Gwendolyn Holbrow
Encyclopedia
Gwendolyn Holbrow is an American artist. Primarily a sculptor, she works in a variety of media and addresses an eclectic array of topics, with exploration of boundaries a recurring theme: between the tangible and intangible worlds; between the genders; between the individual and society. Humor and satire abound in Holbrow’s art.
’s prestigious Annual Flower Show, with The Root-Children, which addressed that year’s show theme, “Deeply Rooted.” She won Best of Show at the Cambridge, MA Art Association’s National Prize Show with Queen Kong, a 7 feet (2.1 m) Barbie
contemplating a
diminutive, apish Ken in her clutches. And Make Way for Calflings, a piece submitted for a citywide exhibition featuring cow-themed pieces from artists across America, earned $50,000 at an auction for Boston’s Jimmy Fund – by far the highest value fetched by any of that project’s many well-received pieces.
Other memorable pieces and exhibitions have included Keep it Clean, a table fountain featuring a nude Ken and Barbie together in a (working) miniature shower; It Was Here, a bronze and concrete “historical marker” that lures the observer into noting the infinite, overlooked value of the present moment; and River of Grass, a living sculpture
at the Chesterwood Estate and Museum in Stockbridge, MA, in which Holbrow transforms a line of tall grass and wildflowers into a stream, waterfall and pool coursing through the estate’s carefully manicured grounds.
in Newtown, PA
, in 1975. She enrolled in the University of Wisconsin–Madison
and earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics in 1980; she studied medicine for a year but found medical studies unfulfilling and left to begin a family. She is a mother of four.
in Madison, WI, but it would be some time before her creative focus turned strongly to art. In 1989, she and her husband moved their family to Frankfurt
, Germany
, and while there, Holbrow did professional graphic-arts work, received classical voice training, and involved herself in the local choral and opera community. During a visit to the Van Gogh Museum
in Amsterdam
in 1998, Holbrow realized Von Gogh's student art was as primitive and problematic, as the paintings on which she was then laboring; perhaps hers held some promise as well. Her serious study of fine art began at this point. Returning to America in 1998, Holbrow earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art in 2001 from Framingham State College
in Massachusetts, and soon after started teaching art herself at the Danforth Museum.
Holbrow’s training reflects her quirky willingness to tackle a vast variety of media, subjects and issues: she lists auto-body training along with more conventional pursuits such as stone carving
on her vitae.
Holbrow says her overarching motivation as an artist is “making people pay attention”: experientially as with It Was Here, or to social/political issues as with her extensive forays into Barbie art, which have won her frequent acclaim. Holbrow’s take on the way Barbie, personifying women in America, is idealized in order to be vilified: “Barbie is our shadow and you have to embrace your shadow.” In her artist’s statement accompanying Speech Balloons, a body of work that seeks to manifest communication
in tangible form, Holbrow wrote: “My task as an artist is to serve as channel between the seen and unseen worlds, facilitating the flow, and creating or revealing connections which nourish the inner lives of individuals and the community.”
Notable exhibitions, installations and awards
Holbrow’s career highlights demonstrate both the restlessness of her vision and her skill at executing her conceptions. She has won a Gold Medal at the Massachusetts Horticultural SocietyMassachusetts Horticultural Society
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest, formally-organized horticultural institution in the United States...
’s prestigious Annual Flower Show, with The Root-Children, which addressed that year’s show theme, “Deeply Rooted.” She won Best of Show at the Cambridge, MA Art Association’s National Prize Show with Queen Kong, a 7 feet (2.1 m) Barbie
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
contemplating a
Other memorable pieces and exhibitions have included Keep it Clean, a table fountain featuring a nude Ken and Barbie together in a (working) miniature shower; It Was Here, a bronze and concrete “historical marker” that lures the observer into noting the infinite, overlooked value of the present moment; and River of Grass, a living sculpture
Living sculpture
Living sculpture is any type of sculpture that is created with living, growing grasses, vines, plants or trees. It can be functional and/or ornamental...
at the Chesterwood Estate and Museum in Stockbridge, MA, in which Holbrow transforms a line of tall grass and wildflowers into a stream, waterfall and pool coursing through the estate’s carefully manicured grounds.
Early life and education
Holbrow was born in New York City. Her physicist father’s professional pursuits kept the family constantly on the move during her childhood, and she attended a large number of schools, public and private, before graduating from the George SchoolGeorge School
George School is a private Quaker boarding and day high school located on a rural campus near Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded at its present site in 1893, and has grown from a single building to over 20 academic, athletic, and residential buildings...
in Newtown, PA
Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Newtown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,248 at the 2010 census. It is located just west of the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is entirely surrounded by Newtown Township, from which...
, in 1975. She enrolled in the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
and earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics in 1980; she studied medicine for a year but found medical studies unfulfilling and left to begin a family. She is a mother of four.
Artistic training, development and philosophy
Holbrow first studied commercial art in the mid-1980s, at the Madison Area Technical CollegeMadison Area Technical College
Madison Area Technical College is a technical and community college headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. It serves parts of 12 counties in south-central Wisconsin: Adams, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Marquette, Richland, Rock, and Sauk...
in Madison, WI, but it would be some time before her creative focus turned strongly to art. In 1989, she and her husband moved their family to Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and while there, Holbrow did professional graphic-arts work, received classical voice training, and involved herself in the local choral and opera community. During a visit to the Van Gogh Museum
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum is an art museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world.-Background:...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1998, Holbrow realized Von Gogh's student art was as primitive and problematic, as the paintings on which she was then laboring; perhaps hers held some promise as well. Her serious study of fine art began at this point. Returning to America in 1998, Holbrow earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art in 2001 from Framingham State College
Framingham State College
Framingham State University is located in Framingham, Massachusetts, from Boston. It offers undergraduate programs in a range of subjects from Art to Biology to Communication Arts, and graduate programs including MBA, MEd, and MSc...
in Massachusetts, and soon after started teaching art herself at the Danforth Museum.
Stone carving
Stone carving is an ancient activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, evidence can be found that even the earliest societies indulged in some form of stone work....
on her vitae.
Holbrow says her overarching motivation as an artist is “making people pay attention”: experientially as with It Was Here, or to social/political issues as with her extensive forays into Barbie art, which have won her frequent acclaim. Holbrow’s take on the way Barbie, personifying women in America, is idealized in order to be vilified: “Barbie is our shadow and you have to embrace your shadow.” In her artist’s statement accompanying Speech Balloons, a body of work that seeks to manifest communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
in tangible form, Holbrow wrote: “My task as an artist is to serve as channel between the seen and unseen worlds, facilitating the flow, and creating or revealing connections which nourish the inner lives of individuals and the community.”
Selected awards and achievements
- "Make Way For Calflings" raises $50,000 at auction for the Jimmy Fund, Boston, 2006
- Artist's Valentine Grant Competition winner for Speech Balloon body of work, Ann Wilson Lloyd, juror, Groton, MA, 2006
- Best of Show for sculpture Queen Kong, Cambridge Art Association National Prize Show, Robert Fitzpatrick, Pritzker Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art - Chicago, juror; Cambridge, MA, 2004
- Gold Medal for special exhibit The Root-Children (Die Wurdelkinder), New England Flower Show, Boston, MA, 2004
- Artist's Valentine Grant Competition winner for Barbie body of work, Nick Capasso, juror, Groton, MA, 2003
- Listed in Who's Who of American Women, 2002-7 editions; Who's Who in America, 2006-2007
- Silver Medal for special exhibit The Queen's Croquet-Grounds, New England Flower Show, Boston, MA, 2002
- Juror's Choice Award for acoustic sculpture Gravity Chimes, Cambridge Art Association SOUND juried show, 2001
- Cheryl di Mento Memorial Art History Essay Award for Louise Bourgeois, Framingham State College, 2001
- Distinguished Artist, Concord Art Association, 2001
- First prize for tabletop fountain Keep It Clean, Concord Art Association Members' Juried Show II, 2000
Articles and reviews
- "Barbie and March Madness," by Julia Spitz, Sculpture, March, 2009
- "Contemporary Sculptors at ChesterwoodChesterwoodChesterwood is a village in Northumberland, in England. It is situated a short distance to the north-west of Haydon Bridge on the North Tyne, west of Hexham.- Governance :Chesterwood is in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham....
2006," by Marty Carlock, Sculpture, April, 2007 - "Artists 3," by Chris Bergeron, Metrowest Daily News, October 8, 2006
- "Exhibitionist," by Geoff Edgers, Boston.com, September 25, 2006
- "Cows Auctioned to boost the Jimmy Fund," Boston Globe, September 22, 2006
- "Screwing with Barbie," by Brita Belli, Fairfield County Weekly, July 13, 2006
- "Barbie as Art," by Candace Taylor, Play, July 12, 2006
- "Plastic Princess," by Donna Doherty, New Haven Register, July 15, 2006
- "Barbie's Bubble Burst?" by Adrienne LaFrance, WBUR.org Visual Arts, January 23, 2006
- "Role Model," by Greg Cook, Boston Phoenix, December 16, 2005
- "Plastic Princess' Barbie has issues in this Exhibit," by Joel Brown, Boston Globe, December 11, 2005
- "Raising The Barbie," by Brigit Alverson, North Shore Sunday, December 4, 2005
- "This Barbie's not for kids," by Rebecca Schoonmaker, Salem News, November 4, 2005
- "Go! Ahead," by June Wulff, Boston Globe, October 17, 2004
- "Anything goes in CAA prize exhibition," by Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, May 28, 2004
- "After top flower show honors..." by Cate Coulacos Prato, Boston Globe, April 4, 2004
- "Barbie artist wins grant," NESA News, Fall, 2002
- "Gwendolyn Holbrow" by Maxine Farkas, Middlesex Beat, November 2002
- "A few provocative 'works' highlight show" by Susan Leveene, Daily free Press, November 14, 2002
- "The pulse of ART" by Chris Bergeron, Metrowest Daily News, October 17, 2002
- "Students Shine at Art Exhibit" by Kate Vlachtchenko, The Gatepost, November 17, 2000
External links
- Artist's official website
- Danforth Museum, where Holbrow has studied, taught and exhibited
- New England Sculptors Association, on whose Board of Directors Holbrow serves
- Saatchi Gallery Online, Holbrow profile
- International Sculpture Center
- Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
- Concord Art Association, Concord, MA