Brenda Goodman: Pieces of Time

JJ MURPHY GALLERY is pleased to present Brenda Goodman's solo exhibition of recent small collages, "Pieces of Time." The show opens Wednesday, October 14, 2026, 6-8 PM, and runs through November 14. Gallery hours are Thursday–Saturday, 12–6 PM. Although collage has a long history, it became part of modern art through the work of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who pasted commercial materials into their paintings during Cubism (1912–1914), giving rise to the concept of mixed media. Subsequent art movements, such as Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art, used collage with different intentions and effects. Yet what's fundamental to the technique of collage is the very notion that it juxtaposes different elements to create new and unexpected meanings, which is why Robert Motherwell observed, "Collage is the twentieth century's greatest innovation." Goodman is noted for the artistry and complexity of the surfaces of her paintings, building them up with added materials and using various instruments to create gestural marks. She has noted, "I have spent a lifetime gathering many different tools and techniques to express different feelings." Goodman combines figuration and abstraction to create an amalgam of the two. Recent paintings have contained photographic references to previous works. In her recent solo exhibition at Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, she employed cut-out printed sections from previous paintings in two mixed media works, "Who Knows What" (2025) and "No Obstacle is Too Big" (2025). They add variation to the surfaces, as well as a quotational element—it's as if Goodman is placing her works in dialogue with each other. During the Covid pandemic, as a result of social isolation, Goodman spent a great deal of time putting together over 40 puzzles. She likens this new series of 33 small photomontages—all 4 x 6 inches or 6 x 4 inches—to the process of solving puzzles. Both engage with the complex problem of arranging shapes on a flat surface. From a large box containing printed details from her earlier paintings, she fits various snippets together to create a new work. As is often the case with collage, the results turn out to be a surprise. In recombining the earlier parts, what's most remarkable about these small collages is that they feel like quintessential Brenda Goodman works.