Simone Spicer:
Past > NOW < Future
Solo Exhibition
© Simone Spicer, Piece for Peace, Painted corrugated cardboard, hanging paper cranes, 24 x 30 x 35 inches, 2010
This exhibition, Past>NOW<Future, features selected sculptural works and paintings by Simone Spicer. These works together, reveal a process of evolution through experimentation with materials catalyzed by emotional response to social and environmental injustices in our time. Simone’s artwork is an extension of the Arte Povera movement and of the broader tradition of creating art from refuse throughout the 20th century and continuing today; exploiting, as Robert Rauschenberg was once quoted, “gifts from the street”. Compassion for the human condition and the belief that visual art can spur on collective healing is at the heart of Simone Spicer’s work. She says about this topic:
“I believe healing happens when the artist’s primary goal is to connect with others through shared experience, storytelling and wonderment at being alive here on planet Earth! I am drawn to materials that challenge and disrupt traditional values of commercialized art, and that reinforce my images and speak of our culture and time specifically. I am continually inspired to transform throwaway, post consumer packaging containers, as they express so much about contemporary society; our values, our habits, our technologies and our mastery over nature, while conversely reminding us of our obliviousness to the natural world and our separateness from it and from all of human history. I love materials; shapes, colors, textures, transparencies, translucencies, densities, dimension and lack of, and I want an endless supply of materials surrounding me so I always feel free to experiment. I love multiple images and repetition of form, and variations on a theme, and building methods that are curiously child-like and sophisticated. I see the empty container, or vessel as a metaphor for the self as I collaborate, this creative self, with materials that embody the mysteries of the hands and homes of others that once held them, and the mysteries of the science, technology, chemistry, and industries that created them. This is rich for me. “
Exhibition Dates:
October 20 – November 10, 2024
Opening Reception:
Sunday, October 20, 3:30 – 7 pm
Artist Talk:
Friday, November 1, 5 – 7 pm
Open for "Philadelphia Open Studio Tours" (POST):
October 26 and 27, 12:00 – 6:00 pm
Closing Reception Brunch:
Sunday, November 10, 11 am – 1 pm
Gallery Hours:
By appointment, and Fridays 11 am – 6 pm
Location:
Interactive Museum of Contemporary Art (iMOCA)
1230 S. Broad St,
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Simone Spicer is a sculptor living and working in the suburb of Wyncote, outside of Philadelphia. Her education includes a BFA in Sculpture from the Maine College of Art in 1986, an MFA in Sculpture from the University of North Carolina in 1998, and was awarded full scholarship to attend The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1986.
While maintaining a studio practice in Philadelphia through the 80s and 90s, Simone taught Art History and studio courses at Holy Family University in Philadelphia. Later, she created a Decorative Painting and Design business, Magpie Painting Company, producing murals and specialty paint finishes in Philadelphia homes and businesses for over a decade. Presently she is in her studio making art full time. Simone’s award winning work has been exhibited locally at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Independence Seaport Museum, the Woodmere Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia International airport.
Simone is an active member of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, (an artists collective) and the Philadelphia Sculptors Association. She is also affiliated with a group of artist/activists in New York City that exhibit together and organize panel discussions with scientists reporting on climate change alongside artists addressing how they are handling our predicament. Simone believes her work to be a message of hope for our time and humanity.
“Pressing the need for personal responsibility, Simone Spicer has reimagined Hokusai’s famous wave as a massive tsunami that is about to engulf a merrily oblivious party of pop culture surfers.”
- Eleanor Heartney, American Art Critic
“Simone Spicer’s sculptures are so original in their lively use and transformation of detritus to animate fresh transits of perception…informed by her consummate wit and subtle, wry humor.”
- Harvey Shipley Miller, Collector, Museum Trustee
© Simone Spicer, Fallen Hero, Painted corrugated cardboard, rubble, 85 x 36 x 40 inches, 2010
© Simone Spicer, The End Of The Age Of Innocence On The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, Bas Relief papier mâché tidal wave and plastic action figures riding the wave on surfboards and in boats, 8 x 8 x 3 feet, 2021
© Simone Spicer, African American Youth, Painted corrugated cardboard, 16 x 11 x 12 inches, 2009