Myra Mimlitsch-Gray

Last updated
Myra Mimlitsch-Gray
Born(1962-07-11)July 11, 1962
Camden, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBFA- Philadelphia College of Art MFA- Cranbrook Academy
Website www.mimlitschgray.com

Myra Mimlitsch-Gray (born July 11, 1962) is an American metalsmith, artist, critic, and educator living and working in Stone Ridge, New York. Mimlitsch-Gray's work has been shown nationally at such venues as the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Museum of the City of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and Museum of Arts and Design. Her work has shown internationally at such venues as the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Stadtisches Museum Gottingen, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and is held in public and private collections in the U.S, Europe, and Asia.

Contents

Early life and education

Mimlitsch-Gray was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1962, the daughter of Paul Joseph Mimlitsch and Myra Elizabeth Buck. [1] She was first introduced to metalsmithing and jewelry in high school [2] when she participated in a summer program at Carnegie Mellon University. [3] Mimlitsch-Gray went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) in 1984 where she studied with Sharron Church and majored in Metals and Jewelry. Afterwards, Mimlitsch-Gray attended Cranbrook Academy of Art where she studied with Gary Griffin, and received her Masters of Fine Art in Metalsmithing in 1986. [4]

Academic work

Mimlitsch-Gray is on the faculty and is the head of the Metal Program at the State University of New York at New Paltz. [5] She has influenced notable students such as Lauren Fensterstock, Anya Kivarkis, and Lola Brooks. She also has taught workshops at Penland School of Crafts, [6] Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, [7] University of the Arts, Rhode Island College, among others. [8]

Awards and fellowships

Mimlitsch-Gray has received awards for her work and contributions to the metalsmithing community, including election to the 2016 College of American Craft Fellows by the American Craft Council, and being named a Master Metalsmith by the Metal Museum.

In 1998, SUNY New Paltz recognized Mimlitsch-Gray's educational impact, awarding her the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. [9] In 2018, Mimlitsch-Gray received another Chancellor's Award of Excellence from SUNY New Paltz for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Studies. [10]

She has received fellowships from public and private institutions. In 1995 she was awarded an Individual Artist Fellowships from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation; [11] in 2012 she received the United States Artists Glasgow Fellowship in Craft and Traditional Arts; [12] and in 1997, 2012, and again in 2015 she received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts. [13]

Selected series and artwork

Over Mimlitsch-Gray's career, overarching themes of objecthood, labor, value, and utility have emerged. Of her own work, she has written:

I produce objects as portraits and social indicators. By implying or impeding function I reinterpret utility as a critical strategy. I create wares that are both present and representational, embodying the specifics while also portraying variant roles and circumstances. Deliberately tentative, this work investigates facture, explores gesture and embodies utilitarian notions. [14]

—Myra Mimlitsch-Gray

Bisections, Encasements, 1990–1995

Sugar Bowl and Creamer III (1996) at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC in 2022 Sugar Bowl and Creamer III 1996.jpg
Sugar Bowl and Creamer III (1996) at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC in 2022

In her series Bisections, Encasements, Mimlitsch-Gray plays with the history of decorative objects and our modern relationship to them. Rather than make a chalice, candlestick, or other item common to traditional silversmithing or hollowware, Mimlitsch-Gray creates negative impressions of these objects which are split into two equal halves and embedded in wooden or metal block forms inspired by shaker design. [15] Stripped of their functionality, these pieces transcend their objecthood to begin functioning as images signifying the shifting cultural attitude towards these types of traditional objects and traditional forms of making. [16] Art Historian Jenni Sorkin wrote, "The imprint of the object is memorialized as an indexical relationship to its usage, its impression a permanent rendering while simultaneously documenting the form’s disappearance… In Mimlitsch-Gray's Bisections/Encasements, the objects are perfect specimens of a past that has been deconstructed, a mediation on the disappearance of skilled labor, and the illusory quality of the objects it produced." [15] Sugar Bowl and Creamer III from this series is held in the permanent collection of the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. [17]

Magnification, 1997–2001

Magnification challenges the sentimental ideas of the "hand made" and its signifiers. The series consists of eleven metal serving trays [18] that all feature exaggerated surfaces which render the trays largely dysfunctional. The design of these surfaces replicates a traditional planished (fine-hammered) surface that is common in copperware, but in Magnification these hammer marks are magnified approximately 500 times. [19] Particularly in the 19th century, rough hand-hammered textures were often purposely left on objects to signify that they were hand-made and imply a greater value than their machine-made counterparts. [20] Mimlitsch-Gray plays with this history, and the exaggerated hammer marks in Magnification act as a fetishized signifier of labor and its perceived virtue. [18] Handwrought Brass Tray from this series is held in the permanent collection of the Mint Museum of Craft & Design, [20] Pitcher is held in the permanent collection of the Racine Art Museum, and Handwrought Copper Tray is held in the permanent collection of the Cranbrook Art Museum. [18]

Kohler Skillets and Pone Pans, 2007

Made during her residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in 2007, Mimlitsch-Gray’s series Kohler Skillets and Pone Pans playfully explores the familiarity of the cast-iron skillet and juxtaposes it with themes of globalization, genetic modification, and mid-western food culture. [21] Kohler Skillets and Pone Pans consists of a series of cast-iron pans (with the exception of one that is chromed brass) that are elongated, bent, melted, or house molds for food that would never fit. [22] Though a master metalsmith, most of Mimlitsch-Gray's previous experience had been with small metals like silver, copper, and brass. Working with cast iron during her Kohler residency was outside her comfort zone and was "...just the disruption she needed. 'I had really run aground,' she says; her mastery of hollowware had become a crutch. 'I really needed to find a new way of working, to put myself in the position of a novice.'  " [23] Freestanding Skillet from this series is held in the permanent collection of Kohler Company, and Silver Anniversary is held in the permanent collection of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. [24]

Melting Silver, 2002–2008

In her series Melting Silver, silver objects appear to be caught mid-transformation: highly decorated traditional objects drip and melt into reflective silver puddles. In part, this transformation is anthropomorphic; Mimlitsch-Gray describes them as "contingent, reflecting the anxiety of service", [25] but these objects also highlight the very nature of the material itself as one that is easily recyclable through melting and re-rendering. Candelabrum: Seven Fragments from this series is held in the permanent collection of Cranbrook Art Museum, [26] Melting Candelabrum is held in the permanent collection of Rotasa Trust Collection, Melting Teapot is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Arts and Design, [27] Melting Sticks is held in the permanent collection of the National Museums of Scotland, [28] and RCA Study Piece is held in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. [29]

Something For the Table, 2009–2013

Mimlitsch-Gray’s series Something For the Table provides "tentative" [30] possibilities of what a utilitarian object could be if stripped of historical reference in form and decoration. Jenni Sorkin describes: “Deftly avoiding traditional forms, Mimlitsch-Gray embraces formless objects without prescriptive usages… By and large, the works in this series stage the sensuality of fullness: they read as almost pillowy, a perfect trompe l'oeil in which the illusion of lightness is offset by metalwork’s material thud." [31] Split Slab, 2012, from this series was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston in 2017. [32] Cindi Strauss, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Decorative Arts and Design and Anna Walker, the Windgate Foundation Curatorial Fellow for Contemporary Craft at The Museum of Fine Arts Houston writes, "We are pleased to acquire Myra Mimlitsch-Gray's Split Slab.... In her reimagining of a serving form, Mimlitsch-Gray upends traditional forms in addition to highlighting silver's fluid properties with exceptional craftsmanship." [33]

Studies in Enamelware, 2014-Present

Mimlitsch-Gray's most recent series Studies in Enamelware explores vitreous and porcelain enamel on steel forms. This industrial form of enameling first caught Mimlitsch-Gray's interest during her residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, but due to the short nature of the Kohler residency (three months long) it wasn't possible to explore while there. [21] In Studies in Enamelware Mimlitsch-Gray references and abstracts traditional enamelware forms, like the quintessential rolled lip, to explore themes of utilitarian value. She explains, "…it’s sort of like a forced commonality that I’m interested in bringing to the work. So we see that I'm not that motivated by the preciousness conversation right now." [34]

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Selected public collections

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References

  1. ↑ Riedel, Mija (24 June 2010). "Oral history interview with Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, 2010 June 24–25". www.aaa.si.edu. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  2. ↑ "Masters: Myra Mimlitsch-Gray – American Craft Council". American Craft Council.
  3. ↑ "Myra Mimlitsch-Gray – American Craft Council". American Craft Council.
  4. ↑ "CRAFT IN AMERICA – Myra Mimlitsch-Gray". Craft in America.
  5. ↑ "SUNY New Paltz – Web Application Layouts". www3.newpaltz.edu.
  6. ↑ "Metals Studio". 12 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "Haystack Mountain School of Crafts – Session 3". www.haystack-mtn.org.
  8. ↑ "Mimlitsch-Gray_CV_current_9-2017.pdf" (PDF). Dropbox.
  9. 1 2 "CV and bio – Myra Mimlitsch-Gray". www.mimlitschgray.com.
  10. ↑ "SUNY names five New Paltz academic and professional faculty among Chancellor's Awardees – SUNY New Paltz News". sites.newpaltz.edu. 8 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "New Paltz Art Professor Receives Tiffany Foundation Award – SUNY New Paltz News". sites.newpaltz.edu. March 1995.
  12. ↑ "Myra Mimlitsch-Gray".
  13. ↑ "New York Foundation for the Arts". www.nyfa.org. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  14. ↑ Goldsmiths, Society of North American. "Myra Mimlitsch-Gray – Society of North American Goldsmiths". www.snagmetalsmith.org.
  15. 1 2 Sorkin, Jenni. Staging Form Myra-Mimlitsch-Gray's Hollowware. Memphis, Tennessee: National Ornamental Metal Museum. p. 11.
  16. ↑ "bisections, encasements 1990–1995 – Myra Mimlitsch-Gray". www.mimlitschgray.com. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  17. ↑ "Sugar Bowl and Creamer III". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  18. 1 2 3 "magnification 1997–2001 – Myra Mimlitsch-Gray". www.mimlitschgray.com. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  19. 1 2 "Myra Mimlitsch-Gray – Art Jewelry Forum". artjewelryforum.org. 14 January 2015.
  20. 1 2 "The Mint Museum | Hand-wrought Brass Tray". www.mintmuseum.org. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  21. 1 2 Adamson, Glenn (December 2016). "Starting From Scratch". CRAFTS Magazine (263): 70.
  22. ↑ "skillets and pone pans 2007 – Myra Mimlitsch-Gray". www.mimlitschgray.com.
  23. ↑ "Masters: Myra Mimlitsch-Gray". American Craft Council.
  24. ↑ "Mimlitsch-Gray, Myra".
  25. ↑ "melting silver 2002–2008 – Myra Mimlitsch-Gray". www.mimlitschgray.com.
  26. ↑ "Cranbrook Art Museum". cranbrookartmuseum.org. 12 April 2016.
  27. ↑ "Melting Teapot". collections.madmuseum.org.
  28. ↑ "Melting Sticks". National Museums Scotland.
  29. ↑ "Stand | Gray, Myra Mimlitsch | V&A Search the Collections". V and A Collections. May 9, 2020.
  30. ↑ "something for the table... – Myra Mimlitsch-Gray". www.mimlitschgray.com.
  31. ↑ Sorkin, Jenni. Staging Form Myra-Mimlitsch-Gray's Hollowware. Memphis, Tennessee: National Ornamental Metal Museum. p. 21.
  32. ↑ "Split Slab – The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston". www.mfah.org.
  33. ↑ "MFA Houston acquires Myra Mimlitsch-Gray's Split Slab – Sienna Patti – Contemporary Studio Artists". 3 July 2017.
  34. ↑ "Oral history interview with Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, 2010 June 24–25". www.aaa.si.edu.
  35. ↑ "Not Clay, but...- 'Studies in Enamelware,' Beyond Industrial Applications – CFile – Contemporary Ceramic Art + Design". 12 May 2017.
  36. ↑ "In/Animate: Recent Work by Myra Mimlitsch-Gray opens Aug. 31 at the Dorsky – SUNY New Paltz News". sites.newpaltz.edu. August 2016.
  37. ↑ "Myra Mimlitsch-Gray – something for the table – June 28 – August 1, 2013 – Sienna Patti – Contemporary Studio Artists".
  38. ↑ "Myra Mimlitsch-Gray: Something for the Table – Art Jewelry Forum". artjewelryforum.org.
  39. ↑ "Myra Mimlitsch-Gray – Sienna Patti – Contemporary Studio Artists".
  40. ↑ "New York Silver". Museum of the City of New York.
  41. ↑ "Raw Design". sfmcd.org.
  42. ↑ Villarreal, Ignacio. "Gary Griffin and Cranbrook Students Exhibit Metal Sculptures". artdaily.com.
  43. ↑ "Corners Necklace, 2006". Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
  44. ↑ "Myra Mimlitsch-Gray – Candelabrum, Seven Fragments, 2002–2003 – Cranbrook Art Museum". 12 April 2016.
  45. ↑ "Stopper". www.dia.org.
  46. ↑ "Mimlitsch-Gray, Myra". jmkac.pastperfectonline.com.
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  49. ↑ "Candlesticks". 3 April 2017.
  50. ↑ "Split Slab – The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston". www.mfah.org.
  51. ↑ "Untitled (Ring II) – Works – eMuseum". collections.madmuseum.org.
  52. ↑ "Untitled (model for Ring II) – Works – eMuseum". collections.madmuseum.org.
  53. ↑ "Melting Teapot".
  54. ↑ "Sculpture". National Museums Scotland.
  55. ↑ Art, Philadelphia Museum of. "Philadelphia Museum of Art – Collections Object : Encased Teapot Study". www.philamuseum.org.
  56. ↑ "Sugar Bowl and Creamer III". Smithsonian American Art Museum.
  57. ↑ "The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art – SUNY New Paltz". www.newpaltz.edu.
  58. ↑ "Fish slice – Gray, Myra Mimlitsch – V&A Search the Collections". collections.vam.ac.uk. 2000.
  59. ↑ "Compote". artgallery.yale.edu. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
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