The Collection: a New Exhibition by Philadelphia Artist Tom Judd to Open at La Salle University Art Museum 

A new exhibition featuring the work of Philadelphia artist Tom Judd will be on view at the La Salle University Art Museum from September 18 to November 24, 2008. An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 19 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. 

Judd’s installation, entitled The Collection, is inspired by pieces from La Salle Art Museum’s own permanent collection of art, which ranges from the Renaissance to the present. Judd chose 11 pieces from La Salle’s art collection, that he transformed and reinterpreted. “It is great art being presented in an entirely different context,” said Judd. 

“The pieces (in The Collection) do not necessarily have anything in common except that they are part of the same collection—they just happen to have been acquired by or donated to the Museum,” said Judd. For the installation, Judd assembled his copies in what he describes as poetic relationships that ignore the original works’ historic and geographic differences.  

For example, Judd transforms a three-dimensional wood African mask into a two-dimensional painting on the front surface of a three-dimensional wooden box. In addition, two 17th century oil portraits of a husband and wife by Thomas de Keyser are rendered as drawings, rather than paintings, on an unpainted wood panel. In their original form, the portraits of the husband and wife face each other with the man to the right of the woman, a position that is traditionally considered privileged. However, in Judd’s interpretation, the husband and wife are seen with their backs to one another, as if they had been arguing. Judd places the wife to the left of her husband, giving her the commanding place in the arrangement of the two figures. 

Judd created The Collection using salvaged materials that could be found on the street. One of his pieces is done on scrap metal; another is on an old paneled door. “It is organically constructed, suggesting how each piece is built upon another,” said Judd. 

“Tom Judd’s installation offers an exhilarating way to connect with the collection of La Salle University Art Museum,” said Madeleine Viljoen, Ph.D., Director and Chief Curator for La Salle University Art Museum.“We anticipate viewers moving back and forth between the exhibition and our galleries, comparing the artist’s interpretation to the original art work on display.”  

Judd graduated from the University of the Arts (formerly Philadelphia College of Art) where he studied with artists that included Rafael Ferrer, Bob Kulicke, and Larry Day. He first exhibited his art work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1979, which purchased a work from Judd’s exhibition for their permanent collection. Judd went on to exhibit his work in distinguished commercial galleries throughout the country, and in 1990 he had a 10-year retrospective at the Philadelphia Art Alliance.  

He recently curated an exhibition in New York City with 12 invited artists entitled The Chalk board Chronicles, and completed an exterior mural in Center City Philadelphia. His show at the La Salle University Art Museum is his first solo exhibition at a university art museum. 

For more information about the La Salle University Art Museum, visit www.lasalle.edu/museum   

About the La Salle University Art Museum: 

The La Salle University Art Museum began in 1965 as a study collection for the University’s art history majors; it opened in its current location, on the lower level of Olney Hall, in 1976.  The collection has grown as a result of acquisitions and donations from friends and collectors. The Museum houses more than 4,000 objects and is currently the only university in the Philadelphia area to own a permanent display of paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the Renaissance to the present.