Claudia DeMonte

Claudia DeMonte (born 1947) is an American mixed media artist known for her exploration of "contemporary women’s roles" and world cultures through her eclectic sculptures, collages, digital prints, and installations. Her work is influenced by growing up Catholic and the lavish trappings and rituals of Catholicism. Other significant interests and themes in her work include outsider art, "globalism, identity politics, feminism, and social responsibility," which have been shaped by her world travels as much as her awareness of social issues.

Early life

Claudia DeMonte was born in 1947 in Astoria, New York. During her time at university, DeMonte was influenced by art historian Ruth Watkins and textile artist Nell Sonnemann as both women were independent, well-traveled, tall, and had no children. She currently lives and works in New York City and Miami, Florida.

Career

DeMonte became interested in conceptual art early in her career and was so impacted by Art Povera that she wrote a letter to Germano Celant asking to study with him. While she had made connections, garnering interest and support in her work from the likes of gallerist Ron Feldman and Doug Davis after her one-person show at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, she struggled to gain a foothold in the New York art scene. There was a prevalent attitude that only New York museums and galleries carried any weight which DeMonte had not anticipated. Her first significant press coverage came in the summer of 1980 after she had a reproduction in a group show.

By the mid-1980s, the East Village art scene was flourishing and DeMonte was exhibiting her work nationally and internationally. From 2000-2007, DeMonte's touring exhibition Real Beauty: A Celebration of Diversity and Global Culture, a collection of 140 traditional, handmade dolls by woman artists from around the world, explored the beauty standards and broader culture of each artist as well as the impact of globalism and mass-production on such objects.

Pomegranate released Claudia DeMonte in 2009 to accompany a retrospective tour of her work. The career monograph contained an essay by Eleanor Heartney, a contributing editor to Art in America and art press. The foreword was by president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art, Agnes Gund.

Teaching

DeMonte taught at the University of Maryland for 33 years. During her tenure, she was a recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Teacher Award in 1997 and the Students Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was named professor emerita when she retired in 2004. From 1980 until 1990, DeMonte was also in charge of the Art Workshop program at the New School for Social Research.

Exhibitions

Claudia DeMonte has more than 100 solo and 500 group exhibitions. Her work is also held in numerous private, public, and corporate collections around the world.

Select solo exhibitions

2020 June Kelly Gallery, New York, N.Y. 2019 Binomial: Claudia DeMonte & Ed McGowin, Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL 2018 Memento Vivere: Sculpture and Installations, June Kelly Gallery, New York PARTNERS: Claudia DeMonte and Ed McGowin, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT Cape Cod Museum, Dennis, MA 2017 Celebrating 30 Years: Group Show Gallery Artists Drawings and Photographs, June Kelly Gallery, New York 2016 Memory Keepers: Sculpture and Installations, June Kelly Gallery, New York The Art of Making the Invisible Visible: A Retrospective by Claudia DeMonte, Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies at the University of Mississippi, University MS A Woman’s Work is Never Done, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT Claudia DeMonte, Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 2012 Abundance: Sculpture/Installation, June Kelly Gallery, New York 2011 Claudia DeMonte: Retrospective, Cora Miller Gallery, York College of Pennsylvania Claudia DeMonte: Real Beauty, Cecille R. Hunt Gallery, Webster University, St. Louis, MO Self and the Everywoman: Mixed Media Works by Claudia DeMonte, Trustman Art Gallery, Simmons College, Boston, MA CLAUDIA DEMONTE - OPERA di DONNA, Marsh Hall, University of Southern Mississippi Museum of Art, Hattiesburg, MS 2010 Claudia DeMonte, Nordstrand Gallery, Wayne State University, Wayne, NE Mapping Beauty, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Real Beauty, Katzen Center for the Arts, American University, Washington, DC Claudia DeMonte, Heffernan Gallery, West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ Claudia DeMonte: Mapping Beauty, Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL The Luxury of Exercise: Small Sculpture and Works on Paper by Claudia DeMonte, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS 2009 Claudia DeMonte: The Luxury of Exercise, June Kelly Gallery, New York, monograph with an essay by Eleanor Heartney and foreword by Agnes Gund, published by Pomegranate Books, San Francisco, CA Claudia DeMonte and Ed McGowin, Jan Colle Gallery, Ghent, Belgium Claudia DeMonte: Retrospective, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT Everyday Matters, Flint Institute of Arts, MI 2008 Claudia DeMonte: Real Beauty, Kasser Family Exhibition, The Gottesman Libraries, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York 2007 Empowered Objects: New Sculpture, June Kelly Gallery, New York Claudia DeMonte: Mapping Beauty, Holzhauer Gallery, Mattie Kelly Fine and Performing Arts Center, Okaloosa-Walton College, Niceville, FL Mapping Beauty: 3 decades of installations, Makan Gallery, Amman, Jordan 2006 A Couple of Litchfield County Artists, Silo Gallery, New Milford, CT Claudia DeMonte: A Silhouette, Selected Works, 1976–2005, University of Maryland, College Park, MD Claudia DeMonte, Women’s Art Gallery, Cincinnati, OH 2005 Claudia DeMonte, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, LA Claudia DeMonte, Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans, LA 2004 Retrospective, Tallinn Kunstihoone, Tallinn, Estonia Claudia DeMonte, Gerdunberg Cultural Center, Reykjavik, Iceland Personal Journeys, Salem College, Winston Salem, NC 2003 Female Fetishes, International Museum of Women, San Francisco, CA Claudia DeMonte, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL Claudia DeMonte, Brenau University, Gainesville, GA Claudia DeMonte, Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans, LA 2002 Female Fetishes, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX 2001 Claudia DeMonte: New Work, Arguibel Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina Female Fetishes, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ Claudia DeMonte: Retrospective, Rosemont College, PA Female Fetishes, University of New England, Portland, ME The Queen’s Dream: Site Specific, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY 2000 Claudia DeMonte Female Implements, Flint Institute of Art, MI 1999 Female Fetishes, Gallery Liesbeth Lips, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 1998 Claudia DeMonte: Retrospective, Chokladfabriken, Malmo, Sweden Female Fetishes, Ambleside Gallery, Richmond, VA 1997 Female Fetishes, Genkan Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Female Implements, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand Claudia DeMonte, Gateway Center, Prudential Plaza, Newark, NJ 1996 Domestique, Leedy Voulkos Gallery, Kansas City, MO Female Implements: Serving Objects, Panorama Gallery, Winchester School of Art, Barcelona, Spain 1995 Housewives, Xochipilli Gallery, Birmingham, MI 1994 New Work, Barbara Gillman Gallery, Miami, FL Significant Losses, The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Part, MD 1993 Female Fetishes, Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY 1992 Objects of a Woman's Life, Jones/Troyer Fitzpatrick Gallery, Washington, DC 1991 Claudia DeMonte, Gallery 86, Lodz, Poland 1989 Claudia DeMonte/Ed McGowin, Falcon Gallery, Riyada, Saudi Arabia Shrines, Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York 1988 Amphora, Jones/Troyer Gallery, Washington, DC 1986 New Work: Two Installations, Xochipilli Gallery, Birmingham, MI Windows, Grey Art Gallery, New York University 1985 Claudia at Home & Abroad, Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York 1983 Russell Sage Gallery, Albany, NY 1982 Shipka Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria 1981 Marion Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 1980 Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS Fort Worth Museum, Fort Worth, Texas 1979 Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago, IL 1978 Trade Piece, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans; Baltimore Museum of Art; Franklin Furnace, New York City, NY; American Cultural Center, Paris 1977 Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Select group exhibitions

Un Incontro a Venezia, Archivo, Emily Harvey, Venice, Italy 50 Works from the Vogel Collection: Honolulu Museum of Art, Hawaii Portland Museum of Art Mississippi Museum of Art Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, University of Nevada, Las Vegas University of Michigan Art Museum, Ann Arbor Atrium Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri Markers 8: Mapping, Art life for the World Gallery, Venice, Italy Journee Internationale de la femme, UNESCO, Paris, France Beauty, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 14 American Artists, Aarhus Museum, Denmark American Artists, Arseanle de Repulbica, Amalfi, Italy American Narrative Art, Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, Texas Biennial, Indianapolis Museum Comic Description of Sex in Contemporary Art, Gallery Im Haus 19, Munich, Germany HOME, Contemporary Art Museum, São Paulo International Paper Biennial Duren Museum, Germany Markers Project, Via Garibaldi, Venice, Italy Model Home, The Stanley Picher Gallery, Kingston University, Surrey, England New Painting New York, P.S. l, New York New York Now, Espo Museum, Finland Site Specific, Islip Museum The New York Scene, Liesbeth Lips Gallery, Rotterdam, the Netherlands Third International Biennial of Graphic Arts, Bitola, Macedonia

Projects

2019-20 The World is a Handkerchief, curated by Cecilia Mandrile and Claudia DeMonte, touring exhibition 2015 Between the Lines: A Coloring Book by Contemporary Artists, Volume 5 2000-07 Real Beauty: A Celebration of Diversity and Global Culture, touring exhibition 2000-07 Women of the World: A Global Collection of Art, national and international exhibition

Select public collections

Bass Museum Boca Raton Museum Brooklyn Museum of Art Corcoran Gallery of Art Delaware Art Museum Flint Institute of Arts Fort Lauderdale Museum Indianapolis Museum of Art The Katzen Arts Center, American University, Washington, DC Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, University of Nevada Mattatuck Museum Minnesota Museum of American Art Mississippi Museum Mobile Museum of Art New Orleans Museum of Art Ogden Museum Queens Museum Stamford Museum University of Michigan Museum of Art

Honors and awards

DeMonte has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards. 2014 "Best in Feminist Art & Scholarship" for the exhibition "La Forza del Destino" by the CAA Committee on Women in the Arts, New York 1997 Distinguished Scholar/Teacher, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 1989 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Sculpture Ariana Foundation for the Arts, Percent for Art Cite Des Arts Residency, Paris, France (date unknown) U.S. Representative, International Women's Art Conference, Kingston, Jamaica (date unknown) 2004-06 Santa Rosa Fountain, commissioned for the city of Santa Rosa by New Mexico State Arts, Santa Rosa, NM 1993 Animal Count, commissioned by Percent for Art Program of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs/School Construction Authority, Queens 1992 Fantasy Travels, Prudential Life Insurance, Parsippany, NJ Claudia DeMonte Ceramic Tableware, Grazia Studios, Deruta, Italy 1990 Shrine to Learning, Clarendon Public Library, commissioned by Brooklyn Public Library System, Percent for Art Program of the New York City and Department of Cultural Affairs, NY 1984 Untitled, sculpture, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Crystal City, VA 1981 Travel Fantasy, Prudential Life Insurance, Parsippany, NJ 1972 Untitled, Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA 1970 Mural, Bladen Hall, Prince George’s Community College, Largo, MD Mural, Astoria Park, Queens, New York City Park Department