ARTIST STATEMENT Fern T. Apfel is a portraitist - not of people, but of things. Remnants of the past: old stamps, pages of diaries, pieces from well-thumbed books - are her subjects. By invoking the materials of the past, the pictures express our present yearning for simplicity and authenticity. They speak about the quality of our daily lives, the grace with which we meet our obligations, and how the ordinary around us reveals much about who we are. Apfel's work quietly suggests the symbiotic relationship between our past and our present. Although the human figure is absent from the work, these paintings are, never-the-less, deeply rooted in the human condition. BIO Fern T. Apfel, who the Schenectady Gazette once described as a “gentle postmodernist” has pictures in the permanent collections of The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, The University Art Museum, SUNY Albany, NY, The Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY, The Shaker Museum & Library, Old Chatham, NY, The Columbia County Historical Society & Museum, Kinderhook, NY, The Art Students League of NY, and numerous private collections. This summer, Apfel had 3 of her bird pictures in Hudson River Contemporary: Works on Paper at The Boscobel Exhibition Gallery in Garrison, NY and 4 new still-life pictures in the 75th Annual Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region at the Albany Institute of History & Art in Albany, NY. In the fall of 2010, seven of Apfel’s book pictures were included in the invitational exhibit “The Imaged Word” curated by Sharon Bates at the Albany International Airport Gallery. In addition, Apfel was included in the exhibition “Eye Rhymes” at The Tang Teaching Museum & Art Gallery at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. In 2009, Apfel exhibited with Ellsworth Kelly and John Ashberry in the exhibition “The Collage Show” at Spencertown Academy in Spencertown, NY. In 2010, Apfel won Best in Show at the Columbia Co. Council on the Arts annual juried exhibition at the Hudson Opera House in Hudson, NY, where the juror was Janet Riker, Director of the University Art Museum, SUNY Albany. Apfel has been a two-time recipient of the Individual Artists Grant from The NY Foundation for the Arts & Twin Counties Cultural Fund Decentralization Program and has exhibited widely in many solo and group shows in the wider Capital District area. Apfel was selected by juror Xu Bing for “The Juror’s Award” at the 2000 Mohawk-Hudson Regional and in 2007, Apfel won the Clement Greenberg Award for her painting, “Thanksgivings” at the distinguished Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH. In 2008, Apfel won 1st Prize in the works on paper category at the 13th Annual Columbia Co. Council’s juried art show where the juror was international art dealer Thomas Erban of the Thomas Erban Gallery, Chelsea, NY. |
 Learn More About Fern & Her Previous Exhibits: Columbia County Council on the Arts Artist Registry |
