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Marsha Pels’ (b. 1950) sculptural practice spans four decades, drawing both from her autobiography and deep historical research, treating subjects such as gender identity, war and power, and contemporary politics. With an inventive and improvisational spirit, Pels has mastered intensive processes such as metal casting and fabrication, glass flameworking, and photoetching, as well as transformations of found objects. In short, anything—from broccoli to boots—is a plausible raw material, alchemized and concretized evocatively by her hand. Such transubstantiation infuses her sculpture with a remarkable psychological intensity and metaphorical strength.


Photo by Joshua Charow, courtesy of Westwood Gallery NYC



Solo Exhibitions



2020
SOLACE, Lubov, NY, NY

2013
To Fly, To Drive, Parker's Box, Brooklyn, NY

2012
Detroit Redux, Schroeder Romero & Shredder, New York (catalogue)

2008
Dead Mother, Dead Cowboy, Schroeder Romero, New York

2004
The 9/11 Tablets, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
BOOTY, Schroeder Romero, Brooklyn, NY

2001
The Hitler Vitrines, Schroeder Romero, Brooklyn, NY The Hitler Vitrines & The Cleansing, Davis & Hall Gallery, Hudson, NY

1996
Poupee, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY (catalogue) Poupee, List Gallery, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA

1995
Terranova, The Sculpture Center, NY, NY (catalogue)
Vestige, A War Memorial, The Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Recent Sculpture, Dana Arts Center, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

1986
The Crucifixion Series, Oscarsson-Siegeltuch & Co., NY, NY (catalogue) Bronze Sculpture, Oscarsson Hood Gallery, NY, NY
Sculpture in Clay, Steel & Bronze, Mercer-Price Gallery, Putney, VT
Recent Sculpture, Dana Arts Center, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA

1981
The Utica/Hudson River Landscapes, Oscarsson Hood Gallery, NY, NY

Group Exhibitions



2023
Jean-Baptiste Boyer, Chris Lloyd, Marsha Pels, Company Gallery, New York, NY
Interest in Humanity: Portraits of Yesterday and Today, Fou Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Hand Foot and Mouth, A.D. NYC, New York, NY (curated by Glen Goldberg)

2022
fer precieux, Kommunale Galerie Rathaus Johannisthal, Berlin, Germany 8 on Victory, The College of Staten Island, Staten Island, NY Traveled to University Park, PA, Livingston MT, Alfred, NY, Berlin, Germany

2018
Washington Sculpture Walk, Washington, CT

2016
2016 Hot Metal Artists, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN 2014 Art in Nature, Greenwood Gardens, Short Hills, NJ

2013
A Rich and Diverse Palette, College of Staten Island Faculty Show; CUNY Staten Island, NY

2012
MYTHOS: Visions from Mythology and Legend, Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ (catalogue)

2011
Lorne Sculpture 2011 Biennial Exhibition, Sculpture Trail, Lorne, Victoria, Australia (catalogue)
Chain Letter, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2010
Pavers, Schroeder Romero & Shredder Gallery, NY, NY
Twining Vines, Front Room Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2009
Momenta Benefit, Momenta Art, Brooklyn and Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York

2008
Ship of Fools, Ship of Hope, One World, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Victoria, Australia; travelled to Ballarat Mining Exchange, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

2006
Transparency, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, VT, travelled to Corridor Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
Dieu Donne Paper Benefit, Gallery @ Metropolitan Pavilion, NY, NY

2005
Outdoor Sculpture, Elaine Benson Sculpture Garden, Bridgehampton, NY

2004-5
Anthology of Art, travelled to: Martin Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Akademie du Kunste, Berlin, Bundeskunstehalle, Bonn, Zentrum fur Medienkunste, Karlsruhe (catalogue)

2004
Decade, Schroeder Romero, Brooklyn, NY

2003
Outdoor Sculpture Park, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

2002
Momenta Benefit, White Columns, NY, NY Drawings by Sculptors for Sculpture, Andrews Gallery, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA
Made in Brooklyn: Selection One; Wythe Studio, Brooklyn, NY
www.anthology of art-net, Braunschweig School of Art, Braunschweig, Germany (catalogue)
Homage to Calder, Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY

1999
Outdoor Sculpture Walk, Trenton Train Station, Trenton, NJ
Outdoor Sculpture, Connemara Conservancy, Plano, TX (catalogue)

1998
The Theatre of Cruelty, Cristinerose Gallery, NY, NY (catalogue)
Drawing From The Source, Hebrew Union College, NY, NY (catalogue)
SLAG: Inaugural Exhibition, Chelsea Market, NY, NY

1995
Thapong International Artists Workshop, National Museum, Gabarone, Botswana (catalogue)
Mujeras de Podera; Women of Power, travelled to: Fondo del Sol Visual Arts Center, Washington DC, Museum of the National Center of Afro American Artists, Boston, MA, Kenkelaba House, NY, NY (catalogue)
Sculpture Space: 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (catalogue)
Delving and Tinkering, E.S. Vandam Gallery, NY, NY
I’m History, Susan Inglett Gallery, NY, NY
Work by Artists From Four Brooklyn Spaces, Ronald Feldman Gallery, NY, NY

1993
Spring-Summer Exhibition, Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, (catalogue)
93 NY 50, Socrates Sculpture Park, Astoria, NY Living Rites, Carla Stellweg Contemporary & Latin American Art, NY, NY
Selected Sculpture and Drawings, Kouros Gallery, NY, NY
Outdoor Sculpture, Kouros Sculpture Center, Ridgefield, CT
Outdoor Sculpture Garden, Pavilion Galleries, Mount Holly, NJ
Means To Ends: Process and Its Traces On Recent Sculpture, The Rockland Centre For The Arts, Nyack, NY (catalogue)
23rd Annual Invitational Show, Ashawagh Hall, Easthampton, NY
Gender: A Personal View, Brooklyn Waterfront Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Sculpture Garden, Burlington County College, Pemberton, NJ

1989
Home Sweet Home: Part II, Sally Hawkins Gallery, NY, NY
Artists Working, Proctor Art Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Casting Sheets; Drawings For Sculptures, University Museum, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, ILL

1987
Faculty Show, Suzanne Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Bennington, VT

1986
A Contemporary View of Nature, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT (catalogue) Sculpture Outdoors, Beaver College, Glenside, PA Triangle International Artists Workshop, Pine Plains, NY (catalogue)

1985
Annual Exhibition, Academia Americana, Rome, Italy (catalogue)
Recent Trends at Sculpture Space, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY (catalogue)

1983
Sculpture Invitational, Oscarsson Hood Gallery, NY, NY
Hudson River Update, The Gallery Hastings On Hudson, NY
Outdoor Sculpture, The Rotunda Gallery @ Cadmen Plaza, Brooklyn, NY (catalogue)

1982
Visiting Artists: Spring 1982, Clayworks, NY, NY National Women in Art, Edison Community College, Ft. Myers, FL
Polychrome Sculpture, Lever House, NY, NY
Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, Wards Isle, NY
Gallery Artists, Oscarsson Hood Gallery, NY, NY Sculpture Sites, Amagansett, NY (catalogue)

1981
Gallery Artists, Oscarsson Hood Gallery, NY, NY Sculpture Sites, Amagansett, NY
Made At Bummy Huss Paper, Nielsen Gallery, Boston, MA
Outdoor Sculpture Park, Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, Queens, NY (catalogue)
Three Young Sculptors, Krasner Gallery, NY, NY (catalogue)

Select Printed Publications



Glass Art Society 1999 Journal, "Reclaimed Site"; Lecture on Architectural Glass” @ 29th Annual Conference of Glass Art Society (GAS), Tampa, FL Pages 24-27

The FUNNEL, Newsmagazine of the German-American Fulbright Commission, "From Blighted Bunker to Holocaust Memorial; Synthesizing Disparate Structures to Create Lasting Memory", Volume 35, Number 1, Herbst 1998, Pages 44-47

ISSUE, A JOURNAL FOR ARTISTS, "On Patination",Spring 1986, Pages 7-9

ARTS MAGAZINE, "Steve Linn: Shadowboxing in Narrative Realism", March 1981, Pages 99-100

Art International, "Louise Bourgeois: a Search For Gravity", October 1979, Pages 46-54

Grants and Residencies



Todi Arts Studio, Todi, Italy 2023

Artist in Residence Bullseye Resource Center, Mamaroneck, NY, 2017

Hot Metal Workshop Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN, 2016

The Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant, 2013

Lorne Biennale Residenc, Lorne, Victoria, Australia, 2011

Pollock-Krasner Foundation 2004

The Artists Work Programm, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland, 2004

Artist-in-Residence The University of Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 2003

Artist-in-Residence Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA 2000, 1997

Site-Specific Residenc, Connemara, Conservancy, Plano, TX 1999

Fulbright Senior Scholar Award Emden & Oldenburg, Germany 1997-98

Casting Institute Fellowship University of Buffalo/SUNY, Buffalo, NY 1997

Martin Gracey Artist-in-Residence College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 1996

Thapong International Artists Workshop Botswana, Africa, 1995

Site-Specific Artist-in-Residence The Sculpture Center, NY, NY 1995

Artist-in-Residence Banff Art Centre, Alberta, Canada, 1986

Triangle Artists Workshop Pine Plains, NY 1986

Prix de Rome Sculpture American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, 1984-85

Cadman Plaza Outdoor Sculpture Competition Public Art Fund, NY, NY 1982

Sculpture Space Residency Utica, NY 






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