# Sharon Kopriva

Sharon Kopriva (born February 11, 1948) is an American painter and sculptor who lives and works in Houston, Texas and Hope, Idaho. Kopriva's art is influenced by her Catholic primary school education, as well as exposure to Peruvian and Australian cultures.

## Biography

Sharon (Ortman) Kopriva was raised in Houston. She is the middle child of three born to Lowell (Red) and Rosalie (Rosy) Ortman. Kopriva earned a bachelor's degree in art education from the University of Houston in 1970. She taught art for 10 years in the Houston Independent School District before returning to the University of Houston to earn a master's degree in painting in 1981. The Texas Commission on the Arts named Kopriva State Artist of the Year in 2005 for her three-dimensional visual artwork.
Her teachers include New York painter John Alexander and sculptor James Surls. Her friendship with artists Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz has also impacted Kopriva's work:
    Ed and Nancy Kienholz encouraged Kopriva to expand her sculptural work into larger, more intricately crafted tableaus. … Ed, especially became an important mentor, not only conceptually, but in the craft of actually building these works. Kopriva recounts, “We were driving one day and found this old piano on the side of the road. Ed said, ‘You want that to work with?’ I asked him how I was supposed to get it home. He had a few assistants who took the piece to the studio.” That became the first piano piece, In Excelsis Deo. – Bradley Sumrall, curator, Ogden Museum of Southern Art

## Work

Best known for her sculptures of human figures (often in mummified form) and animals. Kopriva's paintings have been shaped by the mountain forests of Idaho, where she spends her summers.
    The natural imagery in Kopriva’s work, especially the tree-thronged cathedrals, draws on her frequent visits to the vast forests and woods of Idaho. … While the imagery in these mixed-media paintings is based on actual observation, it also emerges from venerable literary and artistic tradition of fusing forests and cathedrals through metaphor. – Raphael Rubinstein, art critic
In late 2015, Kopriva returned her focus to figurative sculpture and began a series out of manila rope pieces called Tubors.

## Permanent public collections

* The Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
* Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas, United States
* Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, United States
* Lowe Art Museum, Miami, Florida, United States
* The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, United States
* Mourtala Diop Collection, Dakar, Senegal
* Museo de Arte, Lima, Peru
* The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, United States
* New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
* New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
* Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
* University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States
* Vestes, Houston, Texas, United States

## Selected exhibitions

Museums:
* 2017 - Confluence of Earth & Mind, Martin Museum of Art (Baylor University), Waco, Texas, United States
* 2015 - Gothic Exposure, Museo Metropolitano de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
* 2014 - Gothic Green, The Nave Museum, Victoria, Texas, United States
* 2012 - From Terra to Verde: The Work of Sharon Kopriva, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
* 2009 - Rezos, Museo de la Ciudad, Querétaro, Mexico
* 2006 - Roots, Museo de la Nación, Lima, Peru, catalogue
* 2002 - Kreuz Weg, Die Mönchskirche Museum (The Monk's Church Museum), Salzwedel, Germany
* 2000 - Sharon Kopriva: Works from 1986 to 1998, The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, United States, catalogue
* 1991 - Penances, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, Texas, United States
Galleries:
* 2017 Muses, Mutts and Mortality, Bale Creek Allen Gallery, Austin, Texas
* 2017 Confluence of Earth & Mind, Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
* 2016 Tubers•Tablets•Turfs•Tails, Kirk Hopper Fine Art, Dallas, Texas, United States
* 2015 Perros Sin Pelo, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Austin, Texas, United States
* 2014 Illuminations, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas, United States
* 2011 Cathedrals, Phantoms and Naked Dogs, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas, United States, catalogue
* 2011 Phantoms and Milestones, The Strand Art Room, Mumbai, India, catalogue
* 2010 Martyrs, Ministers and Milestones, Galerie Richard, Berlin, Germany
* 2009 The Voice of Silence, Taylor/Bercier Fine Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
* 2007 Faith and War: The Art of Sharon Kopriva and Ed Wilson, Landmark Gallery, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, United States
* 2006 Lost Rivers, Zeitkunst Galerie, Halle, Germany
* 2004 The Backside of Night, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas, United States
* 2004 Mounds and Monuments, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, Texas, United States
* 2002 Marguerite Oestreicher Fine Arts, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
* 2001 Pillsbury & Peters Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas, United States
* 2001 Texas Artist of the Year Award, Art League of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States
* 1998 Birds of Pray, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, Texas, United States
* 1997 From Dust Thou Art, Dutch Phillips Gallery, Dallas, Texas, United States
* 1997 Contemporary Art Month – Sharon Kopriva Drawings and Sculpture, Parchman Stremmel Gallery, San Antonio, Texas, United States
* 1996 Vessels and Reliquaries, ArtSpace Virginia Miller Galleries, Coral Gables, Florida, United States
* 1996 Reconciliations, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, Texas, United States
* 1995 New Sculpture, Paintings and Constructions, Dutch Phillips Gallery, Dallas, Texas, United States
* 1994 New Constructions and Paintings, Hall-Barnett Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
* 1993 LewAllen Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
* 1992 Conflicting Rituals, Corpus Christi State University, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States, catalogue
* 1991 Rite of Passage, The Art Center, Waco, Texas, United States, catalogue
* 1989 Sharon Kopriva: Sculpture and Paintings, J. Rosenthal Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States
* 1989 Sculpture and Paintings, Graham Gallery, Houston, Texas, United States, catalogue
* 1987 Kindred Spirits, Sydney Payton Gallery, Denver, Colorado, United States