Irene Pijoan

Irene Pijoan (1953 – 2004) was a Swiss-born American painter, sculptor, and educator.^[1] She was active in the San Francisco Bay Area and taught at the San Francisco Art Institute for more than 20 years.^[2][3]

Irene Pijoan
Born	(1953-11-11)November 11, 1953 Lausanne, Switzerland
Died	August 18, 2004(2004-08-18) (aged 50) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Other names	Irène Pijoan
Occupation(s)	Painter, sculptor, educator
Years active	1976–2004
Spouse	Craig Nagasawa
Children	1
Parents	Joseph Pijoan (father) Geneviève Bugnion (mother)

Early life and education

Irene Pijoan was born on November 11, 1953, in Lausanne, Switzerland to parents Geneviève Bugnion and Joseph Pijoan [es]. Her mother was Swiss, her father was a Spanish architect, art historian, philosopher, and poet in the Catalan language.^[4][1]

Pijoan received her bachelor of arts degree in 1978, followed by her fine arts master's of fine art degree in 1980 from University of California, Davis.^[5][3] She also took classes at California State University, Sacramento.^[6] In 1979, Pijoan was awarded a scholarship to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.^[5][7] In 1981–1982, she was awarded the Roswell Artist-in-Residence.^[5]

Career

One of her early solo exhibitions was in 1977 at Off-Brand Gallery (formerly Acme) in the former North Sacramento City Hall.^[6] Starting in 1983, she began teaching at San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) where she remained until her death in 2004.^[3] She was a teacher of artist Jason Rhoades.^[8]

Her art work was created in a wide range of styles and materials.^[9] In the beginning of her career she was working with abstract Funk art sculptures,^[6] followed by with figurative and portrait pieces in multidimensional encaustic, and over time her work became more abstracted.^[3] Pijoan was known for her cut paper and cut metal art.^{[citation needed]}

She created public art in the form of large scale aluminum cut-out screens on display at Highland Hospital in Oakland; Santa Clara Public Library; Victoria Manalo Draves Park in SOMA, San Francisco; and at the Harborview Medical Building in Seattle.^[3][10]

Death and legacy

Starting in 1999, Pijoan battled breast cancer.^[3] She died on August 18, 2004, in Berkeley, California.^[3] Pijoan was married to artist Craig Nagasawa, and together they had one daughter.^[3]

Her work is in museum collections including at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA),^[11] and San José Museum of Art.^[12]

Publications

• Irene Pijoan: Exhibition September 12-October 10, 1982, Roswell Museum & Art Center (exhibition). Roswell Museum And Art Center. 1982.
• Walker, Anne Macdonald (1984). Paravent; Extending the Range of Expression. David Bates, Deborah Oropallo, Robert Mapplethorpe, Markus Lüpertz, Roy De Forest, Salome, Irene Pijoan, Robert Dix, Elvira Bach, Ed Ruscha. San Francisco, CA: Artspace.
• Irene Pijoan (exhibition). Rena Bransten Gallery. 1990.
• Irene Pijoan: Non-space Elements (exhibition). San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. 2001. ISBN 9780971303409.