GALLERY

332 BLEECKER STREET, STE K35, NEW YORK, NY 10014, (212) 966 5790

ESTHER A. GRILLO
Artist's Statement, Curriculum Vitae


In Esther Grillo's surrealistic body of work, the human form is unified visually through a mix of media, the inventive use of trompe L'oeil as well as physically by high intensity heat. Melted glass, cooper and glaze are fused into frozen images fixed into the encompassing welded steel. Far from minimalist attitudes, the work is inclusive, a dynamic case of multimedia offering multi-message.

Her three dimensional assemblages range in size from the intimate hand held scale, into human proportions and finally expanded to monumental indoor and outdoor installations.


Selected Solo Exhibitions:
“9/11 Roxbury Memorial,” 37’ X 6’ X 1’, collaborative sculpture, Roxbury, Queens, NY 2006
“Monarch Landscape,” 70’ X 14’ mural, NY Parks Department, Beach 76th Street, Rockaway, NY 2002-3
“Esther A. Grillo,” Indoor and Outdoor Sculpture and Installations, Gruss Center of Visual Arts, The Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, NJ 2001
“The Deep,” 65’ X 14’ mural, NY Parks Department, Rockaway Park, NY 2000
“Surf’s Up,” 70’ X 14’ mural, NY Parks Department, Rockaway Park, NY 1999
“Mythical Cavern,” 65’ X 14’ mural, ‘Wave’ structure, Rockaway Park, NY 1998
“The Fallen,” 14 Sculptors Gallery, Inc., New York, NY 1990
“Esther Grillo: Her Psyche,” Payne Gallery, Moravian College, PA 1990
“Meltdown,” Palmer Museum, Pennsylvania State University, PA 1988
“Esther A. Grillo: Installation, Sculpture, Collage, Prints,” 14 Sculptors Gallery, Inc., New York, NY 1988
“Narrative Sculpture: Collage and Prints,” 14 Sculptors Gallery, New York, NY 1986
“The Ambiguous Sculptural Image,” 14 Sculptors Gallery, New York, NY 1983


Selected Group Exhibitions:
“Salem Art Works: Outdoor Sculpture,” 19 Cary Lane, Salem. NY. 120 acre art park. 2007-10
“Speaking to Power,” Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ 2007-8
“Sculpture at Mathews Park,” Matthews Park, Norwalk, CT 2005-6
“Alumni Exhibition: Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Brooklyn College,” Brooklyn College Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2005
“Water Show,” Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC), Brooklyn, NY 2004
“Over the Rainbow,” Empire State Park, Fulton Ferry, McLevy Park, Bridgeport, CT 2004-5
“ARTSplash 2001,” Indoor and outdoor sculpture, Rockaway Artists Alliance, Gateway National Recreation Area, Fort Tilden, NY, Juror: Tom Finkelpearl, Executive Director Queens Museum of Art, 2003
“Urban Air Forms: Queens,” Outdoor and Indoor sculpture, Flushing Meadow Park, Queens, NY, Sponsor: NY Parks Department 2002
“Art Frenzy,” Rockaway Artists Alliance, Inc., sTudio 7 Gallery, Fort Tilden, NY. Juror: Valerie Smith Queens Museum, NY 2002
“Women’s Works: A Retrospective of Public Artists in New York City Parks, 1967-2001,”Arsenal Gallery, New York, NY 2001
“Renewal/Change 19th Annual Outdoor Sculpture Show,” Empire State Park, New Dock Street & the East River, Brooklyn, NY 2001
“ARTSplash 2001,” Indoor and Outdoor sculpture, installation, Rockaway Artists Alliance, Gateway National Recreation Area, Fort Tilden, NY. Juror: Steven Depolo. 2001
“©2000,” Outdoor Sculpture Show, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY 2000
“Rockaway Artists Alliance Show,” Oakridge Gallery, Forest Park, Queens, NY 1999
“The Community Warehouse,” The Interchurch Center Lobby Gallery, 475 Riverside Drive, NY, NY 1998
“Urban Air Forms: Part 1, Prototypes,” ArtSpace, Jersey City State College, Jersey City, NJ 1998
“Urban Air Forms,” Outdoor Sculpture, New Jersey City University, 2039 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 1998
“The Raw and The Cooked,” 14 Sculptors Gallery, Inc., Nassau Community College, Firehouse Gallery,Garden City, Long Island, NY 1997
“Community Warehouse,” Interchurch Center, New York, NY 1997
“The Raw and The Cooked,” 14 Sculptors Gallery, Inc., New York, NY 1996
“New Metaphors (Falling Inward),” Blue Hill Cultural Center, Pearl River, NY 1995
“Women’s Portfolio, Faculty and Alumnae,” University College Art Gallery, Fairleigh Dickenson University, NJ 1994
“Challenging Utopia,” 14 Sculptors Gallery, New York, NY 1993
“Re:Actions,” Eastern Regional Conference IV for Abuse & Multiple Personality, Washington, DC 1992
“From the Streets of New York,” Loft Gallery Space, Ikebukuro, Japan 1991
“Choice? Choice!” Window Exhibition Space, Brooklyn, NY 1991
“Columns,” Lehigh University, Seigel Gallery, Lehigh, PA 1991
“Sculpture: New York at Notre Dame,” Isis Gallery, University of Notre Dame, IN 1990
“Figuring the Odds: Six Mixed Media Figurative Artists,” BACA Downtown, Brooklyn, NY 1989
“Queens Museums Juried Annual ’87,” Queens, NY 1987
“Printmaking at Brooklyn,” Brooklyn College Art Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 1987
“Taking Liberties: Transcendence and Transgression,” Pace University Art Gallery, Civic Center Campus, PacePlaza, New York, NY 1986
“Long Island Artists,” Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY 1985
“Holocaust Memorial Art Exhibition,” Queensborough Community College, NY 1985
“Past/Post/Future,” Pleiades Gallery, New York, NY 1985
“Earth Transformed by Fire: Ceramic Sculpture,” The Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 1985


Grants and Awards:
Precita Eyes National Mural Award, San Francisco, CA 2005
Mural Grant, Rockaway Chamber of Commerce 2000
City Parks Foundation Grant 1999
Queens Community Arts Fund 1997
MTA/Creative Stations Grant 1992
Artists Space Grant – Curator: Ursula Clark, The Gas Station, alternative space, New York, NY 1990
Graduate Fellowship Award 1981


Public Collections:
Brooklyn College Art Collection, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY
Payne Gallery, Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA
Palmer Museum, Pennsylvania State University, PA
United Federation of Teachers, New York, NY
New York City Artist Teachers Association/United Federation of Teachers (NYCATA/UFT)


Books:
On the Wall, Four Decades of Community Murals in NYC, illustration 2008
Best of New York: Impressions in Continuity, First Edition, Sorrell Communications, Inc. p.175 2002
Sculpting Clay, by Leon I. Nigrosh, p.6, illustration 1991


Selected Review/Publications:

   2003 Jerome L. Sherman, Her Art Is New Wave, Newsday, June 10, 2003, p. A55
   2002 Sorrell Communications, Inc., Best of New York, Second Edition, 2002, illustrations
   1999 Lisa L. Colangelo, New Life for Bus Shelter, Daily News, Your Neighborhood, September 23, 1999, p. QLI 1
   1999 Queens Council on the Arts, Surf’s Up Mural, Guide to the Arts, and Entertainments, Events, September 23, 1999
   1995 Viien Raynor, Motherhood and Other “New Metaphors,” The New York Times, July 16, 1995, illustration
   1992 It’s a Big Pond, and We’re All Part of It, The New York Times, Home Section, October 22, 1992
   1987 Prakash and Shaman, Long-Range Planning for Museums: Promoting Public Escapism or Educating for Public Responsibility? The Museologist, journal, Vol. 51, N. 176, pp. 11-15, 1987
   1987 Ester Grillo, Meltdown, Ceramic Monthly, magazine, Vol. 35, No. 1, January 1987, pp. 34-35
   1986 Susan Koslow, Esther Grillo, Arts Magazine, magazine, Vol. 61, No. 1, September 1986, p. 112
   1988 Sanford Shaman, Museums and Social Responsibilities, Art Education, journal, 1988
   1988 Esther Grillo, Fantasied Garden Revealed, Ceramics Monthly, magazine, December 1988, p. 64 & 66
   1983 Ruth Butler, Esther A. Grillo, Ceramics Monthly, magazine, December 1983


Websites:
www.14Sculptors.com, www.rockawayartistsalliance.com, www.nycparks.gov (select temporary exhibitions)


Selected Lectures and Media Interviews:
NY 1 Cable: “Artists from the Rockaways” 1998


Education:
MFA, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY – Cum Laude 1981
BFA, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY 1977



GALLERY