ABOUT
I’ve worked in many media. Sculptures in wood and paper mache, chicken wire, oils, gouache, paper clay. watercolor etc.
I have boxes of ink drawings that I’ve made since childhood. These drawings describe how I was experiencing the world at a particular moment. Often those observations were expressed through a character that stood for me. It had many looks, some resembling me more than others. The character allowed the work to be personal while I hid in plain sight.
The work I’ve been doing recently is a very clear and detailed exploration of my face. The images are large on the page and include every mark, fold and stain. The pictures are intense, seen by unblinking eyes that stare back and sometimes through me.
Mindy Alper studied with well known art teacher Dorothy Cannon from the ages of 5 to 40 and also studied with Harry Burnett, Leonard Schwartz, Anthony Austin, Phyllis Muldavin, Olga Seem Kooyman and Sue Maing. Mindy Alper has studied with Tom Wudl since 2007.
Alper has had solo exhibitions at Random Gallery and Rosamund Felsen Gallery. Mindy is the subject of Frank Stiefel’s Oscar winning documentary “Heaven Is A Traffic Jam on the 405”.
Photo by: Grant Mudford
Mindy Alper
Lives in Los Angeles, CA USA
mindysmac@gmail.com
Biography
1959 Born, Brooklyn, NY.
1963 - 1999 Studied with Los Angeles artist, Dorothy Cannon.
1974 - 1975 Studied puppetry with Harry Burnett, Turnabout Theatre, Los Angeles.
1976 - 1977 Studied sculpture with Leonard Schwartz, drawing with Anthony Austin, Immaculate Heart, Los Angeles.
1978 - 1983 Studied oil painting with Olga Seem Kooyman, drawing with Phyllis Muldavin, Los Angeles City College.
Currently studying with Tom Wudl (and previously Susanna Maing), Los Angeles.
One Art Exhibitions
1987 Raddack Gallery, Los Angeles.
1989 Sincere Technologies Gallery, Oakland, CA.
1992 Colony Studio Live Theater, Los Angeles.
1994 “Drawing on the Wrong Side of the Brain,” Random Gallery, Los Angeles.
2006 Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica.
2008 Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica.
2013 Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica.
Group Exhibitions
1983 Gay Community Services Center, Los Angeles.
1985 Unitarian Church, Los Angeles.
1998 Random Gallery, Los Angeles.
1980 Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles.
1986 Women’s Caucus for the Arts, California State University, Los Angeles.
1991 Arroyo Arts Collective, Lawry’s Cultural Center, Los Angeles.
1995 “In The Pocket,” Random Gallery, Los Angeles.
1998 “Five Years at Random,” Random Gallery, Los Angeles.
2000 Arroyo Arts Collective, Arroyo Seco Library, Los Angeles.
2002 Arroyo Arts Collective Discovery Tour, Los Angeles.
Performances
1982 Love Machine, Rock and Roll band
1987 - 1989 Writer, actor: Imagination Workshop, an improvisational performing art theater group, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, Los Angeles.\
1987 - 1989 Founding member of the Buttersticks, performance group.
Teaching
1976 - 1995 Art Teacher, Dorothy Cannon Art Studio, Studio City, CA.
1977 - 1979 T.A., Area H, Alternative School, Los Angeles.
1980 - 2001 Art Teacher, private classes, Los Angeles.
1986 - 1987 Art Teacher, adolescent terminal ward, Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles.
2006 Visiting Artist, Experimental Drawing Class, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
Bibliography
1984 Saito, Shirley. “Mindy Alper: Sculpting in Papier Mache,” Fiber Arts, Jul/Aug, pp 18-19.
1985 Ed. “Exploratorium display’s works of figurative art,” University Times, California State University Los Angeles, Feb 14.
1992 McKenna, Kristine. “Inside the Outsider,” Los Angeles Times.
1999 Grapes, Jack. ONTHEBUS, literary magazine, 39 drawings reproduced.
2007 Ed. “The Last Work West Coast Writers & Artists,” ZYZZYVA, Spring, p 64-67.
2013 Hosler, Jay; Harrison, Peggy The Black Square, Norm and Burny, book, (Publi: Benchland Publications, Santa Cruz, CA) 166 pp.
2018 Robert Abele “In short, exploring the big questions,” Los Angeles Times, Feb 2, E12.