Sheila Pepe - Mind the Gap
Responding to the architectural idiosyncrasies of the space in which she works, Pepe creates site-specific installations that are a blend of sculptural and graphic elements. The artist entwines materials such as shoelaces or yarn -- in this case, nautical tow-line -- into networks that span the room while allowing for a visitor's comfortable passage. Contrary to what might be thought, it is the systematic precision of her handcraft that makes for a seemingly random accretion of solid forms, the shadows of which contribute to an atmosphere of perceptual play.
Sheila Pepe was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1959, and lives and works in New York. The artist has had recent one-person exhibitions at the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, Florida (2004); the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, California (2003); and The Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro (2002). Her work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions including The Photogenic, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (2002); Verging on Real, Wave Hill, Bronx, New York (2001); and Greater New York, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York (2000). Pepe is represented by Susan Inglett, New York and Bernard Toale, Boston.
An illustrated catalogue will be published by the University Gallery and will be available for purchase during the spring semester. The catalogue will include edited conversations between Ms. Pepe and Judy Pfaff, an artist whose site-specific installation Boa was presented at the University Gallery in 1982 and who was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2004. Gowanus, 2004, nautical tow line and shoelaces, installed at
the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Palm Beach, Florida.
Photo by Jace Kgancarz.
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