Irwin Kremen (1925-2020), began making art at the age of 41 after a career in clinical psychology (where he became director of the Graduate Clinical Psychology Training Program at Duke University). He worked primarily in collage, composing his works from loose papers, scraps of paint, and various other ephemeral materials. Kremen’s collages were created using a singular process: they were constructed with network of attachments via a delicate architecture of tiny Japanese paper hinges. This allows the various elements a certain sculptural quality within the overall composition. The collages, in retaining their distinct qualities without being flattened or altered by gluing, possess a tactility and monumentality that transcends their small scale.
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Irwin Kremen Obituary Published in ARTNews
“Irwin Kremen, an esteemed professor of psychology at Duke University whose mid-career pivot to art brought international acclaim, died on February 5. A self-taught sculptor, painter, and collagist, Kremen was best known for abstract collages of painted fabric and found materials such as bits of steel, weathered paper, or wasps’ nests.”
museum exhibition
Retrospective at the Nasher Museum
The Nasher Museum presented a retrospective of the work of Irwin Kremen. Irwin Kremen: Beyond Black Mountain (1966 to 2006) included collage, painting and sculpture spanning each of the 40 years of the artist’s career.
exhibition review
ART IN REVIEW; Irwin Kremen
Grace Glueck reviews Irwin Kremen’s 2004 exhibition at ACA Gallery.
museum exhibition
The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center presented the new exhibition In Site: Late Works by Irwin Kremen opening in 2011. The exhibition primarily focused on recent collages and also included a selection of his sculptures.
exhibition review
Irwin Kremen
Irwin Kremen's 1988 show at the University of Illinois was reviewed in Artforum by Buzz Spector.
review
Collages by Irwin Kremen
catalog
Irwin Kremen Independent, 2019
Catalog published on the occasion of the Irwin Kremen solo presentation at the Independent art fair in 2019. Works presented at the fair and a chronology of Kremen's life, career, and exhibition history is included in the publication. The book is 8.25 x 10.75 inch, 38 page, perfect-bound catalog with full color images.