Irene Pijoan (1953 – 2004) was a Swiss-born American painter, sculptor, and educator. She was active in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and taught at the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

for more than 20 years.

Early life and education

Irene Pijoan was born on November 11, 1953 in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

to parents Geneviève Bugnion and . Her mother was Swiss, her father was a Spanish architect, art historian, philosopher, and poet in the

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spa ...

. Pijoan received her

bachelor of arts degree Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1978, followed by her fine arts master's of fine art degree in 1980 from

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. She also took classes at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

. In 1979, Pijoan was awarded a scholarship to the

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 t ...

. In 1981–1982, she was awarded the Roswell Artist-in-Residence.

Career

One of her early solo exhibitions was in 1977 at Off-Brand Gallery (formerly Acme) in the former

North Sacramento North Sacramento is a well-established community that is part of the city of Sacramento, California. It was a city from its incorporation in 1924 until it was merged (in a bitter election decided by 6 votes) in 1964 into the City of Sacramento. I ...

City Hall. Starting in 1983, she began teaching at

(SFAI) where she remained until her death in 2004. She was a teacher of artist

Jason Rhoades Jason Fayette Rhoades (July 9, 1965 – August 1, 2006) was an American installation artist. Better known in Europe, where he exhibited regularly for the last twelve years of his life, Rhoades was celebrated for his combination dinner party/ ...

. Her art work was created in a wide range of styles and materials. In the beginning of her career she was working with abstract Funk art sculptures, followed by with figurative and portrait pieces in multidimensional encaustic, and over time her work became more abstracted. Pijoan was known for her cut paper and cut metal art. She created public art in the form of large scale aluminum cut-out screens on display at Highland Hospital in Oakland; Santa Clara Public Library; Victoria Manalo Draves Park in

SOMA Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

, San Francisco; and at the Harborview Medical Building in Seattle.

Death and legacy

Starting in 1999, Pijoan battled

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

. She died on August 18, 2004 in Berkeley, California. Pijoan was married to artist Craig Nagasawa, and together they had one daughter. Her work is in museum collections including at the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

(SFMoMA), and San José Museum of Art.

Publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pijoan, Irene 1953 births 2004 deaths Deaths from breast cancer Swiss people of Spanish descent Swiss emigrants to the United States American women painters American women sculptors San Francisco Art Institute faculty University of California, Davis alumni Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni