Artist Ursula von Rydingsvard will speak at Pratt Institute about her influences, artwork, and career as part of the 2010-2011 Visiting Artists Lecture Series (VALS), from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m., Tuesday, February 15, in the Engineering Building, Room 371, on Pratt’s Brooklyn Campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The Pratt Visiting Artists Lecture Series is an annual year-long series organized by the Department of Fine Arts in the School of Art and Design at Pratt Institute to welcome nationally and internationally recognized fine artists to share their experiences with the Pratt community.
German-born von Rydingsvard will speak about the methods, craft, and influences behind her sculpture. Von Rydingsvard has held solo shows at Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston; Galerie Lelong, New York; Pilane Heritage Society, Tjorn, Sweden; Portland Art Museum, Portland; and Madison Square Park, New York. She has exhibited works in international exhibitions at the Galerie Lelong, Zürich, Switzerland; Galerie Lelong, Paris, France; and Butler Gallery, The Castle, Kilkenny, Ireland. Her sculpture is included in numerous permanent collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Von Rydingsvard’s work has been featured in Artnews, Smithsonian Magazine, Sculpture, and The New York Times.
Von Rydingsvard has been the recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship. A traveling exhibition of works by von Rydingsvard entitled “Ursula von Rydingsvard: Sculpture 1991 – 2009” is on display at SculptureCenter in Long Island City through March 28, 2011. Von Rydingsvard received her master of fine arts degree from Columbia University.
Von Rydingsvard is the third artist of five invited to speak as part of the Spring 2011 Visiting Artists Lecture Series. The series continues with David Diao on March 8 and Josephine Meckseper on April 19.
VALS is coordinated by graduate students Biljana Djokanovic and Ryan Gilmartin under the supervision of Professor Dominique Nahas in the Department of Fine Arts.
Visitors can enter Pratt Institute’s campus on DeKalb Avenue or on Willoughby Avenue between Hall Street and Classon Avenue. The closest subway stop is the Clinton-Washington station on the G line. For directions to campus or parking information, visit www.pratt.edu/directions
Ursula von Rydingsvard, “Droga,” 2009, cedar and graphite, 4’6″ x 9’7″ x 18’3″. Image by Roslyn and Michael Bodycomb.