Lygia Pape, 77, prominent Brazilian avant-gardist, died May 3 in Rio de Janeiro of myelodysplasia, a blood disease. She worked in a variety of mediums, including artist's books, painting, printmaking, sculpture, installation and dance. In the 1950s, Pape became involved in Concretist, a movement based on the austere geometric style of such European artists as Mondrian and Malevich. At the beginning of the decade, she was producing a series of woodblock prints in which geometric forms blend with the natural wood grain. In 1953, she helped found the Concretist group La Frente, and in the later '50s, she co-founded the innovative Neo-Concretist movement with Hello Oiticica and Lygia Clark. The newer style sought to retain the formal qualities of its predecessor while involving viewers in interactive experiences. In the mid-'60s, she worked with the filmmaking group Cinema Novo. Her work was recently included in "Body and Soul," a comprehensive survey of 400 years of Brazilian art mounted by the Guggenheim Museum, and the 2003 Venice Biennale.
Nigel Greenwood, 62, art dealer, died Apr. 14 of cancer in London. In the 1970s and '80s, his gallery was an important venue in London for a wide range of international avant-garde art. Among the artists he exhibited were Keith Milow, David Tremlett, John Walker, Christopher LeBrun, Ian McKeever, Richard Tuttle, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gilbert & George and Ed Ruscha. He closed his gallery in 1992, but continued to work as a private dealer and art adviser.
Beatrice Riese, 86, artist and collector, died Apr. 2 in Manhattan of cancer. Born in the Netherlands and raised in Germany, she moved to the U.S. with her parents in 1940. In New York, she studied with Will Barnet and Clyfford Still, and made a living as a textile designer. Her abstract paintings and drawings are characterized by gridded geometric forms. She also served as president of American Abstract Artists for 14 years.
Elise Asher, 92, painter and poet, died Mar. 7 in Manhattan of complications from a broken hip. Known for her abstracted nature scenes and works incorporating poetry--her own and that of others, including her husband, Stanley Kunitz--she had her first solo show in 1953 at Tanager Gallery in New York and published her first book of poetry, The Meandering Absolute, in 1955. In 2000, a retrospective of her work was held at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, where she lived part of the year, and another is on view at June Kelly Gallery in New York, Sept. 7-Oct. 5.
Noah Sylvester Purifoy, 86, assemblage artist, died Mar. 5 in a fire at his home in Joshua Tree, Calif. Sculptures in his 1968 traveling exhibition, "66 Signs of Neon," were constructed with debris from the 1965 Watts riots. He was co-founder of the Watts Towers Arts Center in 1964, and served on the California Arts Council from 1976 to 1987.
--"Artworld" is compiled by Stephanie Cash and David Ebony
COPYRIGHT 2004 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group