DAPHNE MUMFORD

Mumford's thematic development of the seasonal cycle is filled with expressions of mystery and lyricism reminiscent of Greek mythology. Her female figures assemble in forest glades to celebrate the rites of the season. Her figures merge silently with nature in a symphony of questioning coolness. Mumford expresses the primal relationship of mother love by enclosing her figures in a space that holds the body much like the mother holds the child. Mumford uses the environment of a forest or a given space to express her need to understand the cycle of birth, death, decay and rebirth. Her canvasses become a stage where the drama of evolution take place.

All of Mumford's pieces have a fairy tale quality rich in illusionary ideas which give her myths a concrete form. Her sights transcend time and space producing a state of being suspended in limbo. In Mumford's work, one is reminded of 14th and 15th century Italian frescoes in which the stylized architecture is not merely background, but an element of the painting almost as important as the figures. Yet Mumford's environments never conflict with her figures but rather underscore their movement. The figures too, though easily recognizable as individuals, have the impersonal, archetypical quality found in pre-Renaissance Art.

Mumford defines her image through color and composition. Her dreams are of a utopia where she redesigns life's passages through the fantasy she envisions of transcendence. Her exuberance and her stimulation derive from the thought of new possibilities, new visual conquests and continual growth. Daphne Mumford has a rich internal world that is sure and original.

ONE-WOMAN EXHIBITIONS
• 1958
  • Area Gallery, New York City
• 1959
  • Area Gallery, New York City
• 1973
  • Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1975
  • Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1976
  • Landmark Gallery, "Drawings," New York City
  • Carlson Gallery, Arnold Bernhard Arts & Humanities Center, Bridgeport, CT
• 1977
  • Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1978
  • Landmark Gallery, New York City

SELECTED IMPORTANT EXHIBITIONS
• 1978
  • Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
• 1978
  • Butler Institute of Art
• 1978
  • 10th Street of the Fifties
• 1977
  • Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1976
  • Carlson Gallery, Arnold Bernhard Arts & Humanities Center, Bridgeport, Conn.
• 1976
  • Landmark Gallery, "Drawings", New York City
• 1976
  • Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana
• 1976
  • Verie #2, Hartford, Conn.
• 1976
  • Drawing Show, Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1976
  • 118 Show, Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1975
  • Grey Art Gallery, New York University Art Collection, N.Y.C.
• 1975
  • Landscapes, Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1975
  • Drawing Show, Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1975
  • 118 Show, Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1974
  • 63rd Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Randolpt Macon Woman's College, Lynchburgh, Va.
• 1974
  • Art Scene, Temple Beth-El, Great Neck, L.l., N.Y.
• 1974
  • The Figure, 8 Artists, Landmark Gallery, N.Y.C.
• 1974
  • Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine
• 1974
  • Drawing Show, Landmark Gallery, N.Y.C.
• 1974
  • 118 Show, Landmark Gallery, N.YC
• 1973
  • Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine
• 1973
  • Drawing Show, Landmark Gallery, New York City
• 1973
  • 118 Show, Landmark Gallery, N.Y.C.
• 1972
  • 118 Show, Landmark Gallery, N.Y.C.
• 1971
  • 5 Man Show, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine
• 1970
  • 2 Man Silk-Screen Show, Horizon Gallery, New York City
• 1960
  • Hicks Street Gallery, New York City
• 1960
  • Xmas Invitational, Area Gallery, New York City
• 1960
  • Members Group Show, Area Gallery, New York City
• 1960
  • Collage Show, Area Gallery, New York City
• 1959
  • Xmas Invitational, Area Gallery, New York City
• 1959
  • Members Group Show, Area Gallery, New York City
• 1959
  • Collage Show, Area Gallery, New York City
• 1959
  • Wiscasset Art Gallery, Wiscasset, Maine
• 1958
  • Xmas Invitational, Area Gallery, New York City
• 1958
  • Members Group Show, Area Gallery, New York City
• 1958
  • Wiscasset Art Gallery, Wiscasset, Maine
• 1952
  • Bowdoin Collage Group Show, Maine