Nancy Davidson
New York, NY
Nancy Davidson is a New York-based artist who makes sculptures, installations, photographs and videos. Her awards and fellowships include a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Anonymous Was a Woman Award, the Pollock-Krasner Award and the Yaddo, MacDowell and Pilchuck Artists Fellowships. Davidson’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Robert Gallery, New York, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. Selected group shows include the 47th Corcoran Biennial at the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington, DC, University of Virginia Art Museum in Charlottesville, Southeast Center of Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, and the Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion in Stamford, CT. The New York Times, Art in America, Artforum and Frieze are among the publications that have reviewed her work. Davidson received her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago.
From the Journal
- Nancy Davidson: When Deep Research Is Needed to Make Sculpture December 2, 2019
Cowgirl Dustup
Nancy Davidson
Artist BioCowgirl Dustup is a large, inflatable sculpture suspended in midair. This work offers a humorous, absurdist critique of popular culture. Davidson presents the iconic cow girl to admire and honor as a tall-tale fantasy reenactment of western legends. Like enormous puppets, they combine playfulness and elusive grandeur with a rodeo spirit. She draws attention to the overblown, using satire to expand on the American fascination with the overly large, the “Super Sized.” Davidson’s goal is to bring the movable Dustup monument to public spaces where spectators gather and can engage with the animated spirit of the work. She envisions the installation/inflation as events in themselves. The portability of this monument provides diverse localities with an opportunity to address issues and is a tribute to the “can do” attitude of women’s individualism.
From the Journal
As Creative Capital celebrates its 20th anniversary, we are looking back at some of the 561 projects supported over the past two decades—including film, visual art, performance, literature, technology, social practice, and everything in between. In each piece, artists reflect on their projects and their insights, struggles, accomplishments, and how Creative Capital helped shape their practice.