Tag: Yeonsoon Chang

Save the Date! Spring Art in the Barn at bga April 29 – May 7, 2023

29ddm Mourning Station #4, Dominic Di Mare, hawthorn, handmade paper, silk, bone, bird’s egg, feathers, gold and wood beads, 13″ x 7″ x 7″, 1981. Photo by Tom Grotta

For Spring 2023, browngrotta arts is pleased to announce a wide-ranging exhibition of work by noted artists from around the world. Acclaim! Work by Award-Winning International Artists (April 29 – May 7) will highlight mixed media, fiber sculpture and contemporary textile artists artists creating and advancing the field of fiber arts now and throughout the last six decades, including Sheila Hicks, Dominic Di Mare, Kay Sekimachi, Jiro Yonezawa, Carolina Yrarrázaval and Ed Rossbach.

5pco Microgauze 84, Peter Collingwood, Warp: Black and natural linen; Weft: natural linen, 72″ x 8.375″ x .125″, 1970. Photo by Tom Grotta

Awards by the dozen
The nearly 50 artists in Acclaim! Work by Award-Winning International Artists, have each achieved formal art acknowledgement in the form of an award or medal or selective membership. In the US, that may mean the award of a Gold Medal from the American Craft Council — 10 of the artists in Acclaim! belong to that group. In Canada, it means membership in the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, which three of our artists have achieved. The late masterweaver Peter Collingwood received an OBE, Order of the British Empire. Yeonsoon Chang of Korea was selected Artist of the Year by the Contemporary Art Museum in Seoul. In France, Simone Pheulpin was awarded the Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris. Grethe Sørensen of Denmark and Agneta Hobin of Finland received the Nordic Award in Textiles. Sheila Hicks of the US,  was awarded the French Legion of Honor and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center; Helena Hernmarck received the American Institute of Architects, Craftsmanship Medal and the Prins Eugen Medal conferred by the King of Sweden for “outstanding artistic achievement.”

26yc The Path which leads to the center II, Yeonsoon, Chang, teflon mesh, pure gold leaf, eco resin, 25″ x 50″ x 6″, 2022. Photo by Tom Grotta

Results of recognition
Receiving an award can provide important affirmation for an artist. “There are no other large prizes in the UK for artists working in this medium,” says Jo Barker, winner of the Cordis Prize. “So what winning mostly felt like to me was a real validation of the career that I’ve had so far.” Such recognition can influence the direction of an artist’s work. Lia Cook’s Gold Medal from the American Craft Council provided her support for her process — particularly, she says, for “my continued interest in following the unexpected.” Once selected as Artist of the Year by the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, Korea, Yeonsoon Chang saw her textile work in the broader scope of contemporary art. “Objective recognition gave me courage to work and a sense of responsibility,” she says. For Chang, the award also meant expanded interest in her work from museums, galleries, and collectors. Winning Best Visual Arts Exhibition of the Year from the Circle of Critics of Art in Chile was a recognition of 40 years of work  for Carolina Yrarrázaval  and a confirmation for all those who believed in her work, clients, galleries and museums. More importantly, Yrarrázaval says, it was the first time that textile art received this award in Chile, placing it on par with all disciplines in visual arts. “It was not only a recognition of my personal contribution,” she says, “but also to this discipline, which for a long time was seen as a minor art.”

25cy Deseos Ocultos, Carolina Yrarrazaval, jute, linen, paper and raffia, 60.5″ x 30.5″ x 1″, 2023. Photo by Tom Grotta

Art undeterred
After some years of being overlooked and undervalued, contemporary textile art has finally been embraced (again) in the last several years by a wider world of museums and galleries. The current focus on artists working in fiber finds complex, thoughtful and accomplished work – some produced today and some in years when gallery and museum attention was slight. “What may appear to be an explosion of textile producers, from a historical perspective, is an explosion of interest and awareness of a tradition that has always been important, deep and rich,” Adam Levine, director of the Toledo Museum of Art told Art News last year. (Katya Kazakina, The Art Detective: Textile Artists Are Back in the Public Spotlight in Museums and Galleries. Art Collectors? They’re Still Catching Up, February 4, 2022). in other words, even when out of popular favor, fiber artists were undeterred, continuing to create exceptional work.

A through line — then and now
The work in Acclaim! creates a through line from the movement’s early days to its current creative explosion, highlighting the importance of persistence and the benefits of recognition along the way. Fiber art’s revival in museums, galleries and with collectors is built upon the dedication and extraordinary talent of artists like those featured in Acclaim!

Join us next month
browngrotta arts
276 Ridgefield Road Wilton, CT 06897

Artist Reception and Opening: April 29, from 11am to 6 pm

Remaining Days
Sunday, April 30th: 11AM to 6 PM (40 visitors/ hour)

Monday, May 1st – Saturday, May 6th: 10AM to 5PM (40 visitors/ hour)
Sunday, May 7th: 11AM to 6PM [Final Day] (40 visitors/ hour)

Safety protocols 
Eventbrite reservations strongly encouraged • No narrow heels please (barn floors)

Reserve a spot here: RESERVE


Art Out and About: An Abundance of Events in the US and Abroad, Part I

Our artists have been busy this fall. They are involved in a number of exhibitions and commissions, some of which we’ve listed below; some of which we will cover in next week’s arttextstyle. We’ve also noted a few other exhibitions worth adding to your radar.

Exhibitions

Kyoto, Japan
The World of Textiles and Basketry
Ended October
Gallerie Aube
Kyoto University of the Arts
Kyoto, Japan
https://uryu-tsushin.kyoto-art.ac.jp/detail/1041

The World of Textiles and Basketry exhibition installation
photo from https://uryu-tsushin.kyoto-art.ac.jp/detail/1041

In September and October, 2022, as a milestone of 40 years at Kyoto University of the Arts, Keiji Nio, Professor, Department of Arts and Crafts, prepared an exhibition that combined his own history, woven kimono, tapestry, fiber art and basketry, which are rarely seen in the same venue. Aiming to create an exhibition space that transcended the scope of the group of works, he planned The World of Textiles and Basketry, held at the Galerie Aube attached to Kyoto University of the Arts. Included was work by Erika Otsuka, a traditional crafts exhibition exhibitor, Misako Nakahira, a tapestry artist who makes full use of tsuzureori, photographs and kasuri weaving, works of Megumi Takeda, a tapestry artist who combines the above, and the works of 30 artists, including Noriko Takamiya, who have been participating in and annual basketry exhibition for many years, all in the same venue, it was a fresh group of works that are not bound by materials or techniques.  In addition to classical textiles, there were many structures and works that can be called sculptures though “woven” at first glance. There are additional images in the University newsletter: https://uryu-tsushin.kyoto-art.ac.jp/detail/1041.

Irvine, California
Dissolve
University Art Museum
UC Irvine Institute and Museum of California Art (IMCA)
Through December 10, 2022 
Interim Location: 
18881 Von Karman Avenue
Suite 100
Irvine, CA 92612
https://imca.uci.edu/exhibition/dissolve/

Gridlock weaving by Lia Cook
Gridlock C, A&B, by Lia Cook. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Dissolve explores how certain artists, including Lia Cook, perceive what it means to change from one form to another. Through painting, photography, sculpture, installation and video, selected artworks demonstrate how gradual and immediate changes impact viewers’ perceptions of self, one another, and the shared environment. Adopting an inclusive view of the process of dissolving, the featured artists visualize the physical dissolution of light, water, distance, and geographic borders. They also address the dissolution of personal relationships, identity, and social and political networks. 

Cheongju, Korea
The Gravity of Movement
Through December 11, 2022
Cheongju Korean Craft Center
https://cjkcm.org/craft1_eng/

The Gravity of Movement exhibition installation
The Gravity of Movement exhibition photos by Park Myung-rae

The Gravity of Movement features works by Chang Yeonsoon, including works from the matrix series, the road to the center, and a site-specific installation are included.

Commissions

Jennifer Falck Linssen commission
Components from Jennifer Falck Linssen’s Aeolian., Katagami-style handcarved paper and metal wall sculpture. Materials include archival cotton paper, aluminum, linen, pigment, mica, acrylic, and varnish. Photo Jennifer Falck Linssen

Jennifer Falck Linssen has completed a commissioned wall sculpture, Aeolian for a client in the US. It’s 168 inches long of Katagami-style handcarved paper and metal. Materials include archival cotton paper, aluminum, linen, pigment, mica, acrylic, and varnish. The work will be installed in December.

Also of Note

London, UK
Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope
Through May 21, 2023
Tate Modern
Bankside
London, UK SE1 9TG
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/magdalena-abakanowicz

In the 1960s and 70s, the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz created radical sculptures from woven fibre. They were soft not hard; ambiguous and organic; towering works that hung from the ceiling and pioneered a new form of installation. They became known as the Abakans. This exhibition presents a rare opportunity to explore this extraordinary body of work. Many of the most significant Abakans will be brought together in a forest-like display in the 64-metre long gallery space of the Blavatnik Building at Tate Modern. The exhibition is organized by Tate Modern in collaboration with the Fondation Toms Pauli at the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne/Plateforme 10 and Henie Onstad Art Centre, Høvikodden.

Check them out.