Hamptons, New York
Almond Zigmund
Wading Room
Guild HallAlmond Zigmund makes large-scale site-responsive installations, discrete sculptures, works on paper, and paintings that explore the interplay between space, perception, and the built environment. Her work is characterized by crisp geometry, vivid colors, and intricate patterns that often suggest walls, barricades, and enclosures. Zigmund is also the creator of Almond Artist & Writers, family-style dinners at the restaurant Almond in Bridgehampton where people come together to share and celebrate the artistic process; she has organized more than sixty-five gatherings to date. It is in this spirit of supporting the power of community engagement that Zigmund was invited to create a site-specific environment in conjunction with the exhibition Functional Relationships: Artist-Made Furniture. Wading Room houses selections from Guild Hall's permanent collection; functional, artist-made furniture for public use, including chairs designed by Almond Zigmund in collaboration with Justin Allen (Shepard Co Design); and other artist-made objects: lighting, chairs, rugs, stools, vessels, and sculpture. The artists Sabra Moon Elliot, Kurt Gumaer, Saskia Friedrich, Karen Simon, and Nico Yektai have also contributed to the space. A series of participatory public programs and collaborative projects will take place throughout the run of the exhibition. We encourage visitors to linger, lounge, and interact in an artist-designed environment and to visit often to explore its potential. This exhibition was organized by Melanie Crader, museum director and curator of visual arts, with Philippa Content, museum manager and registrar and Claire Hunter, museum coordinator and curatorial associate. Originally from Brooklyn, Almond Zigmund received a BFA from Parsons School of Design, in New York and Paris and an MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied art theory and criticism with the MacArthur Award-winning critic, Dave Hickey. Zigmund makes large-scale site-responsive installations, discrete sculptures, works on paper, and paintings. Combining crisp geometry, vivid color, and intricate patterns, her sculptures and installations often suggest walls, barricades, enclosures, and other aspects of the built environment. The architectonic works tend to engage the eye and the body at once, offering generous amounts of visual stimulation while also inducing visceral reactions to the virtual and actual spaces. Zigmund's work has been exhibited internationally and is in public and private collections. She has done several public and private site-specific installations, including at the Parrish Museum of Art, CMA in New York, and The University of LaVerne in California. She has completed 2 public commissions for the NYC Dept of Transportation, and large scale murals at the The Whitman Walker Health Center in Washington DC, Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY, and at One Financial Plaza in NYC as part of the Brookfield Arts program. She most recently completed a commission for a public sculpture with the US State Department Art in Embassies Program in Paraguay and is currently developing a series of public sculptures.