Pat Alexander

1. Meander, artist-cast abaca on wood and fiberglass, 114” H x various, still image from a performance with the Peabody Dance, 2008.

2. Meander, detail.

3. The Web Instructs the Spider, artist-cast abaca on wood and fiberglass, window installation, H 96” x W 54”, 2008.

4. The Web Instructs the Spider, detail.

5. Chrysalis, artist-cast abaca and mixed-media, 96” H x various, 2007.

In my artist-cast paper installations, I strive to create a dialogue about how we look at art, how much time we spend with it, and where should it be displayed. My recent works have included Meander, a collaboration with choreographer Carol Bartlett and the Peabody Dance, performed at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and The Web Instructs the Spider, which was installed for my sabbatical show at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Both works, created in 2008, were fabricated from artist-cast abaca on wood and fiberglass.

In Meander, the paper, attached to modular screens and wooden frames, turned into “walls”. As the dance performance progressed, dancers pushed, pulled and opened the walls to create a variety of compositional configurations. The paper was designed to respond to light in a variety of ways: when lit from the front, the cast relief was emphasized as an opaque surface. When lit from the rear, the walls turned translucent, allowing for shadow projections of the dancers.

The Web Instructs the Spider was installed in a large exterior window. In daylight, the paper appeared opaque. At night, the paper, lit from behind, was translucent and transformed; organic objects cast into the paper were made visible. Thus, the work appeared radically different in day and night to pedestrians outside.

PAT ALEXANDER
13 W. Mulberry St., Baltimore, MD, 21201 410-385-0946

pja13@msn.com patalexanderart.com

Selected Installations:

Baltimore Museum of Art, installation, artist-cast abaca on wood and fiberglass Exhibitions for Meander, a performance in collaboration with choreographer Carol Bartlett and the Peabody Dance, May 29, 2008.

Montpelier Cultural Art Center, Laurel, Maryland, “Of Paper”, Installation, “Chrysalis”, H: 96” x W various, 2007.

Jim Bachus Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland, “Maryland State Award Artists”, 2006.

Maryland Art Place, “Collaboration as a Medium”, 2006.

Edison Place Gallery, Washington, D.C., “Collaboration as a Medium”, 2005.

Brown Center, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Luminous Walls, Leidy Atrium installation, artist-cast abaca mounted on wood, H: 114” W Various, 2005.

Falvey Auditorium, the Brown Center, MICA, performance of Scaling the Walls, an expanded and reconfigured cast-paper installation for a multi-media collaboration during Blurred Edges, the American Independent Colleges of Art and Design 2004 conference on the interdisciplinary, November 4.

Bevier Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, 2004, the
Delaware Center of Contemporary Art, Wilmington, 2003, and Evergreen House, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 2003, “Conversations”.

Aichi Perfectual Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan, Drawing, Keisho Art
Association, 2002, 2000, 1999.

Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, installation, artist-cast abaca mounted on wood, H: 112” x W various for the collaboration Scaling the Walls with choreographer Joyce Morgenroth and writer/musician Ann McCutchan, December 4-6, 2001.

The Governor’s Exhibition of Maryland Artists, Maryland Statehouse, Annapolis, 1998.

Federal Reserve Gallery, Federal Reserve, Washington D.C. Installation,
Door to the Secret, 100”h x 106 x 30”d, 1998.

Artscape ‘97, Baltimore, Maryland, Fifteen Years of Baltimore Art.

V. A. Nishiogi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, Solo Exhibit, 1995.

Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Installation, Looking for Eden
1994. 120”h x 300” x 72”w, mixed-media including artist-cast abaca, slide projections.

University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, “After 300 Years", national
juried show, installation, Garden of Clay, 1990.
Washington Square, Washington, D.C., Door to the Secret. Installation,1989.

Maryland State Arts Council, Artists on Mulberry, 1987.

Billboards commissioned for two locations, Baltimore, the Mayor's Advisory
Committee on Art and Culture, 1984.

Museum of the Southern Alleghenies, Pennsylvania, Baltimore Currents, 1983.

Baltimore Museum of Art, Biennial, James Melchort, Juror, 1979.

Baltimore Museum of Art, The Baltimore Mural Project, 1978.

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, Solo Exhibition, 1975.

 

Selected Awards:

Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist’s Grant, 2009, 2005.

Pouch Cove Artist Residency, Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, Canada 2007, 2000.

Jentel Artist Residency Fellowship, Piney Creek, Wyoming, 2006.

Alfred and Trafford Klots Residency Fellowship, Rochefort-en-Terre, France, 2005.

Fundacion Valparaiso Residency Fellowship, Mojacar, Spain, 2003

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Resident Fellowship, 1999,1997, 1991.

Faculty Enrichment Grant, The Maryland Institute College of Art, 2009, 2006, 2002, ‘99, 1997-95.

The Hambidge Center Resident Fellowship, Georgia, 1995, 1993, 1991.

The Atlantic Center for the Arts Resident Fellowship, Florida, 1994.

NEA Regional Visual Arts Fellowship, 1989.

CityArts Individual Artist's Grant, 1989. 1986.

Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation Artist's Residency Grant, 1988.

 

Selected Public Art:

Design for Linda Weiner Memorial Plaza, Bethesda, Maryland, 2005.

Design for Wall Relief, Silver Spring Crossing Plaza, Silver Spring, Maryland, 1995.

Wall Relief, Salisbury District Court/Multi-Service Center, I% for Art, Maryland, 1990-92, Natural Order, 22'6" h x 14'6"w x 2'6"d.

Mosaic paving, Druid Park Swimming Pool, 1% for Art, Baltimore, 1987-89.
Oasis, mosaic tile descending from the steps to the interior of the pool, 75’w x 40'l.

Mosaic Installation, Baltimore Metro: Lexington Market Station, commissioned by the Maryland Mass Transit Administration 1981-83. Geometro, ceramic tile mounted on both sides of 8 beams (44' w x 3'3"h) viewed from the mezzanine above and the track level below.

Selected Bibliography:

“City Paper”, “Highlights”, “Peabody Dance Spring Showcase”, illustration

“Hand Papermaking”, Volume 18, Number 2, Winter, 2003. Scaling the Walls, Integrating Paper Sculpture with Music, Dance and Spoken Word, co-author: Ann McCutchan.

Visual Artists Fellowship Archive, National Museum of American Art,
NEA & Web Sites, 1996.

Keisho Art Association, Takayama, Japan, slide lecture on my work, 1991.

"Images, Objects and Ideas", Barry Nemett, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich publishers, 1991, p 92, illustration.

"New Art Examiner", Summer, 1990. "Artist's Forum: Public Art, Public Artists", with Krzysztof Wodiczko, Buster Simpson, Don Harvey, Grant Kester, moderator.

"The Baltimore Sun", April 13, 1990, "Maryland Live", p. 18, review, Illustration.

WBAL-TV Baltimore, Channel 11, 6 PM News, "Geometro" illustrated in opening credits, 1985-1986.

"Baltimore Magazine", June 1985, "The Magnificent Decade", p. 120.

"Performance Profiles", Cable TV 4, Baltimore County, "Geometro"
documentation and interview, 1984.

"Progressive Architecture", December, 1983, "Baltimore Metro, p. 24,
illustration.

"The Baltimore Sun Magazine", November 20,1983, "Tunnel Visions",
p. 15, illustration.

"U.S. News and World Report", September 5, 1983,” America's Mass
Transit", p. 53, illustration.

"The Washington Post", October 3O, l983, p. B1, "... Ist Subway Section", illustration.

"Art News", October, 1982, "Baltimore Renaissance", p. 97.