The Many Worlds of Esphyr Slobodkina
Sun, Apr 04
|LewAllen Galleries
Russian-born Esphyr Slobodkina (1908-2002) played a central role in the early development of American abstract art, creating modernist geometric works that recall her interests in the architecture and technology of her time. Detail: Untitled (Still Life) • 1969 • oil on canvas • 23.75 x 18.5"
Time & Location
Apr 04, 2021, 10:00 AM – May 01, 2021, 5:00 PM
LewAllen Galleries, 1613 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
About the Event
By the time abstract art had become accepted in the United States, Slobodkina’s art had been championed by Peggy Guggenheim, Alfred Barr, Clement Greenberg, and other figureheads of American modernism. Her lasting legacy, however, covered so much more ground than her early reputation as a trailblazer of American abstraction. She was a relentless 'interdisciplinarian', creating work in a great variety of media - not only of abstract subject matter, but also landscapes and still-lifes.
The Many Worlds of Esphyr Slobodkina goes on view Friday, April 2 and runs through Saturday, May 1, 2021. No reception. The show includes her seminal abstractions as well as examples of her more representational work. On view are examples of her work in collage, painting, large-scale textile, and sculptural assemblage.
Over the course of her six-decade career, Slobodkina channeled her prodigious creativity in crafting imagery that called upon both traditional modes of painting as well as that of modernism and the art of the ‘new.’
"I don't feel a traitor to my chosen art if, in the middle of preparations for an exhibition of abstract paintings, catching sight of an exceptionally attractive bouquet of flowers, I have a strong urge to paint it--I simply go ahead and paint it."
- Esphyr Slobodkina