 Contrary to many contemporary artists who focus on social or political issues, Brenda Stumpf steeps her work with intensely personal and archetypal associations. Her sculpture, assembled paintings, and drawings reveal dichotomous relationships between virility and delicateness, immovability and transformation, past and present, and fundamentally; corporeal and spiritual.
Stumpf was born and raised in Parma, Ohio; where from an early age she exhibited considerable creativity and an affinity for the obscure. A dedication to the visual arts throughout her formative years earned her a scholarship to Columbus College of Art and Design. After two years of study, she left to navigate creative life on her own terms. That decision proved fruitful to her career as a professional artist.
Stumpf's creations are extremely labor intensive and have included materials such as the paper from steeped tea bags, dresses, PVC shavings, wax, piano parts, faux flowers, insects, gourds, book covers, and sand. Mythic and historic figures such as Pandora, the Black Madonna and Hatshepsut imbue pieces of the artist's work, as do themes drawn from ancient mystery schools, sacred texts, and alchemy.
Solo Exhibitions
2010Walker Fine Art, Seshat, Denver, CO
2008Box Heart Gallery, Eggs Rocks Pearls, Pittsburgh, PA
2007Valley Art Center, Utterances, Chagrin Falls, OH
2006E. Gordon Gallery, Offerings and Attributes, Cleveland, OH
Camaje, Portals, New York, NY
Brandt Gallery, The Dressmaker and the Tailor, Cleveland, OH
Exit Gallery, Sand and Water, Kent, OH
2005University of Cincinnati Clermont College Art Gallery, Embedded, Cincinnati, OH
2004Box Heart Gallery, Bride of Epimetheus, Pittsburgh, PA
2003Kelly Randall Gallery, The Hidden, Cleveland, OH
2002Mise, She: A Benefit for Women for Women International, Cleveland, OH
2000Southside Gallery, Mulisensory Perception, Cleveland, OH
1999Studio 615 Gallery, Glimpses, Cleveland, OH
1998Art at the Powerhouse, From the Gilded Cage, Cleveland, OH
1997Vase to Vase, Intermittent Eyes, Cleveland, OH
Two Person Exhibitions
2009Eva G. Farris Art Gallery at Thomas More College, Elegeia, with Tom Kelly, Crestview Hills, KY
2008Hinterland, Das Ueberhaupt, with Sabin Aell, Denver, CO
Walker Fine Art, Black & White, with Jerry Wingren, Denver, CO
2007Sam Quinn, Fragments, with Marissa Shell, Philadelphia, PA
2004Pavanna Gallery, Walls Wires Wells: Elements of a Relationship, with Eric Vaughn, Cleveland, OH
Mosaic the Gallery, The Unspoken, collaborative work with painter Joshua Hogan, Cleveland, OH
2002River Gallery, 2D/3D, with Robert Bruch, Rocky River, OH
Selected Group Exhibitions
2010Walker Fine Art, 2010 Year in Preview, Denver, CO
2009Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, The 8th Annual Art & Design Auction, Boulder, CO
The Butler Institute of American Art, 62nd Midyear Exhibition, Youngstown, OH
Foothills Art Center, Colorado Art Open 2009, Christoph Heinrich and Michael Chavez jurors, Denver, CO
2008Denver Community Museum, Mummify Me, Denver, CO
Core New Art Space, WOW Show: Wide Open Whatever, Denver, CO
2007Canco Lofts, The Memory of Water & Fire: A Celebration of the Elemental, Jersey City, NJ
Gallery 364, Timeless, Brooklyn, NY
About Glamour, Salon de Expace, Brooklyn, NY
Heights Arts, Collector's Choice, Cleveland Heights, OH
South Wing Gallery at St. Paul's Church, Art as Experience, Cleveland Heights, OH
Beachwood Community Center, Life in Sculpture, Beachwood, OH
Box Heart Gallery, The 6th Annual Art Inter/National…Here and Abroad, Pittsburgh, PA
2006Garfield Artworks, Immaterial, Pittsburgh, PA
Box Heart Gallery, Sacred Art Exhibition, international juried exhibition, Pittsburgh, PA
Moxie Dada, Nueve Nouveau, Pittsburgh, PA
Moxie Dada, Connect, Pittsburgh, PA
2005Valley Art Center, Thirty Fourth Annual Juried Exhibition, Chagrin Falls, OH
Viridian Artists, NewsArt: Art From Another Reality, New York, NY
Viridian Artists, Slide Exhibition, shown with national exhibit juried by Robert Rosenblum, New York, NY
Studio Montclair, Taboo, international exhibition juried by Jerry Saltz, Montclair, NJ
Pen and Brush, 59th Annual Sculpture Exhibition, New York, NY
2004Gallery Twenty-Four, 2004 International Assemblage Artist Exhibition, Berlin, GER
Box Heart Gallery, 3rd Annual Art Inter/National…Here and Abroad, Pittsburgh, PA
2003Morgan-West Studio/Gallery, Gnostic Devotions, New Orleans, LA
Gallery Twenty-Four, 2003 International Assemblage Artist Exhibition, Berlin, GER
Box Heart Gallery, Sacred Art Exhibition, national juried exhibition, Pittsburgh, PA
Viscous Arena, Bitch: Verb or Noun, national exhibition, Cleveland, OH
2000James M. Cox Fine Arts Center, Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, Columbus, OH
1998 The Butler Institute of American Art, 62nd Midyear Exhibition, Youngstown, OH
Selected Bibliography
Denver Post. "Divine Inspiration." April 16, 2010. MacMillan, Kyle.
DBArtNews.com. "The Materiality of Brenda Stumpf." Guest editorial series. April 12, 2010. Walker, Bobbi.
Denver Post. "Gritty RiNo a Safari for Art Lovers." April 2, 2010. MacMillan, Kyle.
Aeqai.com. "Elegy and the The Romantic Mood." Review of two person exhibit. October 2009. Frabetti, A. C.
Rocky Mountain News. “Elemental and Natural.” Review of two person exhibit. July 11, 2008. Chandler, Mary Voelz.
Westword. “Irreconcilable Differences.” Review of two person exhibit. June 12, 2008. Paglia, Michael.
Studio Visit Magazine. The Open Studios Press, Volume 1, 2008.
Plain Dealer. "Galleries Skip Summer Siesta This Year." July 7, 2006. Tranberg, Dan.
Free Times. "The Right Stumpf." July 5, 2006. Pantsios, Anastasia.
Scene Magazine. "The Dressmaker and the Tailor." July 12, 2006. Lewis, Zachary.
Free Times. "Postcards from the Ba: Brenda Stumpf's Voyages in Egypt." April 19, 2006. Utter, Douglas Max.
Consumed: Women on Excess. Frankfurt, GER; So New Media; 2005. Schroll, Savannah. ed.
Epitome Magazine. "The Cryptic Art of Brenda Stumpf." December 2004. Townsend, Cheryl.
Cleveland Magazine. "Keep an Eye On." November 2004. Rueb, Emily.
Tribune-Review. "Art of the Sacred." August 29, 2004. Shaw, Kurt.
Angle Magazine. "Eating the Dark: An Interview with Brenda Stumpf." January/Februrary 2004. Utter, Douglas Max.
Gambit Weekly. "Ancestral Memories." October 21, 2003. Bookhardt, D. Eric.
Scene Magazine. "Bitchfest." July 23, 2003. LeBeau, Eleanor.
Tribune-Review. "Sacred Emotion." July 11, 2003. Shaw, Kurt.
Tribune-Review. "New World View." January 10, 2003. Shaw, Kurt.
Public Collections
Liberty Financial Bank Building
St. Vincent Charity Hospital
Trinity Cathedral
The Ellet Library
The Caritas AIDS Memorial, St. Augustine Manor
Awards
2007Gallery 364, Timeless Exhibition, honorable mention.
2005Valley Art Center, Thirty-Fourth Annual Juried Exhibition, Dr. J. Kuncaitis award.
2003Gallery Twenty-Four, International Assemblage Artist Exhibition, second place nomination.
Box Heart Gallery, Sacred Art Exhibition, best of show.
1999The Civic, Discover the Treasure, best of fine arts.
1991Columbus College of Art and Design, scholarship.
Professional Experience
Assistant artist, Eikona Inc., Cleveland, OH. 1995-98.
Scenic painter, The Cleveland Playhouse and Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Cleveland, OH. 1997.
Assistant to director, Contrapposto Gallery, Cleveland, OH. 1996.
Designer and painter, Media Play, Columbus, OH. 1994.
Education
Columbus College of Art and Design, 1991-93.
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