Wendy Klemperer
about
installations
individual sculptures
silhouettes
paintings and drawings
process
news
wendyklemperer@gmail.com
Artist Statement
The imagery that pervades my work reflects a lifelong fascination with animals. To make the large scale sculptures I search scrap yards for industrial refuse ravaged by usage and demolition. Bent and twisted, such pieces contain energy and potential new life. My welding process is a kind of three dimensional gesture drawing. A network of steel lines builds a skeletal form containing both presence and absence. I investigate the body language of animals to express a feeling or state of being, with motion conveying emotion. Focusing on the animal realm seems no less important to me than on that of humans- observing the continuity between all forms of life on earth.
Wendy Klemperer earned a bachelor’s in biochemistry at Harvard before moving to NYC to pursue art full time, earning a B.F.A. in sculpture at Pratt Institute in 1983. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and Nelson, NH. She is represented in Maine by June LaCombe. Residency grants include: the Skowhegan School, ME, MacDowell Colony, NH, Ucross Foundation, WY, Sculpture Space, NY, IKONS, in Newfoundland, Denali National Park in Alaska, and Stanislaus National Forest in Sonora, CA.
Exhibitions in NY and throughout the US include Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY, Bridgewater-Lustberg Gallery, NY, NY, Pratt Institute Sculpture Park, Brooklyn, NY, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT, and UNH Museum, Durham, NH. She has had comprehensive solo shows at Maine Audubon, Freeport, and Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, organized by June LaCombe. Large scale permanent installations include: Somersby Landing Sculpture Park in Newburyport, MA, Portland International Jetport, ME, Martin’s Point Bridge in Falmouth, ME, College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Lay Sculpture Park in Missouri, Great Falls International Airport, MT, Farmingdale State College, Farmingdale, NY, and SIAS University, Xinzheng, China. Klemperer has taught welded sculpture workshops for over a decade at several venues, including the Educational Alliance and #rd Ward, both in NYC, and the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland, VT. She has been a visiting artist and lectured about her work at universities throughout the United States.
CV
RED FOX, Pound Ridge, NY
June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Pownal, ME
Visons West Contemporary, Bozeman, MT
Diehl Gallery, Jackson Hole, WY
Sponder Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
Education
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY B.F.A. Sculpture
83 Harvard-Radcliffe College, Cambridge, MA B.A. Biochemistry
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
Comissions / Collections
Nelson Elementary School, Nelson, NH
Pine Island Park, Davie, FL
Lemon Fair Sculpture Park, Shoreham, VT
Cuomo/Tappan Zee Bridge Sculpture, South Nyack, NY
Lay Sculpture Park, Louisiana, MO
Wildflower Sculpture Park, South Orange, NJ
Vermont Institute of Natural Science: Tree Canopy Walk, Quechee, VT
Newburyport Clipper City Rail Trail, MA
Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY
Great Falls International Airport, MT
21 Fitzsimmons Complex, Denver, CO
State University of New York, Farmingdale, NY
Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Quechee, VT
Deer Park, Newport News Public Art Foundation, Newport News, VA
College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME
Martin’s Point Bridge, Falmouth, ME
State University of New York, Farmingdale, NY
Four Corners Art Center, Tiverton, RI
Sias International University, Xinzheng, Henan Province, PRC, China
California State University at Bakersfield, CA
City of Westminster, CO
Suffield Academy, Suffield, CT
Somersby Landing Sculpture Park, Newburyport, MA
Portland International Jetport, City of Portland Public Art Collection, gift of William Hamill
Key Plaza, Bangor, ME
L. L. Bean Company, Freeport, ME
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, ME
Lay Sculpture Park, Louisiana, MO
The Cheshire Horse, Keene, NH
Newmark and Co Real Estate, 560 Broadway, 2nd Flr, New York, NY
Pratt Institute Sculpture Park, Brooklyn, NY
Andalusia Foundation, Bensalem, PA
Over 150 private collections
Exhibitions (One and Two Person)
2023 - 2025 Wrought Taxonomies, solo show at Vanderbilt Museum, Centerport, NY
2023 Salvaged Beasts, solo show at Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY
2022 There Goes the Neighborhood, The Art Center at Duck Creek, Easthampton, NY
2021 Wendy Klemperer: Artist at Sea, UNH Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2020 INSTINCT, Red Fox Gallery, Pound Ridge, NY
2017 Let the Outside In, Humanities Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Salvage What You Can, Studio 10, 56 Bogart, Brooklyn, NY
2016-17 Shadow Migrations, Summit Public Art, Summit, NJ
2015-16 Shadow Migrations, Court Square Park, Queens, NY, Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award, NYC Parks
2015 Wendy Klemperer: Sculpture, The Hotchkiss School, CT through 2017
2014 Wendy Klemperer: Sculpture and Drawings, Memorial Gallery, SUNY Farmingdale, NY
2014 Pursuit, Henry’s Rooftop Bar, Roger Smith Hotel, NY, NY
2013 Gericroix, The Sculpture Project, New Hope, PA
2013 Restraint and Release, curated by Kristine Durocher, Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
2013 Gestures of that Other Life, curated by Kate Mullen, Four Corners Arts Center, Tiverton, RI
2012 Waxing Wild, curated by Deborah Brown, Storefront Bushwick (project space), Brooklyn, NY
2011 Re-Imagined: Sculpture by Wendy Klemperer, curated by June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME
2010 Re-Imagined: Sculpture by Wendy Klemperer, curated by June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Maine Audubon, Falmouth, ME
2009 Re-Imagined: Sculpture by Wendy Klemperer, curated by June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, ME
2008 Shadow Migration, 38 Cameron Gallery, Cambridge, MA (2 person)
2008 Two Artists, Union College Gallery, Schenectady, NY (2 person)
2007 Leopard, 38 Cameron Gallery, Cambridge, MA (3 person)
2000 Suspended Animation, Gallery of South Orange, NJ (solo)
1999 Urban Pastures, Bridgewater/Lustberg Gallery, NY, NY (solo)
1998 Anima Mundi, Bridgewater/Lustberg Gallery, NY, NY (solo)
1997 Featured Artist, Nelson Art Gallery, Nelson, NH
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
Sculpture at the Mount, Group Show at The Mount, Lenox, MA
Birth of a Shadow, Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA
2023
Un/Natural Selections: Wildlife in Contemporary Art, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY
Un/Natural Selections: Wildlife in Contemporary Art, The James Museum, St. Petersburg, FL
Un/Natural Selections: Wildlife in Contemporary Art, The Gibbes Museum, Charleston, SC
Going Outside, Curated by Dan Devine, Sculpture Space Hudson, Hudson, NY
2022
Un/Natural Selections: Wildlife in Contemporary Art, The Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
Bright and Beautiful Vl, Diehl Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Viridis, Red Fox Gallery, Pound Ridge, NY
Shelter, curated by Melinda Stickney-Gibson, Byrdcliffe Woodstock Artists Guild, Woodstock, NY
2021
Famous Artists, Store 4 Rent Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Spring Awakening, Hawk Ridge Farm, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE,Pownal, ME
2020
Clarity, Hawk Ridge Farm, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE,Pownal, ME
2019
Among Friends, curated by Patti Fabricant and Alexandra Rutsch Brock, Clemente Soto Velez Ctr, NY, NY
Wildflower Sculpture Park, South Orange, NJ
Cross Contemporary Art, Saugerties, NY
Lemon Fair Sculpture Park, Shoreham, VT
Living With Sculpture, June LaCombe SCULPTURE, ME
2014
Brooklyn Gravity Racers, 20th Anniversary, Pierogi/The Boiler, Brooklyn, NY
Beasts of Burden, curated by Jane O’Hara, Harvard Allston Educational Portal for the Arts, Allston, MA
Pollinators, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Boothbay, ME
Sculpture at Maine Audubon, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Falmouth, ME
Pierogi XX: Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Second Family, Curated by Julie Torres, 2 Rivington St Gallery, NY, NY
Family Style, curated by Julie Torres, Formerly Pocket Utopia, NY, NY
NurtureArt Benefit (2009-2015), The Boiler, Brooklyn, NY
Smack Mellon Benefit (2008-2015), Brooklyn, NY
Vapors and Squalls, or Mediums, curated by Paul D’Agostino, Centotto, Brooklyn, NY
Back In Situ, or Turns, curated by Paul D’Agostino, Centotto, Brooklyn, NY
North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture, curated by Joe Chirchirilli, VT
2013
Bestiary, Smart Clothes Gallery, NY, NY
Portraits of Fern, Norte Maar, Brooklyn, NY
Vermont Arts Council Sculpture Garden, Montpelier, VT
Outdoor Sculpture, Ocala, FL
Outdoor Sculpture, St. John’s Sculpture Park, Portland, OR
Equus, Tabla Rasa Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2012
My Wildlife as an Animal, curated by Ron Richter, Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, NY, NY
Sculpture Garden, curated by Deborah Brown and Lesley Heller, Onderdonk House, Brooklyn, NY
Steel and Stone, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Pownal, ME
On the Wing, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Maine Audubon, Falmouth, ME
2011
Between Earth and Sky, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Pownal, ME
Outdoor Sculpture, Southern Vermont Arts Ctr, Manchester, VT
Sacred Land (Featured Artist), Sculpturefest, Woodstock, VT
Sites for Sculpture, curated by Pam Brown, Dowling College, Oakdale, NY
New Year/New Work/New Faces, curated by Jason Andrew and Deborah Brown, Storefront Gallery, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY
2010
Outdoor Sculpture, curated by Jocelyn Grayson, Southern Vermont Arts Ctr, Manchester, VT
2009
Animal Attractions, curated by Eric Johnson, The Fells, Sunapee, NH
Crest Hardware Art Show, Brooklyn, NY
Sculpture Invitational, Millbrook Gallery, Concord, NH
Return, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE, Pownal, ME
2008
Sculpture for New Orleans, curated by Lundberg and Manjarris, NO, LA
Water and Gravity, June LaCombe/ SCULPTURE, Pownal, ME
Outdoor Sculpture: Creating Harmony with Nature, Courthouse Gallery, Ellsworth, ME
Structures, Redmond-Bennet Gallery, Dublin, NH
Nature and Balance 2, Arsenal Ctr for the Arts, Watertown, MA
Medley, Visions West Gallery, Livingston, MT
Crest Hardware 10th Anniversary, Brooklyn, NY
Metal-Morphosis ll, Ernest Rubinstein Gallery, NY, NY
Gallery in the Garden, curated by Eileen Tognini, Hawk Mountain. PA
2007
Where Nature and Culture Meet, Maine Audubon Society and Coastal Maine Botanic Garden, June LaCombe/SCULPTURE
Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, curated by Janet Riker, Stockbridge, MA
Nature and Balance, Arsenal Ctr. for the Arts, Watertown, MA
Go Figure, curated by Eric Johnson, The Fells, Sunapee, NH
Sculpture Invitational, Millbrook Gallery, Concord, NH
Visions West Gallery, Livingston, MT
DUMBO Outdoor Sculpture, Jan Larsen Art, Brooklyn, NY
2006
June LaCombe/Sculpture, Coastal Maine Botanic Gardens, Boothbay Harbor, ME
Sculpture Installation, Chapel Hill, NC
Sculpture Installation, ArtInPlace, Charlottesville, VA
2003
Sculpture in the Park lll, Rockland Ctr for The Arts, Nyack, NY
Faculty Exhibit, Ernest Rubenstein Gallery, Ed. Alliance, NYC
Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, Curated by Janice Kean Dorgan, Chesterwood Museum, Stockbridge, MA
17th Rosen Outdoor Sculpture, Appalachian State Univ., Boone, NC
Third Annual Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
Sculpture Courtyard, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL
2002
Six Sculptors, Long Island University campus, Brooklyn, NY curated by Kathleen Gilrain
Earthworks, North Carolina Zoological Park, Ashboro, NC
2001
Sculpture Installation, Artscape Public Art, Pittsfield, MA
The Sculpture Path, Forest Hills Educational Trust, Boston, MA
Sculpture Installation, Pratt Institute Sculpture Park, Brooklyn, NY
Celebration, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY, 2001
Sculpture in the Garden 2001, Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge, MA
Contemporary Sculpture At Chesterwood 2001, Stockbridge, MA
The Madison Mile: Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture, Madison, CT
Harbor Walk: Sculpture on the Boardwalk, West Haven, CT
2000
Chain-hounds: an Installation, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
The Dog and Pony Show, curated by Leslie Heller, The Workspace, 96 Spring St, NYC
Sculpture Installation, Convergence Festival, Providence, RI
Bridgeport Sculpture Festival, organized by Peter Lundberg, Bridgeport, CT
Checked, organized by Cindy Tower, Museum of Modern Art (action on coat check room), NYC
1999
Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood, curated by Janice Conner, Chesterwood Museum, Stockbridge, MA
Examining the Equine, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA
The Horse Show, Sylvia White Gallery, 560 Broadway, NYC
Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Concord, NH
Sculpture Installation, City of Poughkeepsie Sculpture Park, Poughkeepsie, NY
1998
Signs, Forms, Systems: Site-Specific Outdoor Sculpture, North 9th St and Kent Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Escape Velocity, Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY
Indoor/Outdoor Sculpture, Greene Gallery, Guilford, CT
1997
Crest Hardware and Soho Hardware, curated by Gene Pool, NY
1996
Brookworld: Installations by 25 Brooklyn Artists in a Soho Tenement Building, curated by Cindy Tower, 24 Thompson St, NYC
Nine Sculptors Outdoors, Washburn University, Topeka, KS
Cousins, Cape Gallery, Falmouth, MA (two-person)
1995
Sculpture Survey Show, curated by Mariella Bisson, One Main St Exhibition Space, Brooklyn, NY
Exposure and Vulnerability, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park Brooklyn, NH
Other Rooms, Ronald Feldman Gallery, 39 Mercer St, NYC
All Media Summer Exhibition, Contemporary Artist’s Ctr, North Adams, MA
1994
11211: Williamsburg Artists, Jadite Gallery, 413 W.50th st, NYC
Art-Terre: A Site-Specific Art Exhibit, Buckingham, Canada
1993
Four-Walls Fundraiser, David Zwirner Gallery, 97 Green St, NYC
NY/93/50, Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NYC
Outdoor Sculpture, OIA sponsored exhibition, Ward’s Island, NY
Wild Kingdom, Bridgewater/Lustberg Gallery, NYC
1992
Reclaiming Land: an Exhibition of Site-Sculptures, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY
The Neurotic Art Show, Artist’s Space, NYC
New Dimensions, Bridgewater/Lustberg Gallery, NYC.
1991
In the 3rd Dimension, Bridgewater/Lustberg Gallery, NYC
Habitat and Plein Air, AMMO, 135 Plymouth St, Bklyn, NY
Alumni Show, Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
1989
Three Artists, The Gallery, 30 Bond St, NYC
1987
Bridge Space Exhibition, 40 Old Fulton St, Bklyn, NY
1986
Indoors/Outdoors: a sculpture invitational, curated by David Hacker Charas Cultural Ctr, 9th St at Ave B, NYC
Room to Swing a Cat: a multimedia exhibit, 40 Hoyt St, Bklyn, NY
My Pretty Pony and Summertime, with Chris Schiavo and Kara Cressman, screened at Four Walls, Brooklyn, NY, The Kitchen, NYC and Artist’s Space, NYC
Grants, Fellowships Awards
Marilyn Newmark Grant, National Sculpture Society, 2022
Visiting Artist, ADEON cruise, 3 week residency at sea with scientists studying marine life 2019
Creature Conserve Research Grant for Art and Science Projects 2019
Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome 2019
Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award; NYC Parks, Court Square Park, Queens, NY, 2015
Franconia Sculpture Park Open Studio Fellowship, MN, 2015
Artist in Residence, Stanislaus National Forest, Sonora, CA, 11/2014
Artist in Residence, Denali National Park, 8/2013
Residency, St. John’s Sculpture Park, Portland, OR, 2013
Residency Fellowship, SIAS University, Zhengzhou, China, 2008, 2009
Residency, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY, 2007
Sculpture Prize, Warwick Sculpture Festival, Newport News, VA, 2005
Award, Rosen Sculpture, Appalachian State U, Boone, NC, 2003
Lotos Grant, Pratt Institute Outdoor Sculpture, Brooklyn, NY 2001
Merit Award, Chesterwood ,Stockbridge, MA 1999
Emerging Artist Fellowship, Socrates Sculpture Park, 1998
Funded Residency, Sculpture Space, Utica, NY, 1995
Residency, Pouch Cove Foundation, Newfoundland, Canada, 1992
Residency, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH, 1986
Residency, Ucross Foundation, Wyoming, 1986
Lectures, Panels, Teaching
Visiting Artist, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 11/6/2013
Visiting Artist, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA, 4/22/2011
Visiting Artist, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME, 11/18/2010
Shop Club Talk, Harvard University Faculty Club, Cambridge, MA, 2009
Artist Master, Catalyst Program, Dreyfus Foundation, 2008
Welding Instructor, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY, 2006-2011
Instructor, Carving Studio & Sculpture Ctr, Rutland, VT, 2004-present
Welding Instructor, Educational Alliance Art School, New York, NY, 2002-2007
Workshop Artist, Morris-Jumel Mansion, NY, 1998
Workshop Artist, Brooklyn Arts Council, NY, 93-4
Panel Discussion, Outdoor Sculpture, Madison, CT 2003
Visiting Artist Talk, Franklin Pierce College, Ringe, NH 2002
Artists’ Talk, Forest Hills Cemetary, Boston, MA, 2002
Artists’ Talk, Gallery of South Orange, NJ, 2000
Cast Iron Workshop, Convergence Festival, Providence, RI, 1999
The Job Show Panel, Organized by Four Walls, Ronald Feldman Gallery, NYC, 1996
Pilgrims: Wayfarers, Visionaries, Eccentrics, organized by Cindy Tower, at Four Walls, Brooklyn, NY 1995
Outdoor Sculpture Lecture, at BOCES Community College, Utica, NY 1995
Curator’s Choice, Artists Talk on Art, NYC 1993
Bibliography
Osprey art lands at Martin’s Point Bridge, The Forecaster, 11/3/2014
Sculptor Wendy Klemperer: “Restraint and Release” in Nature’s Realm, Artes Magazine, Linda Chestney, 11/29/2013
Chain Hounds Launched at UNH, New Hampshire Union Leader, G. Macalaster, 9/5/2013
A Scene Grows in Brooklyn, ARTnews, Carolina Miranda, 2/2012
Outdoor Art, Mountain Living, Loneta Showell, 8/2012
Art Review: Wendy Klempererʼs “Glimpse”, Portland Press Herald, Daniel Kany, 11/7/2011
Flight Diversion, Portland Press Herald, Bob Keyes 11/2011
Wild Things, Maine Home and Design, Rebecca Falzano, 1/2011
Cover Story: Animal Dreams, Portland Press-Herald, Bob Keyes, 6/3/2010
Living/Arts, The Boston Globe, Christine. Temin, 8/29/01
Arts & Entertainment, Sunday Gazette, Karen Bjornland, 7/22/01
Art Review, The Berkshire Eagle, Charles Bonenti, 8/16/01 & 10/20/01
Resculpting the DeCordova, Boston Globe, C. Temin, 9/22/00
Contemporaries at Home, Albany Times Union, W. Jaeger 8/29/99
Art Perspectives, Boston Globe, Christine Temin, 7/28/99
Arts and Leisure, Portfolio Weekly, Catherine Dorsey
City, New York Times, Douglas Martin, 12/6/98
Art Review, New York Times, Grace Glueck, 8/21/98
Pilgrims and Pop Pioneers, New Observations Magazine, 9/95
Arts and Entertainment, Falmouth Enterprise, W. H. Adelman, 8/27/96
Visual Heartland, Ottowa Express, Kirk Finken, 8/24/94
Art – Terre, Ottowa News, Sherry Chayat 8/19/94
Eye on Art, The New York Post, Jerry Talmer, 7/27/90
Nature as Subject and Substance, The New York Times, Andy Grundberg, 4/20/90
Videos
Glimpse, Portland, Maine
Artist in Residence, Denali National Park
Re-Imagined, Maine Audubon, Falmouth
Installation of Re-Imagined, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay
Art Work: Animals, Why
Kimball Island Fawn
Re-imagined Slideshow