintances and myself - “everyday people.” I search for the beauty in the mundane choosing people of all ages, genders, and ethnicities - their flesh reflecting life’s imprint - far from the “classical” idealization of the “nude,” but rather “naked”. I wanted the “canon” of art history to include bodies that most folks would be familiar with and recognize as their own.
The recent ongoing series of composite photographs titled Grace Delving into Art uncovers me, a “senior” old enough to be on Medicare, unashamed of my body, long after society has given up on it, interacting/reacting with well-known artworks in galleries and museums all over the world - both Classical and Contemporary. I am naked climbing, riding, lying down beside, or weaving myself into specific artworks from the history of art. By my presence the context and meaning of the original artworks are transformed. I originated this series in 2013 on Facebook as a “virtual”performance project - the concept was intended to be collaborative - the Facebook responses as Suzanne Russell described in the on-line magazine Women’s Voices for Change: “…generated lively discussions on topics such as art history, body image, changing ideals of beauty, feminism…and age discrimination, the role of the artist in society, and even mortality…”
Grace Delving Into Art began when I became a septuagenarian - a period in a woman’s life that many people perceive as the decline of sexuality, humor and brain functioning; all antiquated notions which I defy. My working process involves moving/prancing in front of a video camera - flailing arms depicting anguish, hysteria, joy and contemplation - changing moods - which later become video stills placed into often “tired - old” sculptures that range through art history - giving them a “kick in the butt” and renewed vigor and life.
About Grace Graupe-Pillard
Born in NYC in the 1940’s, a child of Holocaust survivors, I am a painter, public artist, videographer and educator whose work reflects the contemporary world in which I have walked - both virtually and literally. My artwork has been informed by the pathos and struggle of the refugee experience and being a woman artist.
I have exhibited artwork in many venues including: one person shows at Bernice Steinbaum Gallery-NYC, Carl Hammer Gallery-Chicago IL, The Proposition-NYC, Rupert Ravens Contemporary-Newark, NJ, Hal Bromm Gallery-NYC, The Frist Museum-Nashville TN, Moravian College-Bethlehem, PA, etc. I have also participated in group exhibitions at Cheim & Read Gallery-NYC, Project for Empty Space-Newark, NJ, Untitled, NYC-NY, The NJ State Museum, Trenton-NJ, P.S. 1- L.I.C., NY, Bass Museum-Miami Beach Fl, Indianapolis Museum-Ind, The Maier Museum- Lynchburg, Va, The Aldrich Museum-Ridgefield CT., The Drawing Center-NYC, Hebrew Union College Museum-NYC, and The National Academy Museum-NYC.
My photos and videos have been presented at Lars von Trier’s Gesamt, Graf & ZYX, Austria, Warsaw Jewish Film Festival, Art On Paper, Pier 36, NYC, Scope Miami, Scope London, Art Chicago, Art Fem.TV among other venues.
Bibliography includes ArtForum, Art in America, Art News, NY Times, The Star Ledger of NJ, TimeOut NY, Flash Art and on-line - at Yale University Radio WYBC, Huffington Post, Women’s Voices for Change, Vice Creators Project, and Hyperallergic, etc.
Website:
http://gracegraupepillard.neoimages.net