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Sapar Contemporary is delighted to present the work of the late pioneering American fiber artist Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz (1928-2022). The exhibition, curated by Dr. Barbara Stehle, is focused on the artist’s luminous hand-knotted monofilament sculptures from the Cosmic Series, the artist’s final and most iconic series. The Cosmic Series was first presented at the 14th International Biennale of Textiles in Lausanne Switzerland in 1989, and later collected and exhibited by the Art Institute of Chicago and Philadelphia Museum of Art. A few works from earlier periods introduce the evolution of Bobrowicz’s practice that began with studying textiles at The Cranbrook Academy of Art under Marianne Strengell and later with Anni Alberts at the Philadelphia Museum and School of Industrial Art. A remarkable weaver from her very beginnings, Bobrowicz’s final series of hanging knotted monofilament sculptures punctuated with gold leaf, linen, and metal elements stands out for its departure from architectural references. The artist frees herself from the planes of walls and floors, offering her work the power of interacting with open space and light. In these works the artist articulates fully her preoccupation with particle physics and Jungian psychology, her interest in energy fields, constant motion of matter, interaction between matter and light, application of opposing forces and concepts, and order emerging out of chaos.
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"I am concerned with expressing interconnections – interconnectedness and continuum. My work has been combining natural materials with synthetics, relating opposites, randomness and order – dark, light, reflective, opaque, illumination to dematerialization, exploring cosmic energy fields. I have been knotting clear monofilament, a man-made fiber that transmits light, combining it with natural linen, opaque and light absorbent, incorporating gold leaf, reflective and alchemically symbolic – unifying them in a variety of densities, scale, and configurations. Monofilament is a flexible medium – moves with air currents – changes with various lighting, natural, seasonal, and artificial. I am interested in kinetics – dynamic pattern/resultant forms in space-time. " Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz (1928-2022).
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For over 70 years, Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz worked with a wide variety of fibers and metals to author a new kind of art. Bobrowicz belonged to a generation of weavers that changed the perception of the technique and its production. The actors on the textile artistic scene in the second part of the XXth century were still mostly women (Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Olga de Amaral etc…) with a few remarkable exceptions (Jack Lenore Larsen, Ed Rossbach). They pretty much all knew each other, or of each other. They showed their work but struggled to enter museum collections and get the “art” label. But this did not stop the weavers. The field was a territory filled with surprises and inventions. By the early 1970s, their isolation in craft, outside of the art scene, ceased to be. Fibers, knots and weaves entered the vocabulary of process art and the rise of feminism pushed the works forward. Fiber artists contributed some of the most powerful creations of the period. And Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz was one of them.
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By 1980, Bobrowicz needed more than a room to create, she needed her own space. She moved into a luminous loft leaving her heavy looms behind. She started afresh. In her own words she dropped “her earthy creations” to embark on “cosmic ones”. The “Cosmic series” was a major development in her work. It is a brilliant sculptural expression and her philosophical testament. To create the “Cosmic series” the artist used monofilament as her main medium. She had discovered the material in 1980 when in DuPont had sent her samples. Bobrowicz fell in love with the monofilament translucency and strength. She was taken by the way it picked up light and transmit it. She would observe it by her loft windows or under fluorescent light.
Bobrowicz incorporated monofilament in her flat wool compositions, she tied it to linens in more volumetric works, she used it on its own. Yvonne looked to employ it in new ways, free hanging and knotted. In her sculptures, the filament metamorphoses into shimmering manes and cascades. Some were dyed with the colors of the rainbow, manifesting the light spectrum as a palette. Some are dense and bold, some thinner and delicate, they move gently in the breeze and capture light in the most magical manner. The artist conceived these works as evocations of particles and energy fields.
Fascinated by the universal principles of opposition and complementarity, like the yin and the yang, Bobrowicz weaved light to shadows in the “Comic series”. She searched for the union of opposites. She tied synthetics to natural fiber. She used color contrast and looked for expressions of conflicted attractions. The artist composed in layers, varying opacity and transparencies, length and width. She focused on scale, translating ideas of the micro and macro-cosmos and the ever-expanding universe. The works reflect her fascination with Quantum physics, psychology and eastern mysticism. She talked about it in passionate terms and would frequently quote the 1975 Fritjof Capra best seller “The Tao of Physics”.
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About Artist
Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz (1928-2022) was an American fiber artist who explored the interconnections and continuum of natural and synthetic materials, blending opposites like light with dark, and chaos with order. Her seven-decade career began with studying textiles at The Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1947-49 under Marianne Strengell and later with Anni Alberts at the Philadelphia Museum and School of Industrial Art. Early on in her career, she was influenced by the arts and crafts movements, Bauhaus, and contemporary design, designing functional textiles such as upholstery, drapery, and rugs. These early works showcased a mix of materials such as linen, wool, silk, jute, metalized lurex, fiberglass, and plastic. As a founding member of the Philadelphia Crafts Council and a member of the World Craft Council, Bobrowicz gained exposure to global weaving traditions and techniques. Bobrowicz's art, influenced by particle physics and Jungian philosophy, aimed to encapsulate complexity within simplicity. Her sculptures, often integrating monofilament with natural linen and gold leaf, represented dynamic patterns reminiscent of cosmic energy fields. Bobrowicz has exhibited in prestigious venues like the International Textile Biennale in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her works are housed in both private and museum collections such as that of the Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Racine Museum of Art in Wisconsin, and the National Museum of Sweden in Stockholm. In 1996, she received the prestigious Pew Fellowship of the Arts, acknowledging her contributions to bridging craft and art. Bobrowicz continued her creative journey until her passing in 2022 at the age of 94, leaving behind a legacy of innovation and symbolism in contemporary sculpture. -
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About Curator
Barbara Stehle, Ph.D. is an art historian and independent curator. She worked at the Pompidou Center in Paris before moving to the US. Stehle has given a Tedx talk about “Architecture as Human Narrative” and writes about Art, Architecture and Women’s contribution to the art historical field. She is the author of many catalog and monograph essays as well as academic and international press articles. She teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her exhibitions were reviewed in the New York Times and Art Forum amongst other publications.
Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz: The Cosmic Series: Curated by Barbara Stehle, Ph.D.
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