USA
* September 23, 1899 Perejaslaw
† April 17, 1988 New York
Louise Nevelson was the first woman to become famous in the USA for her public art. She worked primarily with found objects made of wood, which she collected from the streets of New York – scraps of furniture, boxes, moldings, and old tools. She arranged these into complex, relief-like sculptures or even room-sized installations, which she herself described as “environmental sculptures.”
In later years, Nevelson also experimented with other materials such as aluminum, plastic, and metal, as she considered them more durable than wood. A hallmark of her work is the uniform painting – usually in black, later also in white or gold. The monochrome color emphasizes form, structure, and the interaction of light and shadow.
In 1978, the City of New York commissioned a sculpture garden, Louise Nevelson Plaza in the heart of Lower Manhattan, to display some of her large-scale sculptures. It was the first public space in New York City to be named after a female artist.
