Ida Applebroog
This will be Ida Applebroog’s first show in London since her exhibition at Riverside Studios in 1990.
It coincides with the exhibition of her paintings (first seen at the Orchard Gallery, Derry and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin) at Cubitt Street Gallery, London from December 1.
Until 1974 Applebroog worked in performance, sculpture and film and this legacy is reflected in the paintings she has made since. Her works are complex orchestrations of five or six pieces that build on the way film is able to intercut unrelated images and actions. A disjointed narrative of disaffection, rejection, humiliation runs through her work, reflecting a virtual breakdown of communication in society. The perception of women is central to Applebroog’s work and she was one of the first to explore painting as a locus for feminist discourse.
There are two series of works on paper in this exhibition. The Blue Drawings are based on well-known fairy tales; these are tales that everyone knows, and exploring their redemptive notions, Applebroog has used their imagery as catalysts for an exploration of childhood and the harsh emergence from innocence. The second series of works are based upon Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol. Arion Press invited Applebroog to collaborate on a special book to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Dickens’ novel. Applebroog’s work is well suited to depict the twists and turns in Dickens’ novel and his portrayal of lives confronted by social inequality and deprivation. Applebroog draws upon the rich imagery of Dickens’ best-known novel and considers his reasons for writing it. Her drawings are not only an interpretation of illustrations made over the last 150 years, but also a personal response to Dickens’ writing which prompts us once again to reflect upon the moral and political climate of our times.
Ida Applebroog was born in 1929 in New York. In 1993 she had one-person shows at the Orchard Gallery, Derry; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin and the Brooklyn Museum, New York. She was also included in the Whitney Biennale in 1993 and 1991, ‘Parallel Visions: Modern Artists and Outsider Art’ at the Los Angeles County Museum in 1992 and ‘Postmodern Prints’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1991. Her work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.