Side Saddle, 2013
Fabric, foam, leather, metal
50 x 12 x 72 in. (127 x 30.48 x 182.88 cm)
ND15532
RowdyAnn, 2012
Fabric, foam, wood, plastic, metal
87 x 67 x 72 inches
ND13738
Roped 1, 2013
Pigment ink print
36 x 24 in. (91.44 x 60.96 cm)
ND15533
Roped 2, 2013
Pigment ink print
36 x 24 in. (91.44 x 60.96 cm)
ND15534
Nancy Davidson
Cowgirl
Text by Jessica Brier, Leisl Carr-Childers, Renee M. Laegreid Interview by Kate Gilmore Published by Daylight Books
Book Signing
Saturday, November 14th 4 – 6 PM
Betty Cuningham Gallery is pleased to host a Book Signing for the new publication Cowgirl, by Nancy Davidson. The event will take place on Saturday, November 14th from 4 – 6 PM, in the Gallery’s additional space at 11 Rivington Street, New York, NY. Davidson will be present to sign copies of the book.
Cowgirl, conceived of and edited by Nancy Davidson, is published by Daylight Books (c. 2015) and partially funded by a 2015 Pollock-Krasner Grant. Davidson is an interdisciplinary artist working in sculpture and installation, with a particular focus on popular culture and feminism. Davidson states,
As a child in the 50s, I was inspired by the cowgirl character and her can-do spirit; Doris Day as Calamity Jane, Rhinestone cowgirls in Hollywood films and musicals. My memories set off an exploration into the history and legend of cowgirls and the American west. The embodiment of a free spirited woman with agency appeared as a guide. What began as a childhood attraction to the cowgirl becomes a reinvention celebrating and critiquing popular culture.
The American cowgirl, the images, fantasy and actual identity all in one is the subject of Cowgirl. Included are archival cowgirl photographs as well as photographs of Davidson’s sculptures and installations. In addition to Davidson’s introduction, “Why the Rodeo Cowgirl,” are texts by Jessica Brier, Leisl Carr-Childers, Renee M. Laegreid, and an interview of Davidson by Kate Gilmore.
Nancy Davidson was born in Chicago. She received her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1975. Throughout her career, Davidson has been awarded numerous grants including ones from the Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Council in the Arts, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and Creative Capital. She has also been awarded residencies at the Yaddo and MacDowell colonies. Davidson’s sculptural works have been exhibited in a host of notable museums, including the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA, The Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, Stamford, CT, and the N.A.M.E. Gallery, Chicago, IL. The artist currently lives and works in New York City.
