Judith Belzer

Judith Belzer
Born1956
Chicago, Illinois, United States
EducationNew York Studio School, Barnard College
Known forOil painting, watercolors
SpouseMichael Pollan
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship
WebsiteJudith Belzer
Judith Belzer, From the Anthropocene #5, oil on canvas, 60" x 60", 2015.

Judith Belzer (born 1956) is an American painter based in Berkeley, California.[1][2] She is known for semi-abstract oils and watercolors depicting invented landscapes in which the natural and built worlds collide and adjoin.[3][4][5] These hybrid scenes have been described as dynamic, distanced but expressive, and non-prescriptive—more provocative than overtly critical observations of environmental change.[6][7][3] In an Artillery review Barbara Morris wrote, "Belzer explores the edge where the natural world interfaces with the industrialized landscape, emphasizing how rhythms and patterns found in nature are echoed in the structures that man has created … [and] conveying our anxious energy as we struggle for equilibrium in a world permanently altered by our actions."[4]

Belzer has exhibited at venues including the Museum of Arts and Design (New York),[8] Berkeley Art Museum (BAMPFA),[9] Nevada Museum of Art,[3] Contemporary Jewish Museum (San Francisco),[10] and Mills College Art Museum.[11] Her work belongs to the permanent collections of BAMPFA and the Nevada Museum of Art.[12][13] In 2014, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship.[14] Belzer is married to journalist and author Michael Pollan.[1]

  1. ^ a b Guthman, Edward. "Judith Belzer Has a Feel for the Natural World," San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  2. ^ Curiel, Jonathan. "The View From Berkeley: Moving to the Bay Area Radicalized a Painter's Vision of Landscapes," SF Weekly, May 14, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Rogers, Patrick. "In These Brightly Colored Landscapes, the Sharp Edges of Industry Collide with Nature’s Curves," NRDC, July 31, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Morris, Barbara. "Judith Belzer," Artillery, July 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  5. ^ Taylor, Tracey. "Vertiginous Views of Familiar Landscapes," Berkeleyside, May 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  6. ^ Porges, Maria. "Judith Belzer @ George Lawson," SquareCylinder, September 11, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  7. ^ Cheng, DeWitt. "Judith Belzer," Visual Art Source, October 2010.
  8. ^ Stokes, Lowery and Elizabeth Kirane. Against The Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design, The Monacelli Press, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  9. ^ Porges, Maria. "Way Bay @ BAMPFA," SquareCylinder, April 10, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Pritikin, Renny and Mark Dean Johnson (eds). Contraption: Rediscovering California Jewish Artists, San Francisco: Hirmer Press, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Mills College Art Museum. "Shifting Terrains." Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Judith Belzer, Collection. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  13. ^ Nevada Museum of Art. Untitled, Judith Belzer, Collections. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  14. ^ John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Judith Belzer, Fellows. Retrieved August 23, 2024.