Judy Rifka

In the vibrant world of fashion and art, some moments stand out as game-changers. One such groundbreaking moment occurred in August 1983 when Anna Wintour, the iconic editor-in-chief of Vogue, made waves by bringing together the realms of art and fashion in a remarkable feature for New York Magazine.

These two works were created in the early 80s and are part of an installation called “The Wall”. The installation was made up of separate elements. Each of these experimented with visual illusion or serve as a dictionary of the artist’s terms. Figurative motifs working in symbiosis with the formal subject.

These three works from 1994 are part of the “Animal Spirits”-Series and they reveal a certain reference to formalism. At a closer look the fact that there works aren’t an actual painting is revealed: there are collage-like pieces of linen that have been glued on linen, like painting that dispenses with actual painting.

As a contrast to the heavy use of acrylic paint and textile collages in numerous of Judy Rifka’s works, Debris Boys #2 and Modern Dance are two examples with thinly applied oil on linen. Rifka is going away from depicting her subjects with only thick, black lines. The outlines stay but in mixture with bright colors.

These paintings from the beginning of the 80s are like a fingerprint of a tumultuous time in New York and they are also skillful and incredible precise studies of perspective, spatial depth and of repetitive, dynamic Forms.

Throughout the exhibition the diversity of Rifka’s works from different periods of her career mesmerizes the viewer. The final series shown in her retrospective stand in many regards for a unique artistic exploration. The two works Pyramid 1 and Pyramid 2 from 1983 belong to the few paintings from Rifka’s oeuvre depicting a specific place. The thick outlines of the pyramids are set in front of a blue and white background. The colors themselves act like three dimensional elements of the work and are coming at the viewer upon a closer look.

In this series from the late 80's Judy Rifka enters a dialogue between the sculpture and the painting. The "History of Sculpture" - series presents us balanced, sharp-edged figures, which are not only pierced by circles, but the are also closed in neutral contrasts of black and gray tones.

Bright colors, thick, black lines and blurred moves - these three paintings by Judy Rifka immediately transfer us into the wild ‘80s. A decade filled with legendary art events, numerous artist collaborations and a booming party scene in New York.

Created in 1974, these two works illustrate the complexity of unconventional, strongly geometric forms and the choice of an unorthodox medium: a symbiosis between large-scale, monochrome figures and solid wooden panels. The results obtained may be a testament to Judy Rifka's years of studies in the field of ​​space and form principles and the complex dialogue between the two-dimensionality of the surface and the three-dimensional form.

In this series from 1979, Judy Rifka explores the possibilities offered by surface and perspective within an image and a given medium. The work "School Days" possibly depicts the surface of a green school chalkboard - with fine brushstrokes that can perfectly imitate the texture of chalk, she writes "February", "123456", "NO". The female figures, as if suddenly awakened to life, begin to move forward in fluid, dynamic, progressive yet tempered movements - a sketched dog is depicted next to her.

This exhibition seeks to rediscover Venus: ideological and contemporary. As the title suggests, this show aims to encourage a philosophical discussion: is it possible to talk of a rebirth of Venus?

In this oil painting from 1984, the American artist Judy Rifka presents us with a fairly human Venus - it is a strongly diagonal close-up of her. In a gingerly movement, Venus shows us the intense contoured blue-white stars that rest on her left forearm - analogous to a mother with a child in her arm that has just been breastfed, she holds the stars and looks upon them lovingly. Due to the certain asymmetry of compositional structure of the painting, there is a noticeable fleetingness of the moment. The physiognomy was treated with clearly defined lines and the incarnate represents a concise mixture of turquoise-brown-red coloring. The brisk painterly technique and the rapidly applied brushstrokes prove Rifka's artistic ability. The figure acts slowly on a dark obscure background that has been painted with broad brushstrokes.

Judy and us exchange emails quite frequently. On many occasions she shared photos with us that blew us away. So we asked her to give us a virtual tour through her albums that we wanted to share: