Fern T. Apfel
Today when emails are quickly read and deleted, these paper keepsakes survive.
The most important thing to know about my paintings is that they are not collage. Each letter, envelope or stamp is painted with many layers of acrylic paint. All the writing and fine detail work is done with archival pens. I work from real letters and memorabilia that I have gathered over many years and from all over the world.
Most of the letters in my paintings can be read. They come from different decades and locations, but their content is amazingly and endearingly timeless.
These images represent relationships that were maintained across distances and referential dialogues extending through many years. In old letters we find loved ones, parents, old friends, and our old selves.
Space and color are key elements in these minimal compositions as the ephemera transform into abstract shapes. Because each letter has its own story, here, surprisingly, abstraction and narration go together.
Today when emails are quickly read and deleted, these paper keepsakes survive.
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Main Gallery, The Art Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY (Forthcoming, January)
2022 Courthouse Gallery, Lake George, NY (Forthcoming, March)
2016 Word & Image, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY
2011 Studio Wall, The Art Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY
2007 The Book Pictures, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT
2007 Inks & Collages, Café Gallery, Old Chatham, NY
2002 Museum Peace: Reflections on a Collection, Columbia Co. Museum, Kinderhook, NY
2002 Museum Peace: Reflections on a Collection, Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY
2000 Daily Grace, The Shaker Museum & Library, Old Chatham, NY
1999 Daily Grace, Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA
1999 Daily Grace, Westfield State College, Westfield, MA
Two & Three Person Exhibitions
2022 Clement Gallery, Troy, NY (Forthcoming, August)
2021 The Hallway at Second ST Studios, Troy, NY
2020 Pulp Gallery, Holyoke, MA
2019 Upstate Invitational, Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
2019 Beyond Limits, Albany Center Gallery, Albany, NY
2018 Narrative, Concepto Gallery, Hudson, NY
2016 Mohawk Hudson Invitational, Albany Center Gallery, Albany, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 In, On, Of Paper, Presented by Zeuxis, There Space, NY, NY
One in a Year, The Painting Center, NY, NY
2020 Making a Way, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana
Fish & Dish: A Fresh Take on Still Life, Woodstock Art Assoc. & Museum, Woodstock, NY
Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region, Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY
National Juried Exhibition, First Stree Gallery, NY, NY
From the Pages 2, Paradigm Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Nine by Nine, Pulp Gallery, Holyoke, MA
Ear to the Ground, Ely center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2018 Home, Collar Works Gallery, Troy, NY
2017 Undercurrents: The River as Metaphor, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY
2016 Reclamation, Collar Works Gallery, Troy, NY
Recent Acquisitions, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY
2015 The Arkell Museum Juried Art Show, The Arkell Museum, Canajoharie, NY
Give & Take: Decentralization Individual Artist Grant Recipients, Catskill, NY
2014 Worlds of Wonder, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY
Small & Seductive: Contemporary Art from the Institutes Collection, Albany Institute, Alb., NY
2013 Out of Print, Albany Public Library, Albany, NY
2012 TYPO: Artists using the Alphabet as Visual Language, Greene Co. Council, Catskill, NY
2011 Hudson River Contemporary, Boscobel House, Garrison, NY
2010 Eye Rhymes, The Tang Teaching Museum & Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
The Imagined Word, Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
2009 The Collage Show, Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY
2005 Midyear Exhibition, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
2001 Work: Shaker Design & Recent Art ,The Tang Teaching Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY
Recent Acquisitions, Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY
2000 Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region, University of Albany Art Museum, Albany, NY
Bibliography
Art Seen Magazine, The Curator’s Salon, Spring 2022 (Forthcoming)
WMHT/PBS: A house for Arts: February 10, 2021
Fish & Dish: A Fresh take on Still Life, Art Valley: Art & Culture in the Hudson Valley, April 10, 2020
Dispatches: Stories from Four Gallery Destinations: Art on the Outskirts: Western Mass’s Edgy Scene,
Art in New England Magazine, Sept-Oct 2019: The Gallery Issue, p. 42-44
Create Magazine, Spring 2019
Glue Sticks & Growth: Artist & Alumna Fern T. Apfel reflects on inspiration and taking one’s time, TheLittleRebellion.com by Joshua Goberdhan, Dec. 6, 2018
Invitational Show features often challenging work of four gifted artists by William Jaeger, Times Union, Albany, NY, June 2016
Fern Apfel: Painting, type and Ambiguity by Jesse DeGroodt, The Chatham Press, Sept. 2013
Berrry, Ian. Work: Shaker design & Recent Art. Published by The Tang Teaching Museum & Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY, May 6, 1993
Select Awards & Recognition
2020 Best in Show, Fence Select, Ian Berry, The Tang Teaching Museum, Juror
2019 Martha Boschen Award, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
2019 Finalist, The Hopper Prize
2018 Best in Show, The Laffer Gallery
2018 Alumni Jurors Award, State University of NY Jean Shin, Curator
2015 The Hyde Collection Purchase Prize, The Hyde Collection
2014 Albany Center Gallery Award in Honor of Les Orbach, Stephen Westfall, Juror
2010 Best in Show, 14th Annual Juried Show, Columbia Co Council on the Arts, Janet Riker, Juror
2008 First Prize, 12th Annual Juried Show, Columbia Co. Council on the Arts
2005 Clement Greenberg Award, Midyear Exhibition., Butler Institute of American Art
2002 Individual Artists Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts
2000 Juror’s Award, Mohawk Hudson Regional, Xu Bing, Juror
2000 Purchase Prize, University of Albany Art Museum
2000 Purchase Prize, Schenectady Museum
1998 Individual Artist Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts
1998, 1996, 1993, 1992 SOS Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts
1977-1983 Nessa Cohen Memorial Award (2x), Elizabeth Carstairs Merit Scholarship, Board of Control Special Scholarship (2x), Art Students League of NY, NY
Education
The Art Students League of NY, 1977-83
The State University of New York at New Paltz, 1972