Mary Ann Unger : to shape a moon from bone / edited by Horace D. Ballard ; with contributions from Eve Biddle, Zoe Dobuler, and Sarah Montross.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ballard, Horace D., editor.

Biddle, Eve, contributor.

Dobuler, Zoe, contributor.

Montross, Sarah, contributor.

Franks, Pamela, writer of foreword.

Williams College. Museum of Art, host institution.

Class of 1953 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Unger, Mary Ann--Exhibitions.

Unger, Mary Ann.

Sculpture--Exhibitions.

Sculpture.

Genre:

Exhibition catalogs.

Art.

Physical Description:

103 pages : illustrations (some color) (some folded) ; 28 cm

Other Title:

To shape a moon from bone

Place of Publication:

Williamstown, Massachusetts : Williams College Museum of Art, [2022]

Summary:

"Rising to prominence in the downtown New York art scene in the 1980s and 1990s, multidisciplinary artist Mary Ann Unger (1945-1998) was skilled in graphic composition, watercolor, large-scale conceptual sculpture, and environmentally responsive, site-specific interventions. At the time of her death, Unger was a member of the Guerrilla Girls and acknowledged as a feminist pioneer of neo-expressionist sculptural form. Accompanying Unger's first solo museum presentation in the twenty-first century, this publication aims to revive and redirect cultural and scholarly attention on Unger's pioneering and lyrical practice, which was set aside in favor of the cishet male-dominated narrative of postwar American sculpture. Taking the reprinting of Roberta Smith's 1999 obituary for Unger as its starting place, the book's essays provide the artist her first fulsome consideration within the New York art milieu of her day, tracing Unger's life, her studies, and her network of artists and mentors. Following the exposition of Unger's life and practice, an interview with the artist's daughter will position Unger's legacy within the collaborative discourse and activism of a multigenerational family of artists. Two other essays will closely examine Unger's work in the context of contemporary conversations around feminist revisionings of history and modes of cultural appropriation and inspiration in her oeuvre. The catalogue concludes with a bibliography of various texts for further reading, in hope that such a reconsideration gives rise to further scholarly interest in Unger's practice"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Mary Ann Unger : influences and arrangements / Horace D. Ballard

Gathering : a roundtable conversation / Horace D. Ballard, Eve Biddle, and Sarah Montross

The things we carry : Mary Ann Unger's Across the Bering Strait / Zoe Dobuler

Power objects : forms to rival the moon / Horace D. Ballard.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition held at the Williams College Museum of Art, July-December 2022.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1953 Fund.

ISBN:

9781646570263

164657026X

OCLC:

1301270418