On January 4th we received the very sad news of the passing of Betty Woodman.
The New York Times said of Woodman in an elegant obituary by Richard Sandomir that she was “a sculptor who took an audacious turn when she began to transform traditional pottery, her usual medium, into innovative multimedia art, moving her work from kitchen cupboard shelves to museum walls…” Woodman was a beloved and respected artisan in Boulder where she helped establish Boulder’s Pottery Lab.
In the mid 1950’s, she worked tirelessly to convince the city council to fund the lab.
Many of our clients remember with great fondness the 2 annual yard sales Woodman hosted in her Boulder front yard where one could get a great deal of functional ware like cups, mugs, pie plates, and bowls of all sizes.
Woodman was perfectly happy making functional pottery. Yet, she is credited with elevating ceramics from high craft to fine art.
Her evolution from pottery artisan to respected contemporary artist was beautifully celebrated by a retrospective in 2006 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Woodman was the first living female artist to have a one-person exhibition at the Met.
In 2015, 15th Street Gallery had the great honor of mounting an exhibition, “From Clay to Paper“, a survey of Betty Woodman’s works on paper made in collaboration with Master Printer Bud Shark over several decades. We decided to mount a second exhibition, honoring the work of Woodman.
This memorial exhibition, title “Audacious” runs through March 3rd.
There are 17 woodblock prints and lithographs that highlight the daring creativity of Woodman. We believe there is no greater way to honor Betty Woodman than by exhibiting her work.
We warmly invite you to join us in honoring this great American artist by stopping by and looking at her work.