BILL LOWE GALLERY has for a quarter of a century ranked as the south's pre-eminent contemporary gallery. It sanctions a vigorous advocacy of potent primary and alternative voices in art.
Bill Lowe Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by Brenda Stumpf. Her elaborate paintings and sculptures evoke personal associations by way of myth and metaphor. This solo exhibition, titled, "Cavomyrt" (derived from "cave of my heart"), consists of fourteen assemblages that function as nostalgic reliquaries to love, innocence and intimacy. Driven by an astute understanding of materiality, through process, Brenda's work
embodies the poet John Betjeman's description of childhood as am "atmosphere measured out by sounds, smells, and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows."
embodies the poet John Betjeman's description of childhood as am "atmosphere measured out by sounds, smells, and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows."
Composed of antique wallpaper, dresses, objects and toys from the artist's youth, silk flowers, steeped tea bag paper, piano pieces, hand-carved book covers, old reels and even the receiving blanket she shared with her mother, these compositions possess a haunting beauty. Her use of glass and, more predominantly, an acrylic gel medium amplifies the anointed items; they become crystalline and calcified - like the interiors of caves.
Brenda Stumpf was born in Parma, Ohio in 1972 where she studied sculpture at the Columbus College of Art and Design. Her studio now resides in the sanctuary of a deconsecrated church in Pennsylvania. Brenda Stumpf's work is included in over 260 private collections throughout the
United States and abroad.
