Installation view of "Audra Skuodas: Vibrational Vulnerability" (2024) at Cristin Tierney Gallery showing two pastel abstract paintings on a white wall with a woman in black standing in front of the one on the left looking at it.
Installation view of "Audra Skuodas: Vibrational Vulnerability" (2024). Photo: Adam Reich. Courtesy of Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York.

On view through January 17, 2025, at New York’s Cristin Tierney Gallery, the solo show “Vibrational Vulnerability” brings to light a range of works by Audra Skuodas (1940–2019), the first exhibition of her work in the city in more than 15 years. Comprised of paintings and drawings from Skuodas’ estate, “Vibrational Vulnerability” reflects a growing interest in and dialogue around the artist, setting the stage for an overdue reappraisal. Though largely unknown in her lifetime, her practice and oeuvre garnered widespread attention in 2022 following her inclusion in the 2022 Cleveland Triennial “Front.” Subsequently, her work has been acquired by institutions such as the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Ohio, and Cleveland Museum of Art—and talks of a major museum retrospective and publication, according to the gallery, in the works.

Audra Skuodas, Untitled (ca. late 1990s). Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York, and Abattoir Gallery, Cleveland, OH.

Skuodas was born in Lithuania, but as a young child of only six was subjected to life in a displaced persons camp in Germany before immigrating to the United States in 1949. In 1961 she became a citizen and studied at Northern Illinois University, where she ultimately received both her bachelor’s and master’s degree. Working both as a teacher and artist, she exhibited throughout her career and developed a singular approach to abstraction, recognizable for its poetic simplicity, intriguing color palettes, and dynamic use of geometry, line, and shape.

Audra Skuodas, Untitled (1998). Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York, and Abattoir Gallery, Cleveland, OH.

“Showing Audra Skuodas’ work now is a no-brainer,” said gallery owner Cristin Tierney. “First, the work is exceptional. Second, I believe it is our responsibility to expand art history and how we all understand it. Third, it is super exciting to be involved in an estate from the ground up. Rarely does one get to help shape a narrative to this extent. In recent years, many of us are thinking and talking about Surrealism’s wide reach and long-lasting impact. Audra’s work is an important part of that story.”

Audra Skuodas, Aggressive Distillation (2012). Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York, and Abattoir Gallery, Cleveland, OH.

Within “Vibrational Vulberability,” the balance between near-scientific investigation and spiritual reflection that underpinned Skuodas’ practice is apparent. Works like an Untitled piece from the late 1990s shows the meticulousness of her linework and early interest in pattern. Juxtaposed with pieces such as Aggressive Distillation (2012), which plays with opticality and the limits of perception through repeating color and pattern, highlights her ability to expressively leverage the elements of her compositions to question, if not outright push against, the boundaries of vision.

Together, the exhibition marks a turning point for the artist’s legacy, heralding a moment of broadening recognition and the reassessment of her achievements within the scope of contemporary art.

“Audra Skuodas: Vibrational Vulnerability” is on view at Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York, through January 17, 2025.