Fagua at Night, The Rotweilers Tied, 2006 120” x 144” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery The Same Moon / La Misma Luna, 2008 38” x 65” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Kathryn and Dan Mikesell
DIRECTOR'S FOREWORD We are often hesitant to describe works of art as “beautiful” or to consider aesthetic response as significant to their success. When I first saw Nancy Friedemann’s large complex paintings, on the wall of Bernice Steinbaum’s office in Miami, my immediate reaction was “how beautiful” and I could imagine a series of them dominating one of our galleries at The Frost Art Museum, and inspiring the same response from our very diverse audience, especially students of painting. At that time, I did not know that she came from Colombia and that many of the patterns were based on memories of her family’s lace and embroidery patterns. I did recognize “women’s work” in the very best of terms, and certain references to the colonial paintings with which I have long been familiar. Now I have an even better understanding of why she paints and what she paints, and I am even more appreciative that she agreed to prepare this exhibition.
Nancy Friedemann
Decimos, 2007 77” x 144” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
Opposite: Fagua at Night, The Rotweilers Tied, 2006, 120” x 144”Enamel on Mylar. Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
Carol Damian Director and Chief Curator The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum
What Comes After May - October 2009
Design: Catalina Jaramillo thecatalina@gmail.com The Frost Art Museum receives ongoing support from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida Department of State, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts; the Steven & Dorothea Green Endowment; Funding Arts Network; Dade Community Foundation; CitiPrivate Bank; The Miami Herald; Target; and the Members & Friends of The Frost Art Museum. This exhibition is funded in part by The Fountainhead Residency.
Smithsonian Institution Affiliations Program
WHAT COMES AFTER Nancy Friedemann’s work confronts and at the same time embraces. Its monumental quality inspires respect, but at the same its dream-like quality suggests more intimate emotions. After all, there is nothing more romantic than a flower or a full moon. Her large scale paintings on Mylar, depicting delicate floral motifs, are inspired by lace represented in colonial painting and the Pattern and Decoration Movement from the 1970s. By making works in which subtle lines are drawn over large size surfaces as if they were stitched or sewn, she fulfills a need for repetitiveness and automatism. As she explains, “for me, it is equivalent to the actual act of lacework and crochet. Set against a black background my enamel paintings acquire a shimmering and seductive play of baroque 1 brush gestures set against a minimalist background.” Her work is closely related to her memories and to Colombia, her country of birth. It recalls the illustrations of the Royal Botanic Expedition, as well as the embroidery and the lace made by female relatives, particularly her grandmother, not only as an intimate activity, but also as a form of resistance to patriarchal authority. Memory, sensitivity, and beauty play a fundamental role in her paintings. Their origin is quite intimate, yet she chooses to represent them in a monumental way. Her purpose is to elevate feminine art to the same level as works produced by male artists. Friedemann plays a subtle game. She makes gigantic works but depicts themes that are feminine and decorative, generally discriminated against in contemporary art. Large black spaces influenced by Francisco de Zurbarán, among others, serve as large backgrounds to stuffed masses of white lines, baroque thread labyrinths, and vines decorated with floating flowers and insects, native to the Sabana de Bogotá. Passion flowers, roses from industrial crops or farm gardens, mosquitoes, and small ants, levitate in an environment that seems at times obscure, gloomy, and ghostly.
Painting flowers is risky but she continues to do so, re-contextualizing them in a minimal space and representing them with a detailed and “folky” technique. According to the 2 artist, “it is important to analyze the gestures of the drawing.” She recommends that viewers let go of predispositions and archetypes in order to be hypnotized and attain a stage of suspension. Friedemann’s works must be interpreted according to the context in which they are shown. Their significance varies if they are displayed in New York, Bogota, Miami, Madrid, or Hong Kong. Her paintings are full of contrasts and ambivalences, inspired in part by the artist’s dual Colombian/American nationality. It is necessary for her to establish a bridge between the two cultures that form her identity, and she knows many of the details she represents are sometimes lost in translation. That is probably why she occasionally paints universal landscapes without flowers or other biographical references, as in The Same Moon, to remind us that in the end, the lace, the pattern, the manual aspect of her art, and the incredible quality of her drawing mark the true essence of her work. Those delicate white threads, drawn over the immense deep black backgrounds, are the ones that inspire us to remember our own histories, to dream of our own loves, or to wake up horrified by our own nightmares. Francine Birbragher April, 2009 1. Artist statement, Fall, 2008. 2. Interview with the artist, April, 2009.
Nancy Friedemann What Comes After
The Same Moon / La Misma Luna, 2008 38” x 65” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Kathryn and Dan Mikesell Fagua at Night, The Rotweilers Tied, 2006 120” x 144” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery Decimos, 2007 77” x 144” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
WHAT COMES AFTER Nancy Friedemann’s work confronts and at the same time embraces. Its monumental quality inspires respect, but at the same its dream-like quality suggests more intimate emotions. After all, there is nothing more romantic than a flower or a full moon. Her large scale paintings on Mylar, depicting delicate floral motifs, are inspired by lace represented in colonial painting and the Pattern and Decoration Movement from the 1970s. By making works in which subtle lines are drawn over large size surfaces as if they were stitched or sewn, she fulfills a need for repetitiveness and automatism. As she explains, “for me, it is equivalent to the actual act of lacework and crochet. Set against a black background my enamel paintings acquire a shimmering and seductive play of baroque 1 brush gestures set against a minimalist background.” Her work is closely related to her memories and to Colombia, her country of birth. It recalls the illustrations of the Royal Botanic Expedition, as well as the embroidery and the lace made by female relatives, particularly her grandmother, not only as an intimate activity, but also as a form of resistance to patriarchal authority. Memory, sensitivity, and beauty play a fundamental role in her paintings. Their origin is quite intimate, yet she chooses to represent them in a monumental way. Her purpose is to elevate feminine art to the same level as works produced by male artists. Friedemann plays a subtle game. She makes gigantic works but depicts themes that are feminine and decorative, generally discriminated against in contemporary art. Large black spaces influenced by Francisco de Zurbarán, among others, serve as large backgrounds to stuffed masses of white lines, baroque thread labyrinths, and vines decorated with floating flowers and insects, native to the Sabana de Bogotá. Passion flowers, roses from industrial crops or farm gardens, mosquitoes, and small ants, levitate in an environment that seems at times obscure, gloomy, and ghostly.
Painting flowers is risky but she continues to do so, re-contextualizing them in a minimal space and representing them with a detailed and “folky” technique. According to the 2 artist, “it is important to analyze the gestures of the drawing.” She recommends that viewers let go of predispositions and archetypes in order to be hypnotized and attain a stage of suspension. Friedemann’s works must be interpreted according to the context in which they are shown. Their significance varies if they are displayed in New York, Bogota, Miami, Madrid, or Hong Kong. Her paintings are full of contrasts and ambivalences, inspired in part by the artist’s dual Colombian/American nationality. It is necessary for her to establish a bridge between the two cultures that form her identity, and she knows many of the details she represents are sometimes lost in translation. That is probably why she occasionally paints universal landscapes without flowers or other biographical references, as in The Same Moon, to remind us that in the end, the lace, the pattern, the manual aspect of her art, and the incredible quality of her drawing mark the true essence of her work. Those delicate white threads, drawn over the immense deep black backgrounds, are the ones that inspire us to remember our own histories, to dream of our own loves, or to wake up horrified by our own nightmares. Francine Birbragher April, 2009 1. Artist statement, Fall, 2008. 2. Interview with the artist, April, 2009.
The Same Moon / La Misma Luna, 2008 38” x 65” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Kathryn and Dan Mikesell Fagua at Night, The Rotweilers Tied, 2006 120” x 144” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery Decimos, 2007 77” x 144” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
Decimos, 2007 77” x 144” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery Fagua at Night, The Rotweilers Tied, 2006 120” x 144” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery The Same Moon / La Misma Luna, 2008 38” x 65” Enamel on Mylar Courtesy of Kathryn and Dan Mikesell
DIRECTOR'S FOREWORD We are often hesitant to describe works of art as “beautiful” or to consider aesthetic response as significant to their success. When I first saw Nancy Friedemann’s large complex paintings, on the wall of Bernice Steinbaum’s office in Miami, my immediate reaction was “how beautiful” and I could imagine a series of them dominating one of our galleries at The Frost Art Museum, and inspiring the same response from our very diverse audience, especially students of painting. At that time, I did not know that she came from Colombia and that many of the patterns were based on memories of her family’s lace and embroidery patterns. I did recognize “women’s work” in the very best of terms, and certain references to the colonial paintings with which I have long been familiar. Now I have an even better understanding of why she paints and what she paints, and I am even more appreciative that she agreed to prepare this exhibition. Carol Damian Director and Chief Curator The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum Design: Catalina Jaramillo thecatalina@gmail.com The Frost Art Museum receives ongoing support from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida Department of State, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts; the Steven & Dorothea Green Endowment; Funding Arts Network; Dade Community Foundation; CitiPrivate Bank; The Miami Herald; Target; and the Members & Friends of The Frost Art Museum. This exhibition is funded in part by The Fountainhead Residency.
Smithsonian Institution Affiliations Program
Opposite: Fagua at Night, The Rotweilers Tied, 2006, 120” x 144”Enamel on Mylar. Courtesy of Bernice Steinbaum Gallery
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST