Installation shot, Mary Ann Unger Estate

An artist of whom you have probably never heard but definitely should know about is Mary Ann Unger. Born in New York City in 1945, she died prematurely of breast cancer in 1998. A contemporary of female sculptors such as Kiki Smith, Petah Coyne, and Ursula von Rydingsvard, whom she knew and exhibited with, she received her MFA from the School of the Arts at Columbia University in 1975.

Pieta/Monument to War, 1990, Hydrocal over steel with pigment, wax, graphite, 85" x 61" x 54"

Unger’s earlier work has a playful quality about it. It is geometric, focusing on pattern, repetition, structure and mathematics and is less emotional and personal than works in her oeuvre from later in her career. After she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1985, however, her work became more expressionistic and organic addressing issues of the body and mortality. Unger leaves parts of works “unfinished” or exposed so the surface looks worn. Her work implies a deterioration of the body in the way she shows hidden layers under the surface. By using hydrocal, a type of plaster that can be layered and sanded over wire/steel armatures, she was able to intimate wounds and bandages without specifically representing them. She would dip cheesecloth into the hydrocal which helped to create a great deal of texture. Her works from the years right before her passing seem to indicate a more peaceful relathey are so colorful and are similar to those she created at the beginning of her career. She appeared to have come full circle.

Mytosis I and II, 1998 and Benchmarks (detail,) 1977

You can easily see the hand of the artist in most of her work. Works such as Mitosis Series no. 2 are very cellular and along with the recurring themes of the female body, layering, and bandaging, Unger has often been compared to Eva Hesse and Louise Bourgeois. However, she definitely has her own style and the emotion that the works convey to the viewer is intimate though many of her works are large-scale–not a terribly easy task to achieve.

Fishbone (Skeleton) from 1998 includes spine shapes, bulbous forms, bones, and insides; I am reminded of Giacometti’s Surrealist work from 1932, Woman with her Throat Cut.

Though a sculptor first and foremost, the estate has flatfiles holding a cache of Unger’s drawings and water colors. Her drawings remind me of the work of the sculptor Martin Puryear.

Shanks, 1995-7, Hydrocal over steel with patina, 66 1/2" x 50" x 6"

Mary Ann Unger had multiple solo exhibitions including shows at the Trans Hudson and Klarfeld Perry Galleries in NYC. She was very active at Sculpture Center and her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions Fellowship and in both 1989 and 1995 she received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. as well as many private collections.throughout the United States at locations such as Socrates Sculpture Park, P.S. 1, and the Grey Art Gallery at New York University,. A number of permanent, outdoor, site-specific sculptures were commissioned during her career, including works on view at Queens College, Lehigh University, and Ursinus College. In 1992 she was awarded a Guggenheim

You can learn more about her work by visiting the estate’s website at www.maryannunger.com

Unger maquettes, Fragment series, 1986-1993