Among the work on view in the front gallery will be Functional Women, a sculpture incorporating found, utilitarian objects that depict women or parts of women, and which are here assembled together to form the shape of a woman. At once macabre and humorous, Functional Women not only reflects Munson’s ongoing interest in ways femininity is portrayed, but also her fascination with the readymade. 

Also on view in the front gallery will be Her Coffin, a large glass box filled with thousands of discarded pink plastic products including ribbon refrigerator magnets, breast cancer awareness wristbands, combs, and high heel doll shoes. Munson has long been interested in the color pink – the way it is used to signify and commodify the female sphere and the way the color has been adopted and appropriated over time. Her Coffin also acts as a time capsule, depicting what Munson describes as “this carcinogenic plastic moment in time.” These works speak to the gluttony of modern culture and the way in which we systematically destroy our natural world in service of convenience. 

Portia Munson was born in Beverley, MA in 1961 and lives and works in Catskill, New York. She holds a BFA from Cooper Union and a MFA from Rutgers University, and has studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her work was recently exhibited to overwhelming enthusiasm at P·P·O·W’s booth at Frieze London. Her work has been exhibited at The New Museum, New York, NY; Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense, Denmark; Portsmouth Museum of Fine Art, Portsmouth, NH; MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA; Wave Hill, Bronx, NY; The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland, among others.  Her work is in numerous private and public collections, including 21C Museum (Louisville, KY), Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Lyndhurst, OH, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA and the U.S. Department of State. She has been awarded residencies at institutions including Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown, MA); Yaddo (Saratoga Springs, NY); and MacDowell Colony for the Arts (Peterborough, NH). Munson has taught at New York University, Yale School of Art, Vassar College and SUNY Purchase.