The Beard and Weil Galleries are now welcoming pieces from artist Judy Pfaff. “Drawings Thick and Thin” is an installation where the breathtaking variety of Pfaff’s work can be found. The London-born Pfaff has had her work exposed in important art museums and galleries, some of which include The Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA, The Brooklyn Museum, The High Museum of Art and The Detroit Institute of Arts.
Pfaff is most known for her distinctive “installations”—an art genre that takes its essence from the geographical space and location it is set in. Installations are generally three-dimensional, enabling additional perspectives and possibilities.
In Wheaton’s galleries, some of Pfaff’s pieces occupy more space than others. The first installation visitors notice when going into the gallery also happens to be the biggest of them all.
Looking at this first piece and paying attention to the details in Pfaff’s work is as impressive as the effect of space and beauty from afar. Pfaff challenges the uniformity of materials there can be in an art piece with beautiful floral-like installations made of real flowers, along with polished shiny leaves, and wire. In one of the many collages exposed in the gallery, there are pieces of vintage comic book pages, traditional paintings and calligraphy and pieces of different kinds of paper.
An interesting aspect of Pfaff’s work is her use of color. Her artwork resembles that of a chameleon changing color—since how viewers approach the art piece impacts which colors appear.
Pfaff’s work will be available in The Beard and Weil Galleries until Nov. 11. The hours for the gallery are Monday-Saturday 12:30-4:30p.m.