Nancy Koenigsberg lives and works in New York City. Her current work is focused on wire sculpture. Free-standing, wall pieces, and installation works are woven, knotted, crocheted, or otherwise manipulated from various weights and colors of copper, steel and aluminum wire. Woven or knotted grids are shaped and layered. Materials are shiny and dull, fragile and industrial strength. The various combinations and contrasts challenge and engage both visually and conceptually. Koenigsberg says the grid featured in much of her work reflects the city streets she knows so well and is a "part of her DNA.” As the work employs the regularity and repetitiveness of the grid, it also includes the nuances and intricacies found in both urban and natural environments and in the textile world she's been immersed in for decades.
Koenigsberg has a rich history of study and work in all things textile. She founded a custom design needlepoint business that thrived for many years in New York City. Then with a desire to focus more on her own work, she closed the business and became a student again studying for three years at The New School for Social Research. Her studies there were life-changing and set her on her present course. To ensure the continuation of an artistic exchange, she and fellow students began the Textile Study Group of New York in 1977, holding monthly meetings for lectures, presentations and demonstrations. They invited artists from around the world whose work was well-known and well-regarded internationally to present their work. Occasionally, presentations of historical importance or technical expertise were invited ensuring group members of a broad range of knowledge from ancient to the most contemporary textile practices. Koenigsberg is today President Emerita and still deeply involved in the group's ongoing programming.
Koenigsberg has an extensive exhibition history in the United States, Europe, and South America and has completed numerous commissions. Her work is included in the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN; Metal Museum, Memphis, TN; Museum of Arts & Design, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI; Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI; Textile Museum, Washington, DC; Yale University Art Museum, New Haven, CT; Sara and David Lieberman Collection, Tempe, AZ; and many additional private collections.
Koenigsberg has a rich history of study and work in all things textile. She founded a custom design needlepoint business that thrived for many years in New York City. Then with a desire to focus more on her own work, she closed the business and became a student again studying for three years at The New School for Social Research. Her studies there were life-changing and set her on her present course. To ensure the continuation of an artistic exchange, she and fellow students began the Textile Study Group of New York in 1977, holding monthly meetings for lectures, presentations and demonstrations. They invited artists from around the world whose work was well-known and well-regarded internationally to present their work. Occasionally, presentations of historical importance or technical expertise were invited ensuring group members of a broad range of knowledge from ancient to the most contemporary textile practices. Koenigsberg is today President Emerita and still deeply involved in the group's ongoing programming.
Koenigsberg has an extensive exhibition history in the United States, Europe, and South America and has completed numerous commissions. Her work is included in the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN; Metal Museum, Memphis, TN; Museum of Arts & Design, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI; Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI; Textile Museum, Washington, DC; Yale University Art Museum, New Haven, CT; Sara and David Lieberman Collection, Tempe, AZ; and many additional private collections.
