Ida Applebroog, a key feminist artist in SoHo’s vibrant art scene in the 1970s, has died at 93. The Bronx-born artist’s work, rich with audacious and profound feminist perspectives, spanned over six decades.
Ranging from painting and sculpture to film and photography, Applebroog’s work consistently confronted societal power dynamics—and often, with sharp, dark humor. Her signature pieces on Rhoplex-coated vellum depicted flat and ambiguous domestic scenes, hinting at the communication and power gaps that punctuate everyday life. For Applebroog, originally born Ida Applebaum, gender and power dynamics were inseparable—in her work and her life.
Manuela Wirth, president of Hauser & Wirth, confirmed her death in a statement, commenting, “Ida has been a powerful force within the feminist movement since the 1970s, forging her own unique identity as an artist and woman, mother and wife. Relentless in her capacity for expansive visual experimentation, she interrogated themes of violence and power, human relations, her own body, and domestic space. Her emotionally disruptive and fearless approach to making art has been an inspiration to many generations, intensely personal, honest, and raw.”
Referring to herself as an “image scavenger,” Applebroog transformed scenes from television and fashion magazines with a critical feminist lens. Her approach to art challenged the status quo but also highlighted the underlying structures that perpetuate gender biases. As in her work Galileo Chronology: I’m dying (1975), her pieces often featured headless or physically manipulated people to evoke distressing interactions.
Applebroog joined Hauser & Wirth in 2009. Soon after, her first solo exhibition at the gallery took place, featuring the installation Monalisa (2009), a house made from translucent shingles that depicted disembodied genitalia. In the piece, the home is portrayed as unstable, a place where fragile or intimate experiences are both on display and concealed.
In her later works, such as those in the “Angry Birds of America” series (2019), Applebroog responded to the political climate, capturing the turmoil and violence of the Trump era in the U.S. through images and sculptures of dead birds. Her later work showed unparalleled versatility, testament to her ability to evolve, yet stay rooted in her core themes.
“We are eternally grateful for her humor, wit, and radical introspection, presenting the absurdities of life as it is. Our thoughts are with Ida’s children and her extended family and friends at this time. She will be deeply missed by so many,” Wirth added.
from Artsy News https://ift.tt/NPQdKy5
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