Molly Springfield (born 1977) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

artist whose work includes labor-intensive drawings of printed texts and visual explorations of the history of information and mediated representation.

Life

She received her M.F.A. from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Springfield's art practice combines meticulous, observational drawing with conceptual and historical investigations. Her drawings and installations are typically based on texts that reveal visionary moments in the history of how people experience, organize, and reproduce information. She is best known for delicate, faithful graphite-on-paper drawings of photocopied books. Springfield's "Marginalia Archive" is an interactive installation that explores the relationships readers have with text. Her source material, contemporary examples of marginalia submitted by friends and viewers, is repurposed into a functioning archive that expands during the course of an exhibition. According to one art critic, the project "extends her practice of drawing printed and handwritten text, and adds a social dimension" that "chimes with today's social media consciousness and with growing concern over what, in the way of participatory engagement, we will lose if the age of the book actually does come to an end." Springfield has completed what she called a "translation" of the first chapter of Marcel Proust's '' In Search of Lost Time'', consisting entirely of drawings of photocopies of every existing English translation of the novel. Critic Kenneth Baker, writing in the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', called it an "irresistible" work "of rare conceptual elegance". In 2009, the project was exhibited at Steven Wolf Fine Arts in San Francisco, where it was nominated for an AICA (International Association of Art Critics) Award for "Best Show in a Commercial Gallery Nationally"; at Thomas Robertello Gallery in Chicago, where it was listed as one of the top 5 drawing shows of the year by ''Newcity Magazine''; and the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

, where it was nominated for the Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize. In 2013, the project was included in the survey exhibition "Graphite" at the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It ...

. Springfield's previous work includes a major series of graphite drawings of photocopies of books concerning seminal moments in the history of

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

of the late 1960s and early 1970s—a series that was exhibited at The Drawing Center in New York in 2013–2014. In a November 2013 review of the project in ''The New York Times'', critic Ken Johnson wrote: "What is an object, anyway? Must it be something material? Can a concept be an object? Are words and poems objects? What about sounds, actions and events? If an object exists only in a photograph, is it still an object? Do imaginary objects count? If you allow that a question can be an object, then such queries could be the primary objects of Ms. Springfield's beautifully realized, brain-teasing drawings."Ken Johnson
"When How It Looks Matters More Than What It Says"
''The New York Times'', November 21, 2013. Another previous installation by Springfield, exhibited in 2006, was based on the life and writings of

William Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE Royal Astronomical Society, FRAS (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the Salt print, salted paper and calotype processes, precursors t ...

, the polymath who invented negative-positive photography. The installation is a mix of conceptual drawing, experimental photography, and historical homage—included graphite drawings of photocopied pages from the introduction to The Pencil of Nature.

Collections

Springfield's work is in several public and private collections, including the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York and the Sally & Wynn Kramarsky Collection. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the

American University Museum The American University Museum is located within the Katzen Arts Center at the American University in Washington, DC. History and description The American University Museum consists of a three-story, museum and sculpture garden. The region’ ...

, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive,

Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the only building designed primarily by Le Corbusier in the United States—he contributed to the design of the United Nations Secretariat Building—a ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, the

Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House The Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House, formerly The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, was integrated into the Honolulu Museum of Art under this name. It was the only museum in the state of Hawaii devoted exclusively to contemporary art. The Contemp ...

Portland Museum of Art The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in the U.S. state of Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine. ...

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

Museums, and the

Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (known popularly as the Zimmerli Art Museum) is located on the Voorhees Mall of the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and ...

, and one-person exhibitions at galleries in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, DC, and Cologne, Germany. Reviews of her work have appeared in ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...

'', ''

Art Papers ''ART PAPERS'' is an Atlanta-based bimonthly art magazine and non-profit organization dedicated to the examination of art and culture in the world today. Its mission is to provide an independent and accessible forum for the exchange of perspectiv ...

'', ''

Modern Painters ''Modern Painters'' (1843–1860) is a five-volume work by the Victorian art critic, John Ruskin, begun when he was 24 years old based on material collected in Switzerland in 1842. Ruskin argues that recent painters emerging from the tradition of ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'', and the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

''. Springfield received her MFA from the

and was a participant at 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 ...

in 2006. She has taught art at various institutions, including Berkeley, the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of t ...

, American University, and

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

References

External links

The Art Assignment: Copy a Copy a Copy - Molly Springfield
video PBS SoCal {{DEFAULTSORT:Springfield, Molly Living people 1977 births American conceptual artists University of California, Berkeley alumni Women conceptual artists 21st-century American artists 21st-century American women artists Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni