Bari Ziperstein works primarily in ceramics and her practice includes discrete objects, large-scale installation, site-specific mixed-media public sculpture, and her line of functional ceramics, BZIPPY. Materially experimental but conceptually driven, she engages ideas of consumerism, propaganda, and the built environment. Her objects and sculptural tableaux reflect her interest in the political dimensions of capitalist economies and challenge the construction of desire and aspiration in contemporary American culture through a historical lens.
Ziperstein pushes the limits of scale, experiments with color and finish, and uses the shapes and surfaces of her sculptures to tell stories and convey ideas. She approaches her work from an intersectional feminist position, asking questions about how women and women’s work are positioned within societal frameworks, and her work reflects her interest in the ways that art and other visual and spatial materials convey meaning. Ziperstein’s process often starts with research and archival materials to explore the ways that visual culture and the built environment signal repressive social and political ideologies. The final forms are often inspired by Brutalist buildings and monuments in the United States and abroad, including countries such as Russia and Poland, to which Ziperstein traces her own familial origins. The surfaces are typically covered in sgraffito drawings based on archival Soviet-era textile designs. The juxtaposition of the architectural forms and the abstract patterns raises questions about narrative, decoration, and the political messages that are embedded in our aesthetic choices.
Bari Ziperstein was born in 1978 in Chicago and lives and works in Los Angeles. She received a Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA in 2004 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a certificate in Women’s Studies from Ohio University, Athens OH in 2000.
One-person exhibitions of her work have been presented at Bethel University, Minneapolis, MN (2018); Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design, Santa Barbara, CA (2017); Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Rancho Cucamonga, CA (2010); Long Beach City College Project Space, Long Beach, CA (2009); The Harris Art Gallery, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA (2007); and the San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA (2005) and recent one-person gallery exhibitions include Patterns for Models, Vielmetter Los Angeles (2022); Set Pattern, Charles Moffett Gallery, New York (2023); and Fantasy Pieces: Decorative Garments for the Home, Nina Johnson Gallery, Miami (2023).
Her work has been included in thematic exhibitions such as Transformations: Living Room -> Flea Market -> Museum -> Art, Wende Museum, Culver City, CA (2020); The Body, The Object, The Other, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles (2020), of Designing Women II, Egg Collective, New York (2019); All Hands on Deck, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art & Design, Los Angeles (2018); Making It Work: Production by Design, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA (2018); Corporeal Impulse, Vincent Price Art Museum, Los Angeles (2015); Interior Forest, 18th Street Projects, Santa Monica, CA (2013); The Open Daybook, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles (2011); Drama of the Gifted Child: The Five Year Plan, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA (2009); and Truthiness: Photography as Sculpture, California Museum of Photography, Riverside, CA (2008).
Ziperstein has been recognized by grantmaking organizations such as the Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles (2023); Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Los Angeles (2013); Center for Cultural Innovation, Los Angeles (2012); Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation, Los Angeles (2011); Arts Council of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA (2011); and the City of Pasadena Department of Cultural Affairs, Pasadena, CA (2010) and has been awarded residencies such as Anderson Ranch, Snowmass Village, CO (2012) and the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT (2001).
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- 2000
One and Two Person Exhibitions
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- 2022
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Selected Group Exhibitions
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Public Art Projects
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Curatorial Projects
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Public Collections
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Distinctions
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Residencies
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Teaching and Community Service
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Bibliography
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