b. 1959, United States

Judy Ledgerwood Biography

Judy Ledgerwood is a Chicago-based American abstract artist whose practice is influenced by feminism, postmodernism, and the Pattern and Decoration movement. Working across painting and ceramics, Ledgerwood explores materiality, colour, and pattern, and is known for her distinct canvases composed of quatrefoils and diamond-patterned grids.

Read More

Early Years

Ledgerwood was born in Brazil, a small farming community in Indiana. In childhood, she was encouraged by her mother to make her own pictures, rather than being given colouring books. She regularly visited the Impressionist collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, to which she attributes much of her knowledge of colour theory, citing Monet as a key influence.

Education

In 1982, Ledgerwood graduated with a BFA at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where she met her now-husband, artist Tony Tasset. In 1984, she graduated with an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

Nearly a decade after finishing graduate school, Ledgerwood returned to SAIC to teach. Soon afterward, she began teaching full-time at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Judy Ledgerwood Artworks

Raised in a family of quilters, Ledgerwood explores a vast range of patterns, and how they may be disrupted. Fusing symbolic shapes related to Paleo and Neolithic Goddesses with the paint drips and impasto integral to abstraction, Ledgerwood aims to facilitate a 'first person' experience in her work—bypassing the digital mediation that has dominated image-making since the late 1980s.

Chromatic Patterns for the Graham Foundation

In 2014, Ledgerwood was commissioned to complete a site-specific painting for the Graham Foundation's historic Madlener House in Chicago. She transformed the first-floor gallery spaces with floor-to-ceiling colour, painting the walls with fluorescent hot pink and metallic diamond and quatrefoil patterns. Ledgerwood's immersive ornamentation dramatically contrasted with the house's simple Prairie-style architecture.

Far From The Tree

In 2018, Ledgerwood produced a series of large-scale works for the opening of Rhona Hoffman Gallery's new 1711 West Chicago Avenue location. Far From The Tree focused on the artist's well-established vocabulary of motifs, delving into female sexuality and her family connection to quilt-making. Drunkard's Path (2018) combines oils and metallic paints in a fractured pattern of pinks, purples, and golds, with the grid made up of different shapes and sizes. Titled after a specific quilting pattern, the pictorial logic of Drunkard's Path reflects 'the chaos of this time'.

Ceramic Works

Between 2016 and 2022, Ledgerwood developed a series of Majolica earthenware vessels at the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory in Munich, decorated with her signature patterns and bright colours. These were presented for Ledgerwood's 2022 exhibition, Summer Highlight at Häusler Contemporary. Acting as both icons of domesticity and a metaphor for the human body, the ornate vessels were named after various women—Helen, Barbara, or Veda (all 2022) for example—which were shortened in the smaller-scale works.

Public Commissions

Ledgerwood has produced several notable public commissions, including a stained glass installation at Bir-Hakeim metro station Paris (2008); Chromatic Patterns for the Graham Foundation, Chicago (2014); a large site-specific painting for the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane, Laos (2014); Chromatic Patterns for the Bloomberg mural, New York (2016); and an installation for the Bluhm Family Terrace, Art Institute of Chicago (2018).

Awards and Accolades

Ledgerwood has received numerous accolades across her career, including the Art Academy of Cincinnati's Wilder Travelling Fellowship, (1982); The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (1997); Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts Grant, Northwestern University, Chicago (1997, 1998); URGC, Northwestern University (2000); Northwestern Alumni Grant (2000).

Exhibitions

Judy Ledgerwood has been the subject of both solo and group exhibitions.

Select solo exhibitions include Summer Highlight, Häusler Contemporary, Zurich (2022); Color Walks, 1301PE, Los Angeles (2019); Beyond Beauty, Häusler Contemporary, Zurich (2019); Power Pose, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston (2019).

Select group exhibitions include Nur Skulptur, Häusler Contemporary, Munich (2019); Surface/Depth: The Decorative After Miriam Schapiro, Museum of Arts and Design, New York (2018); Riot Grrrls, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2016); To Sophie, Sonia, Elsa, Hannah..., Häusler Contemporary, Zurich (2016).

Instagram

Judy Ledgerwood's Instagram can be found here.

Annie Curtis | Ocula | 2022

Judy Ledgerwood
featured artworks

Ladies Night by Judy Ledgerwood contemporary artwork painting
Judy Ledgerwood Ladies Night, 2015 Acrylic, oil and metallic oil on canvas
182.9 x 121.9 cm
1301PE Request Price & Availability
Tropicana by Judy Ledgerwood contemporary artwork painting
Judy Ledgerwood Tropicana, 1991 Oil & wax on canvas
228.6 x 152.4 cm
1301PE Request Price & Availability
Study for Doha #1 by Judy Ledgerwood contemporary artwork painting, works on paper
Judy Ledgerwood Study for Doha #1, 2013 Acrylic gouache on panel
20 x 60 inches
Starkwhite Request Price & Availability

Judy Ledgerwood
recent exhibitions

View 5 More
View 5 More

Represented by this
Ocula Member Gallery

1301PE contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles, United States
1301PE Los Angeles
View 5 More
Learn more about the market for works
by Judy Ledgerwood.
Enquire for a confidential discussion. Enquire Now
Simon Fisher, Ocula CEO
Ocula Advisor
Simon Fisher
Christoper Taylor, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Christopher Taylor
Eva Fuchs, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Eva Fuchs
Rory Mitchell, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Rory Mitchell
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Follow Judy Ledgerwood
Stay ahead.
Receive updates on new artworks,
exhibitions and articles.
Your personal data is held in accordance with our privacy policy.
Follow
Do you have an Ocula account?
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Get Access
Join Ocula to request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Do you have an Ocula account? Login
What best describes your interest in art?

Subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming exhibitions, available works, events and more.
By clicking Sign Up or Continue with Facebook or Google, you agree to Ocula's Terms & Conditions. Your personal data is held in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for joining us. Just one more thing...
Soon you will receive an email asking you to complete registration. If you do not receive it then you can check and edit the email address you entered.
Close
Thank you for joining us.
You can now request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Close
Welcome back to Ocula
Enter your email address and password below to login.
Reset Password
Enter your email address to receive a password reset link.
Reset Link Sent
We have sent you an email containing a link to reset your password. Simply click the link and enter your new password to complete this process.
Login