Patsy Norvell

Patsy Ann Norvell (1942–2013) was a visual artist who worked in sculpture, installation art and public art. She was a pioneering feminist artist active in the Women's movement since 1969. In 1972 she helped found A.I.R. Gallery the first women's cooperative gallery in the United States., Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the U.S. and abroad. She received numerous grants, awards and residencies for her achievements, including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She created permanent public art works for the New York City subway system, designed and created plaza and lobby installations in Los Angeles, CA, New Brunswick, NJ, Bridgeport, CT, and Bethesda, MD.[1][2] Her work has received historical and critical acclaim, and has been written about in books, journals and newspapers including, Art in the Land: A Critical Anthology of Environmental Art, in Sculpture (magazine), the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and numerous other publications.[3][4][5]

Patsy Norvell
Born
Patsy Ann Norvell

1942
Greenville, South Carolina
DiedOctober 12, 2013
Alma materBennington College
Hunter College
Movementfeminist art
Spouse(s)Robert Zakanitch
AwardsNational Endowment for the Arts
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Websitehttps://www.airgallery.org/patsy-norvell

Education

She attended Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, New York and graduated from there in 1960. Novell received a Bachelor of Art in art and mathematics from Bennington College, and a Masters of Art in sculpture from Hunter College.[6]

Involvement in the Women's Movement

Patsy Norvell was a prominent figure in the Women's Movement, actively participating since 1969. Norvell participated in several artist consciousness raising groups aimed at focussing a group of people on a particular topic or issue and then getting that message out to the greater public. Consciousness raising led to strong connectivity and formed community around issues of inequality. She went on to start consciousness groups of her own.[7]

Patsy Norvell exhibited in 13 Women a pioneering women’s show in 1972 in New York City. Later that year (1972) she helped found the A.I.R. Gallery which was the first Women's cooperative gallery in the United States. [8]A.I.R. Gallery is a permanent exhibition space that supports an open exchange of ideas and risk–taking by women artists in order to provide support and visibility. The A.I.R. Gallery continues to maintain a gallery space in Brooklyn and continues to show the work of hundreds of women artist's each year.

Notable Works

Patsy Norvell's early work focussed mainly on the natural world and how she could recapture nature for internal spaces. She worked mainly with painted steel and later with glass and wood.

She also worked with autobiographical references, approached using nontraditional techniques.[9]

Hair Quilt (1973) is a 5' by 8' wall piece made by the clippings of her friends hair and scotch "magic" tape. The hair is arranged in patterns occupying 20 quilted squares.

In 1979 Norvell wanted to further explore her interest in outdoor versus indoor spaces. She used glass as a material the explores volume, limits surface and transparency. In 1979 she created Glass Garden. Glass Garden functions as a greenhouse or pure structure that can be indoors or outdoors.

Her use of glass continued, now employing methods of sandblasting botanical motifs onto it. As she continued to work and become more recognized as an artist she was asked to create several public art installations.Some of which include, an installation at the Beverley and the Courtelyou BMT subway stations in Brooklyn The visual history of this site is seen in the use of an original running square design in the fence and in the sandblasted glass’s images of the ivy that grew over the station house. Bay windows: 10’ x 5’3’’; Arched windows: 4’8’’ x 3’; Stairway windows: 16’5” x 2’3’’ Painted steel fence: Beverley Station site: 66’ x 35’; Cortelyou Station site: 67’ x 20’ Fence height: 9’4’’; End column capitals: 24” x 24’’ x 22’’ [10]

Her other permanent installations include Newsstands in Manhattan, and plaza and lobby installations in Los Angeles, CA; New Brunswick, NJ; Bridgeport, CT; and Bethesda, MD, among others.

Exhibitions

In 1972 her work was exhibited in a pioneering show of women art, 13 Women, that originated in New York City. In 1973, Norvell worked with others to found the A.I.R. Gallery, the first women's cooperative gallery in the United States. She had a retrospective exhibition at the Vassar College Art Gallery, entitled, Patsy Norvell: Ten Years 1969 - 1979.[11] She has shown at the Brooklyn Museum, A.I.R. Gallery (New York, NY), MoMA P.S. 1 (Long Island City, NY), Wallace Art Gallery, SUNY Old Westbury, Hillwood Art Gallery, (Long Island University). During her lifetime, she had thirteen solo exhibitions, and participated in 98 group exhibitions.

Permanent collections

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery[12] Norvell completed seventeen permanent public art installations for the Federal Building & Courthouse in Bridgeport, CT; Rutgers University Nicholas Recital Hall, New Brunswick, NJ; Battery Park City Authority, NYC; Home Savings of America Tower, Los Angeles, CA; East Capital Plaza, St. Paul, MN; Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; Miami International Airport, Miami, FL, among others.[13]

Selected bibliography

1972 Alloway, Lawrence, Art, The Nation, March 27, p. 413. Reviews and Previews: Women Abstractionists, ARTnews, April, pp. 66-67. Alloway, Lawrence, Art, The Nation, October 9, p. 316. Schwartz, Barbara, Letter from New York, Craft Horizons, December, p. 61. New York Women Artists, University Art Gallery, SUNY, Albany, NY, catalog, introduction by Lawrence Alloway.
1973 Nemser, Cindy, An Interview with Members of A.l.R., Arts Magazine, Dec—Jan, pp. 58-59. Tucker, Marcia, Bypassing the Gallery System, Ms Magazine, February, pp. 33-35. Smith, Roberta, Open Air, Arts Magazine, February, p. 78. Perreault, John, Art, The Village Voice, March 1, p. 24. Levin, Kim, Reviews and Previews: Patsy Norvell, ARTnews, March. p. 78. Stitelman, Paul, "Reviews," Arts Magazine, April, p. 73. Weatherford, Elizabeth, Crafts for Art's Sake, Ms Magazine, May, pp. 28-32. Marein, Shirley, Exhibitions, Craft Horizons, June, p. 50. Of Paper, The Village Voice, July 19, centerfold. Halasz, Piri, A Daring Paper-Art Exhibit, The New York Times (New Jersey ed), Aug. 26, p. 78.
1974 Perreault, John, Women's Group, Village Voice, Jan. 24. Dallier, Aline, Les Feminist Art aux U.S.A., Opus International/ 50, May. Kelly, James J., The Sculptural Idea, 2nd edition, Burgess Publishing Co., pp. 50, 52. Dallier, Aline, Le Soft Art et Les Femmes, Opus International 52, September. Painting and Sculpture Today, 1974, Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Taft Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, catalog.
1975 Ratcliff, Carter, On Contemporary Primitivism, Artforum, November, pp. 57-65. Perreault, John, Don't Fence Me In, SoHo Weekly News, December 25, p. 16. Abstraction Alive and Well, Art Gallery, SUNY, Potsdam, NY. Catalog essay by Anthony Boyle.
1976 Ratcliff, Carter, Reviews. NY, Artforum, March, pp. 61 –62. Robins, Corinne, '"Patsy Norvell," Arts Magazine, May, p 14, 1976. Alloway, Lawrence, Women's Art in the 70's, Art in America, May—June, pp. 64-72. Perreault, John, Report Card: P.S.1 I Love You, SoHo Weekly News, June 17, p. 26. Foote, Nancy, The Apotheosis of a Crummy Space. Artforum, October, pp. 28-37. Rooms, P S 1, The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Queens, NY. Catalog.
1977 Shirey, David, The Special Beauties of Wood, The New York Times (Long Island edition), May 22, p. 22. Preston, Malcolm, Art/But Only God Can . . . , Newsday, June 11, p. 28A. Perreault, John, "Outside the City: Lumber in the Woods, SoHo Weekly News, July 21, p. 25. Wood, Nassau County Museum of Fine Arts, Roslyn, NY. Catalog by Jean E. Feinberg
1978 Glueck, Grace, Greater Soho-Spring Guide to Downtown Art World, The New York Times, March 31, p. CJ2. Senie, Harriet, Art View: Taking the City to Art, The New York Post, June 10, p. 19. Frank, Peter, To Be Young, Gifted and Avant Garde: IV, Village Voice, July 31, p. 62. Larson, Kay, "City Site-Works, Desert Digs," Village Voice, August 28, p. 124. Olejarz, Harold, Contemporary Sculpture, Arts Magazine, September, p. 19. A.I.R. Overview. 1972-77, an exhibition in two parts, P.S.1, The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Queens,NY. catalog, with essay by Corrine Robins.
1979 Lubell, Ellen, Art, Naturally, SoHo Weekly News, January 11, p. 38. Perreault, John, Sculpture Garden Treasure Hunt, SoHo Weekly News, June 14, p. 25. Glueck, Grace, New Sculpture Under the Sun from Staten Island to the Bronx, The New York Times, August 3, C15. Gutman, Thea, Patsy Norvell. Arts Magazine, November, p. 8. Patsy Norvell, Ten Years 1969-1979, Vassar College, Barrett House, Poughkeepsie, NY. Catalog introduction by Linda Nochlin, essay by Jean E. Feinberg.
1980 Perreault, John, The Greenhouse Effect, SoHo Weekly News, April 9, pp. 3, 23. Rickey, Carrie, Of Crystal Palaces and Glass Houses," Village Voice, April 14, p. 77. Heit, Janet, Patsy Norvell, Arts Magazine, June, p. 23. Glueck, Grace, Redefining the Whole Relationship, ARTnews, October. Larson, Kay, For the First Time . . ., ARTnews, October.
1981 Perreault, John, Usable Art, Portfolio Magazine, July–August, p. 60. Rogers, Patsy, The Romantic Return of the Gazebo, The Washington Star, August 2. Brukbar, Konst, Modern Museum Review, Sweden, John Perreault, trans. Tuna Warn.
1982 Raynor, Vivian, Art: Zabriskie Offers a Sculptural Twin Bill, The New York Times, January 29. Glueck, Grace, The Screen Comes Into Its Own," The New York Times, September 19, H27, Previews, Portfolio, Vol. IV, No. 6, November/December. Glueck, Grace, Patsy Norvell and Robert Zakanitch, The New York Times, Nov. 19, p. C25.
1984 "The Folding Image", the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC and the Yale University Art Gallery, catalog with essays by Michael Komanec, and Virginia Fabbri Butera. "The Folding Image at the National Gallery," Antiques and the Arts Weekly, February 24. Allen, Jane Addams, "Screens: Symbols of Luxurious Lifestyles," The Washington Times, Washington, DC. March 9. Zimmer, William, "At Yale, an Exhibition of Modern Screen," The New York Times, CT Edition, Sun, Dec 16. "Reflections: New Conceptions of Nature", Hillwood Art Gallery, LIU, C.W. Post Campus. Catalog with essay by Judy K. Collescham Van Wagner
1985 Temi, Christine, "Jungle Fever," The Boston Globe, September 26. "Workshop Experiments: Clay, Paper, Fabric, Glass", The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. Catalog essay by Susan Taylor. "Contemporary Screens," The Art Museum Association of America. Catalog, essay by Virginia Fabbri Butera.
1988 "Artist Has a Blast with Tower Panels," Los Angeles Times, Sunday, July 3. Brown, Patricia Leigh, "A Streamlined Design for City Newsstands," The New York Times, Thursday, Sept 8. "Earthly Delights: Garden Imagery in Contemporary Art, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Catalog, essay by Anna C. Noll.
1989 DeWolf, Evelyn, "Home Savings Tower Sits Atop Transit Stop," L.A. Times, Sunday, January 22, Real Estate Section. Whiteson, Leon, "Home," L.A. Times, March 19, p. 1, 17. 1992 Pierson, John, "Form and Function," The Wall Street Journal, August 31. Steier, Richard, "Extra! Newsstands Getting Classy New Look," The New York Times, September 1. Tumposky, Ellen, "Extra! Extra! Newest Thing in Newsstands Due Here in '93," The Daily News, September 1. Louie, Ellen, "All The Prints In Newsstands That Fit," The New York Times, September 10.
1994 Broude and Garrard, "The Power of Feminist Art," Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
1998 Dunlap, David W., "Next Stop, Murals; Change Here for Uptown Sculpture," The New York Times, Weekend, Fine Arts and Leisure, May 1.
2006 Bloodsworth, Sandra, Along the Way MTA: Arts for Transit, Monacelli Press, Inc. New York, NY Cotter, Holland, My City: Remembrance of Downtown Past, Weekend Arts, NY Times, Friday September 1, E21 & E26, cover image: Norvell, "New York Ripple": E21

References
  1. New York City Subway. "Artwork: Garden Stops (Patsy Norvell)". nycsubway.org. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  2. New York Metro Transit Authority. "Beverley Road and Cortelyou Road: PATSY NOVEL, Garden Stops, 1994-1996". MTA Art & Design. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  3. Boettger, Suzanne. "Excavating Land Art by Women in the 1970s: Discoveries and Oversights". 27 (9). Retrieved 26 December 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Sonfist, Alan (1983). Art in the Land: A Critical Anthology of Environmental Art. NY: E.P. Dutton. ISBN 978-0525477020. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  5. "Artist Has a Blast with Tower Panels". The Los Angeles Times. July 3, 1988. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  6. Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. "Patsy Norvell". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  7. "Brooklyn Museum: Patsy Norvell". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  8. "A.I.R." A.I.R. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  9. Heller, Jules; Heller, Nancy G. (2013-12-19). North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-63882-5.
  10. "Brooklyn Museum: Patsy Norvell". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  11. "Patricia (Patsy) Norvell". Recording Conceptual Art. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  12. Smithsonian American Art Museum. "Patsy Norvell". Search Collections. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  13. Brooklyn Museum. "Artist CV (via Brooklyn Museum)" (PDF). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
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