Quotes
The Berkshire Eagle
Stephany L. Johnson: While their materials are recognizable, there is a sense of mystery about the dolls.
They are jarring, often amusing, gay, witty, evil – the stuff of nightmares and dreams seen in daylight.
Arthur Myers: “Strange and powerful statues” Irena sees the humor in her creations, but perhaps most viewers will see power and strangeness, coming out of her German heritage.
Winifred Bell: These life size figures are a composite of the beginnings of many cultural periods.
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The New York Times
John Canaday: Very definitely worth a closer look
The dolls are distinctive for their strong faces.
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McCall’s
Lenore Hershey: Elegantly ugly grotesques
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New York Herald Tribune
John Gruen: A strange”Balthusian” aura-pointing to an imagination as florid as it is fertile.
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Look Magazine
Irena Martens made the distorted figure appealing by perching a bird on her bald head.
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Harper’s Bazaar
Geri Trotta: Definitely not for Children
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Art News
Elegantly savage dolls are made with inventive and cunning eye.
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Home Furnishings Daily
A strong element of horror in the collage figures by a blong lovely young German artist.
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House & Garden
Dolls existed long before the first child was given one as a toy.
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Newsday
Jan Tyler: Her strange humanoid form are standouts even in traditional settings.
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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Fritz Neugass: 3 Dimensionale Graffiti
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Guggenheim Museum
Everett Ellin: In my opinion she is a professional artist of considerable merit.
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Museum of Contemporary Crafts
Thomas Kyle: The work was so unusual, so much of a unique talent, that I immediatly proposed an exhibition here in our museum.
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Roberto Crippa: Her surreal world of dreams and escape.
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Book: “Paper Trail”
by Richard Howard
Irena Martens Begins her work what was once regarded as the death of the doll (time to buy a new doll) is now tobe seen it’s beginning. As soon asit can accommodate evil (time, change, others) the toy becomes art.
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