Judith Stone: Born in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., Judith Stone lived her young life in Great Neck, Long Island, a short drive from New York City. Her parents’ passionate interest in the arts, all the arts – theater, music, dance, and the visual arts – generated weekly trips to Manhattan, where her family took full advantage of the cultural riches available in that vigorous mecca. Intellectually nourished as well by her parents’ laden bookshelves, Stone attended Vassar College, where she earned a Magna cum laude B.A. in French and English literature. She then continued her studies at Harvard University, earning an M.A.T. in French Language and Literature she thought, at the time, would lead to a career in literary criticism and teaching.
However, six years later, increasingly aware of her real bent, the creation of visual images, Stone moved laterally into the visual arts, ultimately dedicating what is now approaching four decades to the studio work that has become the focus of her professional activity. A second Master’s degree, an M.F.A. in Drawing and Printmaking, awarded to the artist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, structured and intensified a lifelong affinity with graphite drawing that remains the core of her oeuvre, now more accurately termed “mixed media work on paper”.
It is noteworthy that, while fully committed to her creative efforts in her studio, Stone by no means abandoned the study of literature that defined both her undergraduate and a portion of her graduate years Frequently straddling academic departments, Stone lectured for 35 years in both American and British literature and art design, and architectural history, on university campuses in Denver, Philadelphia, Burlington, Vermont, and Tokyo.
As eclectic as Stone’s professional vita is her travel experience. She has lived in Paris, Accra, Ghana, and Tokyo, each for one-year periods, and has journeyed thoughout the British Isles, Eastern Europe and Western Europe, Japan, and Israel. Moreover, equally central to the development of her images is her extensive travel in the United States, so that she is familiar with the extent and variety of topographical and cultural environments one can discover in the country of her birth. It is indeed the breadth of observation achieved through travel, enriched by near-obsessive reading, that provides the source material for her work.
Stone’s works on paper figure in public and private collections throughout the United States and Japan, notably, the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, the Museum of the University of New Hampshire, Durham, and the Frederick Harris Studios, Tokyo. She is in-cluded in Marquis Who’s Who in American Art and Marquis Who’s Who in American Women.
WORKS ON PAPER BY JUDITH STONE: A persistent fascination with transitional phases in the life of the built environment inform the greater number of Judith Stone’s works on paper. While early in her career, the artist focussed her efforts on the architectural forms themselves, in recent years, the artist has trained the light on the very machinery that enables construction, or its more dramatic counterpoise, demolition. Stone allows that, while she has not fully plumbed the sources of her romance with construction sites and the machines that ply them, she can assert that the movements of shovels, booms, and backhoes, activity at once reptilian and powerful and delicate and precise, represent in the mechanical world masculine and feminine principles as we understand them in the human world.
A smaller portion of Stone’s oeuvre displays a shift to a central motif at odds with the weight, relative rigidity, and implicit danger of earth moving equipment. Here, she delineates lengths of rope that twist and wind, stretch and loop, and, at times, resolve themselves into knots. At once flexible and tensile, a simple length of rope can hoist heavy objects up, suspend them in midair, and gradually let them down, an impressive feat carried out by what may seem, at a distance, a line in space. Stone perceives the rope as alive with connotation, since, in considering its nature, we can as readily envision the ultimate connector, the umbilical cord, as we can its more threatening incarnation, the noose.
Stone’s primary medium is graphite; her sole point of departure, photography,… always her own. Her black and white drawings, as well as the rendered elements that dominate her mixed media pieces, emerge from photos of sites she’s passed frequently, so frequently, in fact, that their components have been internalized so as to become constants in her mental geography. Further, in terms of technique and compositional format, Stone acknowledges the impact of the exposure she had to Japanese art and design norms during a spent year in Tokyo, teaching, travelling, and working in her Matsubara studio (1986-1987). As to technique, she echoes the fluid quality of Japanese ink (sumi-é) painting in poured graphite washes that loosen the disciplined textures, tones, and edges that have long characterized her drawing. And as to composition, the Japanese predilection for asymmetry and diagonal motion did indeed ratify her own design instincts, as is evident in her current work.
Since 1992, specifically during a MacDowell Colony residency, Stone has been intent on incorporating her photographs directly into the still-foundational rendered surface. In her MacDowell studio, she took a long-pondered, risky leap in burning a hole in a completed drawing and placing behind the resultant “window” a camera image, whole or fragmented. Altered in hue, but not in form and detail, by a tinted, transparent Plexiglas “pane”, the photo offers as second level of visual experience, one reminiscent of a cinematic flashback. Most
recently, tinted, transparent Plexiglas boxes have supplanted the panes. Mounted on the picture plane, with photographs of the American West, Japan, or Israel embedded inside, the boxes confer a sculptural dimension to Stone’s work. More importantly, and critical to an appreciation of the artist’s motives, the photographs refer to the most intense of her memories.
EDUCATION: B.A. Vassar College, Magna cum laude, French major, English minor – M.A.T, Harvard University, French Language and Literature – M.F.A. University of Colorado, Boulder, Printmaking and Drawing
AWARDS & HONORS: Marquis Who’s Who of American Women, 2004 – 2016 – Marquis Who’s Who in American Art, 2005 – 2017, Anniversary Edition 2011 – MacDowell Colony Resident Fellow, 1992
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS: Castleton University Downtown Gallery, See Feelingly: Weigh and Balance, Rutland, VT, 2015 – Caelum Gallery, Constructing Constructions, New York, NY, 2009 – Yester House Galleries, Southern Vermont Art Center, Judith Stone: New Work Manchester, VT, 2007 – Espace 234, Cordes et Noeuds (Ropes and Knots), Montreal, Quebec, 2002 – Caelum Gallery, About Surface, New York, NY, 2001 – Lancaster Museum of Art, Judith Stone: Work on Paper, Lancaster, PA, 1996 – St. Joseph s University Art Gallery, Commemorative Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA, 1996 – Thomas Moser Cabinetmaker, Judith Stone: New Work, Philadelphia, PA, 1989 – Esther Klein Gallery, University City Science Center, Philadelphia, PA, Judith Stone: Work on Paper, 1989 – Hinoki Gallery, Judith Stone: Drawings, Tokyo, Japan, 1987 – Grimaldis Gallery, Judith Stone: Drawings, Baltimore, MD, 1985 – St. Joseph s University Art Gallery, Lift, Drag, Thrust, Philadelphia, PA, 1984 – University City Science Center Gallery, Judith Stone: Work on Paper, Philadelphia, PA, 1981 – Erik Makler Gallery, From Photographs, Philadelphia, PA, 1979
GROUP EXHIBITIONS/INVITATIONALS: Helen Day Art Center, The Traveling Artist, Stowe, VT, 2007 – Thorne Sagendorf Art Gallery, Keene State College, Keene, NH, & Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, MacDowell Colony Centennial Exhibit: In Residence: Artists and the MacDowell Colony Experience, 2007 – West Branch Gallery and Sculpture Park, Three Fridays in May, Stowe, VT, 2007 – New Art Center, Reveal, Newton, MA, 2006 – Yester House Galleries, Southern Vermont Art Center, Art on Campus, Manchester, VT, 2002 – Pennsylvania State University, The Urban Landscape, Harrisburg, PA, 1998 – Nexus Gallery, Concrete Poetry, Philadelphia, PA, 1997 – Philadelphia Museum of Art, John Cage Retrospective, Rolyholyover: A Circus, Philadelphia, PA, 1995 – Goldie Paley Design Center, Drawings: Process and Product, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA, 1985 – Goldie Paley Design Center, Look at Drawings, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA, 1981 – University of Colorado Art Galleries, The Artist and the Master Printer, Boulder, CO, 1979 – Marion Locks Gallery, Looking Forward, Philadelphia, PA, 1980 – Sebastian Moore Gallery, Strains of Realism, Denver, CO, 1979 – University of Colorado Art Galleries, Boulder Cross Section, University of Colorado at Fort Collins, Fort Collins, CO, 1978 – Boulder Fine Arts Center, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman, Boulder, CO, 1978
JURIED EXHIBITIONS: Helen Day Art Center, Vermont Selections, Stowe, VT, 2004 – Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Fin de Siecle, Wilmington, DE, 1997 – San Diego Art Institute, 41st Annual International Exhibition, Grand Prize, San Diego, CA, 1996 – Bianco Gallery, Annual Exhibition, Ed Anderson Award, Buckingham, PA, 1996 – Seneca Falls Gallery, Women’s Art Work six: 100 Women/100 Works, Rochester, NY, 1996 – Main Line Art Center, The Power of Paper, Harold Perilstein Award Haverford, PA, 1995 – SFA Gallery, Stephen F. Austin University, Texas National ’95, Nacogdoches, TX, 1995 – Pennsylvania State Museum, Art of the State, Harrisburg, PA, 1989 – Printmaking East West Exchange, Tientsin, China, 1986 – Allentown Museum, 20th Juried Exhibition, Allentown, PA, 1986 – Arcadia College Art Gallery, Southeast Regional Drawing Competition, Glenside, PA, 1981 – UND Gallery, University of North Dakota 23rd North Dakota Print and Drawing Competition, Grand Forks, ND, 1979 – Boulder Arts Center, Boulder Arts ’79, Boulder, CO, 1979 – Dulin Gallery of Art, Eleventh Dulin National Print and Drawing Competition, Knoxville,TN, 1977 – Arvada Center Gallery, Colorado Women in the Arts, Denver, CO, 1977
COLLECTIONS: Public Collections – The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH – The University of New Hampshire Museum, Durham, NH – The University Science Center, Philadelphia, PA – St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA – Baltimore Gulf and Electric Co., Baltimore, MD – Idaho National Bank, Boise, Idaho – Frederick Harris Design Studios, Tokyo, Japan – Toyoda International Sales, Inc., Tokyo, Japan – Shark’s Ink, Lyons, CO
Private Collections: Michelle Addington, New Haven, CT – Deborah and William Andrews, Portland, ME – Myeko and George Deaux, Tokyo, – Brenda Alvarez and David Farrington, Burlington, VT – Claire and Sydney Kahn, Philadelphia, PA – Eileen and Robert Measley, Philadelphia, PA -Cynthia and Michael O’Connor, Philadelphia, PA – Sheila and John Allen Paulos, Philadelphia, PA – Rachel and Nathaniel Passow, Philadelphia, PA – Chaya and Eli Passow, Jerusalem, Israel – Claire Owen and David Plante, Philadelphia, PA – Maureen Roberts and Jack Ready, Philadelphia, PA – Barbara and Solomon Wank, Lancaster, PA – Estate of Monica Letzring – Estate of Miriam and Randolph Whaley
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS: – The First Berliner Art Book, 2017, Art-Management-Berlin, Berlin, January, 2017 – The Divine Sarah: Seeking Immortality through Film, Per Contra: The International Journal of the Arts, Literature, and Ideas, Spring 2015, Issue 35 – Hindsight/Foresight: Two Art Nouveau Masters Wed Traditional Craft to Industrial Innovation, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal, Vol. 5, Issue 3 – Interview with Miriam Kotzin Per Contra: The International Journal of The Arts, Literature, and Ideas, Winter, 2009 – The Two Cultures: The Literary Moderns Revisited The Forum on Public Policy, The Oxford Round Table, Winter, 2007 – Charlotte Salomon: Life or Theater?, Bulletin of The Center for Holocaust Studies, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Fall, 2001 – Learning to Bow, Bruce Feiler, book review, Philadelphia Inquirer, February, 1992 – Discord in a Japanese Sculpture Garden, Vassar Quarterly, May, 1989 – Part-Time Pathos, Temple University Faculty Herald, December, 1984 – Claire Evans, American Artist, March, 1981
SELECTED REVIEWS: “Eyes Open, Brains On! Victoria Crain”, The Rutland Herald , Castleton Downtown Gallery, Rutland, VT, September, 2015 – “Cordes et Noeuds Espace 234”, Henry Lehmann, The Montreal Gazette, L’Espace 234, Montreal, Québec, June, 2002 – “Three Reign”, Marc Awodey, Seven Days, Flynn Gallery, Burlington VT, March 2001 – “Landscapes Abloom in Steel and Grit”, Daina Savage, Intelligencer Journal, Lanncaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA, May 1996 – “Bianco Gallery Annual Show”, Mary Wesley, Bucks County, Bianco Gallery, Bucks County, PA, October, 1996 – “Judith Stone: Recent Drawings”, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Tom Weiser, Baltimore City Paper, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, September, 1985 – “The Art of Drawing Is Thriving Nicely”, Ed Sozanski, Philadelphia Inquirer, University City Science Center, Philadelphia, PA, May 1983 – “Women’s Exhibition Not Overtly Feminine”, Denver Post, All Colorado Women in the Arts, Denver Civic Center, Denver, CO, May 1979 – “Sebastian Moore Gallery”, Rocky Mountain News, Sebastian Moore Gallery, Denver, CO, April, 1979
LECTURES/CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS: “Promoting Sarah Bernhardt: The Divine Sarah Reconfigured as Art Nouveau Mucha Woman”, Fifth International Conference on the Image, Berlin, 2014 – “Hindsight /Foresight: Two Art Nouveau Masters Wed Traditional Craft to Industrial Innovation”, Fifth International Conference on Design principles and Practices, Rome, 2011 – “Roads to Rome Are Many: The Impact of painting Principle and Practice on Art Nouveau Masters Mackintosh and van de Velde”, Fourth International Conference on Design Principles and Practice, Chicago, 2010 – “The Two Cultures: The Literary Moderns Revisited”, The Oxford Round Table, Oxford, England, 2006 – “See Feelingly: Artists of the Holocaust”, The Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, 2002 – “Ophuls, Losey, and Vichy France”, Legacy of the Holocaust: Its Meaning in Today s World, University of Nebraska, Omaha, 1998 – “Into the Limelight: Women Artists of the Late 19th and 20th Centuries”, (six lectures), University of Vermont, Special Programs, 1998 – “The French Impressionists and The Japanese Print” (four lectures), University of Pennsylvania, – “Within Every Christian: Joseph Losey Mr. Klein”, The International Conference on Despair and Desire, University of West Georgia, Atlanta, 1996 – “Within Every Christian: Joseph Losey Mr. Klein”, Annual Colloquium on Literature and Film: The Fantastic and Related Genres, West Virginia University, Morgantown, 1994 – “Frank Lloyd Wright and the Japanese House”, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, 1992 – “Oedipus Revisited”, The International Conference Myth and Fantasy, University of West Georgia, Atlanta, 1991 – “Joseph Cornell”, The International Conference on Surrealism and the Oneiric Process, University of West Georgia, Atlanta, 1990 – “Ukiyo’s Influence on 19th Century French Art”, Temple University Japan, Tokyo, 1986 – “Five Contemporary Women Artists: Roots and Realities”, Department of Woman Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 1979 – “Singular Women in the Arts: Pre-Feminist Achievement”, All Colorado Women in the Arts, Colorado Women’s College, Denver, 1977
TEACHING EXPERIENCE (SELECTED COURSES)
ART HISTORY – Fall, 1999 – Spring, 2009, Senior Lecturer, Department of Art and Art History, – The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT – Survey of Twentieth Century Art – Nineteenth Century Art History, 1850-1900 – Sculpture in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries – Intersections of Art and Politics in the Twentieth Cetnury – Art Nouveau – Bauhaus – Women Artists in History, 1850-1980 – Art Addressing the Holocaust
ENGLISH LITERATURE: Fall, 1983 – Spring, 1998, Senior Lecturer, Department of English – St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA – British Traditions I: Survey of British literature from Beowulf to Swift – British Traditions II: Survey of British, and American, literature from Hardy to Hemingway – Fall, 1980 – Spring, 1982, Lecturer, Department of English – LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA – English 161 & English 164: Introductory courses presenting a spectrum of canonic British and American fiction writers, poets, and playwrights – Artists and Writers: Study of major creative figures equally at home with visual art making and the written word: Michelangelo, Delacroix, Blake – Spring, 1984 – Spring, 1986, Lecturer – Temple University, Philadelphia, PA – Intellectual Heritage 51: Study of religious and philosophic issues introduced in the Old and New Testaments, Homer, and Plato; their reshaping in work of St. Augustine, Dante, and plays of Shakespeare – Intellectual Heritage 52: Study of revolutionary political theories generated in writings of Locke and Marx; study of upheavals in the natural and physical sciences, religion and psychology sparked by theories of Newton, Darwin, Freud
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