Shirley Klinghoffer

My artwork is very personal. It addresses substantive life situations – specifically women’s issues, and more broadly, universal concerns. Often I use the human body, or body parts, to convey an idea. I have consistently explored the use of multiplicity of forms with a variety of materials, including tinted rubber, wax, resins & incorporated vintage fabrics, weathered found objects. Working with the Santa Fe Rape Crisis & Trauma Treatment Center for over 10 years, I have been an advocate against violence and aggression and have promoted pride and strength for women. More recently I have enhanced visuals for an educational program regarding human trafficking in New Mexico. From being at the forefront with the “V-Day” initiative “One Billion Rising”, a global effort to end violence and rape, to enthusiastically standing in solidarity with the “Women’s March on Washington”, my passion for truth and justice is “all fired up”. That said my art runs parallel with my life. From my work with female body image in a multitude of Venus installations in the early 1990’s to my breast cancer radiation therapy investigation and sculpture installation, “CRT-0981” realized in thin skins of glass, late 1990’s ; to my work beginning in 2002 promoting pride in my “Intimate Details” direct body cast work; hand shaped wax, and unique bronze castings, the media varies but the challenge to raise awareness is constant.

Spanning almost 4 decades, artist/activist, Shirley Klinghoffer has shown in numerous museums and galleries including: New Museum NYC, National Academy Galleries NYC, Dali Museum FL , Yeshiva University Museum NYC, Museum of Art (MOMA) NYC, Newark Museum NJ, Albuquerque Museum NM, Islip Museum NY, Katonah Museum NY, Museum of Glass (solo exhibition) WA. PUBLIC COLLECTIONS include the New Mexico Museum of Art, New Mexico Arts Permanent Collection, and New Mexico State University. Notable Accomplishments include: Love Armor 10th Anniversary Exhibition & Community Outreach Program (CCA), McCune Charitable Foundation Grants 2008 & 2018, A Mini Retrospective Solo Exhibition at Judy Chicago’s Through the Flower Foundation, Speaker & panelist at the 18th Annual International Sculpture Conference in Houston, the nationwide collaborative Love Armor Project (2007-2008), New Mexico Public Art Program three “Acclaimed Artist” Awards, Art in Public Places purchase award, Brooklyn Museum International Feminist Art Base, Visiting Artist Residency Museum of Glass, Public Art Display Fred Hutch Cancer Center WA (ongoing); El Palacio Magazine in collaboration with the Museum of NM Foundation "More Than Words" article Fall 2018; 2020 Edwina Milner "Women in the Arts" Exhibition/Lecture Series Award; Nominated for the 2023 "New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts" award.

3-D, Assemblage, Collage/Mixed Media, Fiber Arts, Sculpture