Post War and Contemporary Art

Lot Essay:

Drawings have always had a special place in the art of Judy Pfaff. On some occasions they are integrated into her complex environmental installations, other times they stand alone as independent works of art. The two works here, +’s & -‘s #14, of 2018 and Untitled, of 2020, are very fine examples of her most recent approach to drawing. 

 

+’s & -‘s #14, the earlier of the two, is made up of two sheets of paper that have been mounted side by side. They are flattened folio pages taken from a Chinese book as the calligraphy is visible in numerous places across the surface where it either has not been covered or only thinly covered by the encaustic overdrawing. The drawing itself is composed of a two-tiered brightly colored diamond pattern, which, may have been, consciously or unconsciously, inspired by the formal geometric structure of the calligraphy beneath. The multi-layered encaustic surface is vigorously applied. There is no attempt to stay precisely within bounds, and colors frequently intrude into or overlap with the colors of adjacent shapes.  Clearly, the drawing is not about geometry itself, it is just that geometry has conveniently loaned itself to the artistic composition. The smudges and splatters around the edges of the two folios further attest to the spontaneity and informality of the composition. The artist-designed frame, on the other hand puts the drawing into a more formal context.

The support for Untitled, of 2020 is also a palimpsest. However, only small fragments of the fine handwriting beneath the artist’s encaustic and oil stick drawing are still visible. Although the two principle elements of this horizontal drawing also broadly reflect an orderly geometric inspiration, it is a complex organic geometry deriving from nature.  Two large circles, containing a myriad of smaller intensely colored circles anchor the two sides of the overall composition. Radiating out from each of these centers are symmetrical lines evocative of a geometric flower of life. They are negatively rendered, carved out for emphasis, allowing glimpses of the paper support beneath the encaustic and oil stick. Color energy and definition gradually subside the further the eye wanders from the two circles. The whole, however, has a contained energy that seems to want to expand outward beyond the wooden frame circumscribing the entire composition. The whole is further gentled by the fact that they are floral forms.

 

Russell Panczenko