Abstract Dimensions: Dina Wind (1938-2014) / Jessica Backhaus
March 8 – April 22, 2023
Artist Reception & Happy Hour: Friday, March 10th, 5:00 – 7:30pm
Philadelphia, PA – February 10, 2023. Bridgette Mayer Gallery is pleased to announce our spring exhibition, Abstract Dimensions. This special exhibition features sculptures by renowned Philadelphia artist Dina Wind (1938-2014) and photographs by award-winning German artist Jessica Backhaus, brought together in an exciting convergence of shape, color, and shadow. In celebration of these two innovative women artists, the exhibition will open on International Women’s Day (Wednesday, March 8th) and run through Saturday, April 22nd. There will be an opening reception and happy hour on Friday, March 10th from 5:00 – 7:30pm, and both Jessica Backhaus and John Wind, President of the Dina Wind Art Foundation, will be present.
Abstract Dimensions features 16 photographs from Jessica Backhaus, 15 sculptures and assemblages from Dina Wind, and a short documentary video titled The Art of Dina Wind screening in the Vault. Wind’s welded metal sculptures from the 1990’s and 2000’s are unified by a pronounced use of color— both found and enhanced with acrylic paint. These hues, often in the form of crumpled car fenders, contrast with Wind’s signature rusted metal saw blades, springs, and other cast-offs, enlivening them into complex compositions. Her rolled paper wall reliefs from 2006, which are featured in the Vault, offer a whimsical response to Jessica Backhaus’ photographs of cut and composed paper. Backhaus’ Cut Outs series breaks photography down to its most basic elements: color, form, light, and shadow. Her cut outs are created from hand-cut transparent paper that she places on colorful backgrounds, allowing them to naturally curl and transform in the heat of the sun before she photographs each collage. The resulting photos are purely abstract, and explore the three dimensionality also found in Wind’s assemblages and sculptures.
About Dina Wind
Originally from Israel, Dina Wind came to the United States in 1963. She earned her B.A. from the Hebrew University [Jerusalem, Israel], an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia, PA], and a certificate from the Barnes Foundation, where her teacher was the late Violette de Mazia. She exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout her career, and was a longtime member of Nexus Gallery [Philadelphia, PA] and Veridian Gallery [New York, NY].
Her work is in permanent collections including Philadelphia Museum of Art [Philadelphia, PA], Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts [Philadelphia, PA], Woodmere Art Museum [Philadelphia, PA], West Collection [Oaks, PA], University of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia, PA], Penn Medicine [Philadelphia, PA], Berman Museum of Art [Collegeville, PA], Reading Museum [Reading, PA], The Bower: Native Garden and Sculpture Park [Sherman’s Dale, PA], Grounds for Sculpture [Hamilton, NJ], Tel Aviv Museum [Tel Aviv, Israel], and Reichman University [Herzlia, Israel], as well as many private and corporate collections.
Artistically descended from Abstract Expressionism, Wind began her art training in studio painting classes with Sam Feinstein, an artist/teacher who studied with Hans Hoffman. In 1978, she discovered welding and fell in love. She studied with sculptor Leon Sitarchik, supplemented with a course in industrial welding, and quickly developed her signature style. Working with cast-off materials such as abandoned car parts, industrial cut outs, and discarded tools, she created powerful assemblage sculptures with an environmental message. Instead of a brush and canvas, she transformed this detritus, the bane of urban landscapes, into lyrical compositions accented by deep glowing colors and linework which she described as “drawing in space.” As she got older she got bolder, pushing boundaries, creating room-sized installations and challenging the status quo. In 2014, after a four-year fight with ovarian cancer, Wind passed away at 76, leaving behind a lifetime of unique artwork and accomplishments.
About Jessica Backhaus
Jessica Backhaus was born in Cuxhaven, Germany in 1970 and grew up in an artistic family. At the age of sixteen, she moved to Paris, where she later studied photography and visual communications. Here she met Gisèle Freund in 1992, who became her mentor. In 1995 her passion for photography drew her to New York, where she assisted photographers, pursued her own projects and lived until 2009
Jessica Backhaus is regarded as one of the most distinguished voices in contemporary photography in Germany today. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, MARTa Herford and the Kunsthalle Erfurt. To date, she has ten publications to her name; Jesus and the Cherries, 2005, What Still Remains, 2008, One Day in November, 2008, I Wanted to See the World, 2010, ONE DAY- 10 photographers, 2010, Once, still and forever, 2012, Six degrees of freedom, 2015, A TRILOGY, 2017, Far away but close, 2019, and Cut Outs, 2021, all published by Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg/Berlin. Her work is also featured in the book: Women Photographers by Boris Friedewald (Prestel Verlag 2014/2018). Jessica Backhaus’ photographs are in many prominent art collections including Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Germany, ING Art Collection, Belgium, Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA and the Margulies Collection, Miami, USA.
Jessica Backhaus is represented by Robert Morat Galerie in Berlin, Galerie Anja Knoess in Cologne, Petra Becker/ International Art Bridge in Meggen, Bridgette Mayer Gallery in Philadelphia, Robert Klein Gallery in Boston, MiCamera in Milan, Wouter van Leeuwen Gallery in Amsterdam and Carlos Carvalho Arte Contemporanea in Lisbon.
Since 2009 Jessica Backhaus lives and works in Berlin. In 2012 FOAM Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam produced a short documentary “Wonder Jessica Backhaus”, a film by Willem Aerts.
Exhibition information: Abstract Dimensions will be on view from Wednesday, March 8 to Saturday, April 22, 2023 at Bridgette Mayer Gallery.On Friday, March 10, there will be an artist reception and happy hour from 5:00 – 7:30pm.
Gallery information: Bridgette Mayer Gallery is free and open to the public. We are located at 709 Walnut Street, 1st Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00am – 5:00pm.