|
|
 |
| STATEMENT |
|
|
The mystery and wildness of animals is the inspiration for my work. Plant, animal forms and background shapes interlock creating compositional as well as emotional tension. Often arrangements of repeating shapes can be found in both the positive and negative spaces. Through content and these formal elements I hope to represent the interrelatedness of nature and life.
I identify with the survival instincts of my subjects, and with their vulnerability. In my need for serenity I create a safe place for them. While maintaining respect for the cycles of the natural world, the instinct to keep the wolf away from the door prevails.
|
|
|
| BIOGRAPHY |
|
|
Phyllis Stapler's recent paintings have focused on endangered or extinct species including Tasmanian Tigers, fossas, polar bears and wooly mammoths. Always a champion of the underdog, she places her subjects in a monochromatic negative space to represent a protective force field around them. Albuquerque Tribune reviewer T.D. Mobley Martinez described her painting of a missing dog as "floating in a Dijon nowhere. Using an iconographic imagery and arrangement you might see in Eastern art, this work hints at a range of social and emotional issues from the disposable nature of nature to the yearning to be loved".
Her activism for animal welfare has informed her work with an intensity recognized by curators, reviewers and collectors alike. Upon moving to the Southwest from Georgia in 1996, her work was selected for New American Paintings by Jeffrey Weiss of the National Museum of Art. Michael Klein recently included her work in the upcoming edition of Studio Visit Magazine due out Spring of 2009. Jurors who have selected her work for exhibitions include Lucy Lippard, Hamza Walker, Lisa Sette, Susan Fisher Sterling, Jan Ernst Adlmann and Gwen Chanzit . Terrance Lindall exhibited her work in the Paradise Lost show at the WAH Center in Brooklyn. And her work also traveled to Seoul, Korea in the Circular Exhibit at Hun Gallery in Chelsea in 2008.
She currently resides in the Four Corners region.
|
|
|
| EDUCATION |
|
|
Bachelor of Fine Arts, drawing and painting
University of Georgia, Athens 1977 |
|
|
| REPRESENTATION |
|
|
Ellis Contemporary
Faulkner and Locke |
|
|
| SOLO EXHIBITS |
|
|
Ellis Crane Gallery, Durango, CO, 2005
The Arvada Center, Arvada, CO, “Sheltered”, 2005
Red Canyon Gallery, Durango, CO, 1999/2000
Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX, “Un/Familiar”, 1999
Spirit Square, Charlotte, NC, “Lost Sheep”, 1998
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA, “No More Sacrifices”, 1997
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA, “Animalism: The Nature of the Beast”, 1995
|
|
|
| GROUP EXHIBITS |
|
|
Juried Exhibitions
Hun Gallery, New York, NY, The Circular Exhibition/New York & Seoul, 2008
Ho Gallery, Seoul, Korea, The Circular Exhibition/New York & Seoul, 2008
Juror: Ji hun Lee
Williamsburg Center for the Arts and Humanities, Brooklyn, NY, “Paradise Lost”, 2008
juror:Terrance Lindall
Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins, CO, “Rocky Mountain Biennial”, 2004
juror:Jan Ernst Adlmann
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, CO, Benefit Art Auction, 2002
Albuquerque Museum of Art, NM, “Why Albuquerque? An Inquiry into Art and Place”, 1999
jurors: Dennis High, Lisa Sette, Hamza Walker
LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM, “Women Artists in the Land of Enchantment”, 1999
sponsored by the National Museum of Women in the Arts
jurors: MaLin Wilson, Susan Fisher Sterling, Lucy Lippard
Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO, “Rocky Mountain National Water Media Exhibition”, 1995
Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, AL, “Chiaroscuro: A Contemporary Study of Light and Dark”, 1994
juror: Jane Kessler
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, “Myths: New Form/New Function”, 1994
juror: Jane Kessler
Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum, Lagrange, GA, “Lagrange National XVII”, 1992
juror: Jane Kessler
Invitational Exhibitions
Visions West Gallery, Denver CO, “Political Assets”, 2008
Bridge Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, 2008
Sycamore Place Gallery, Decatur, GA, “Art School Redux”, two artist show, 2007
The Arvada Center, Arvada, CO, curator; Jerry Gilmore, “Dog and Pony Show”, 2006
SCA Gallery, Pomona, CA, “Pleasurework”, 2004
Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, “Stapler, Fromm, Wilson, Kjelgaard”, visiting artist, 2000
Swan Coach House, Atlanta, “Fins, Feathers & Fur: Animal Imagery in Contemporary Southern Art”, 2000
Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, “Undergraduate Alumni Exhibition”, 2000
Galerie Timothy Tew, Atlanta, GA, “Well Bred”, 1999
516 Magnifico Artspace, Albuquerque, NM, 1999
Carriage Works Gallery, Georgia Council for the Arts, Atlanta, “Artists in Residence”, 1994
Center of the Earth Gallery, Charlotte, NC, “5+6”, 1994
|
|
|
| ARTICLES |
|
|
Michael Klein, juror, “Studio Visit Magazine”, Open Studios Press, spring 2009
Jules Masterjohn, “Sympathetic Magic”, The Durango Telegraph, March 15, 2007
Jan Christensen Heller, juror, American Art Collector, Book 2, Volumes 2 & 3, 2006 & 2007
“Start Your Collection”, SW Art Magazine, June, 2005
Bonnie Gangelhoff, “Artists to Watch”, SW Art Magazine, June, 2004
Bonnie Gangelhoff, “Best of the West-Colorado”, SW Art Magazine, September, 2003
Susannah Wilson, “Atlanta’s Abundant Resources”, Art and Antiques, September, 2000
Charlie Langdon, “Mystery World”, The Durango Herald, July 21, 2000, review
David Clemmer, “Community of Creativity”, Santa Fean, May, 2000
T.D. Mobley-Martinez, “A Juried Show that Works”, Albuquerque Tribune, Oct. 1, 1999, review
Kristin Bucher, “Best of the West–Texas”, SW Art Magazine, July, 1999
Jeffrey Weiss, juror, New American Paintings, The Open Studios Press, Book XII, Sept, 1997
Jerry Cullum, “An Exotic Menagerie from Playful Painter”, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 25, 1997, review
Jerry Cullum, “Last Chance”, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 17, 1995
Jane Kessler, “1994 Montgomery Biennial: Chiaroscuro–A Contemporary Study of Light and Dark”, catalog
Tom Patterson, “5+6 Equals an Anniversary Exhibit”, The Charlotte Observer, October 9, 1994, review
Amy Jinkner-Lloyd, “Dream Weaver”, Creative Loafing, January, 1993, review
Catherine Fox, “Enter Dream Land at Emory Gallery”, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 1, 1993, review
|
|
|
| OTHER INFO |
|
|
Selected Collections
Mint Museum
Nations Bank
Candace Olsen
Honors/Professional Activities
Honorable Mention, Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins, CO, 2004
Juror, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, 2004
Best in Show, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO, 2003
Jury’s Choice Award, Albuquerque Museum of Art, 1999
Arts Education Review Board, Georgia Council for the Arts, 1996
Residency, The Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap, GA, 1995
Advisory Board, Arts Festival of Atlanta, 1994-96
Juror’s Merit Award, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN, 1994
Juror’s Merit Award, Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum, Lagrange, GA, 1992
Artist in Residence, Georgia Council for the Arts, Atlanta, GA, 1992-95
|
|
|
|
|
|
