# 1 Lia Cook, Legs. #2 Federica Luzzi, White Shell
In January, the Metropolitan Museum of Art launched a new short-session game, Art Links, that invites players to identify common threads and intriguing connections between works of art from The Met collection.
# 3 Gertrud Hals, Terra 8. #4 Wlodzimierz Cygan, Trap IV
We thought we would give arttexstyle readers a chance to make material Links between works from artists who work with browngrotta arts.
Materials to match: A) IRON – B) WOOL – C) STEEL – D) LINEN – E) COTTON – F) PAPER – G) LIGHT – H) SILK
# 7 Mary Merkel-Hess, Dark Woods. #8 Axel Russmeyer, Bits
There are 16 images in this post — 8 pairs. Based on the major materials utilized, match two art works to create a pair based the material they share. Note — We’ve cheated a bit on the names in some cases to preserve the mystery.
# 9 Simone Pheulpin, Megalith IV and VI . #10 Agneta Hobin, En Face
There are artworks by fourteen artists for you to match.
#11 Birgit Birkkjaer, Folded Baskets. #12 Glen Kaufman, Odd Man In
Here are the final two.
# 13 Hideho Tanaka, Vanishing II. #14 Kiyomi Iwata, Red Aperture
#15 Mary Giles, Fog Break. #16 Jeannet Leenderste, Amber Pleats
Here is the LINKS Key: IRON: 3 and 15 STEEL: 10 and 13 SILK: 14 and 16 WOOL: 8 and 12 LINEN: 5 and 11 COTTON: 1 and 9 PAPER: 2 and 7 LIGHT: 4 and 6
Fiber art is having a moment. It’s “the new painting” according to Art in America and a trend that Artsy says will “take hold across the contemporary art world in 2025.” Exhibitions of art textiles are on view across the US and Europe, including Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstractionwhich will open at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in April.
20wc Totems, Wlodzimierz Cygan, linen, sisal, fiber optic, 37″ x 37″ x 7″, 2022. Photo by Tom Grotta
In Field Notes: an art survey(May 3rd -11th), browngrotta arts will provide a high-level view of the fiber medium, informed by the gallery’s 30+ years specializing in the promotion of art textiles and fiber sculpture.
1-2srp Beyond 220723, 180623, Sung Rim Park, Hanji, 46″ x 36″ x 4″; 36″ x 36″ x 4″, 2023. Photo by Tom Grotta
In art and science, field notes generally consist of a descriptive element, in which the observer creates a word picture of what they are seeing — the setting, actions, and conversations; combined with a reflective portion, in which one records thoughts, ideas, and concerns based on their observations. In Field Notes, viewers will be able to observe a varied group of art works, reflect on the creators’ thoughts about their art practice, and generate their own questions and conclusions.
More than two dozen accomplished international artists will share what’s on their minds, what’s on their looms, and what’s inspiring their art process, just as the art form’s popularity crests, including Sung Rim Park, and a few other artists whose work we have not shown before. Works by fiber art pioneers, Kay Sekimachi (US), Sheila Hicks (US), and Mariette Rousseau-Vermette (CA), will also be part of the exhibition, providing insights about the medium’s evolution.
171mr Reflets de Montréal, Mariette Rousseau-Vermette, wool, 42″ x 82″ x 2.5″, 1968. Photo by Tom Grotta
“Textile art is strong in Norway today,” says Åse Ljones. “It has gained a higher status, and is often purchased for public decoration.” In her work, she is “looking for the shine, the light and the stillness in the movement that occurs in the composition of my pictures,” she says. “I embroider by hand on linen fabric.” The viscose thread she uses adds glow and shine in the composition. “With different light sources,” she says, “the image changes all the time. As a viewer, one must be in motion to see and experience the changes.”
Aby Mackie, who works in Spain, combines existing materials with the tactile intimacy of textile techniques. “By blending these elements,” she says, “my work challenges perceptions of craft and sustainability, offering new ways to perceive the familiar and celebrating the beauty of reinvention.” Mackie agrees with Ljones about the evolving role of fiber. “The field of fiber art is currently experiencing a profound shift,” says Mackie, “gaining recognition as a respected medium within contemporary art.”
Fiber is “a powerful medium for storytelling and innovation in the current art world,” Mackie concludes. Join us in May as we highlight those stories and celebrate fiber art’s resurgence!
40sh.1 Family Evolution, Sheila Hicks, 9” x 25” x 9”, 1997. Photo by Tom Grotta
Exhibition Details: Visit Field Notes: an art survey at browngrotta arts, 276 Ridgefield Road, Wilton, CT 06897 from May 3 – May 11, 2025.
Opening & Artist Reception Saturday, May 3rd: 11am to 6pm Sunday, May 4th: 11am to 6pm (40 visitors/ hour) Monday, May 5th – Saturday, May 10th: 10am to 5pm (40 visitors/ hour) Sunday, May 11th: 11am to 6pm [Final Day] (40 visitors/ hour)
Safety Protocols: • No narrow heels please (barn floors)
As January comes to a close, we reflect on the amazing start to the year, with Japandi Revisited: Shared Aesthetics and Influences at the Wayne Art Center. The exhibition has now wrapped up, and we’re so grateful for the incredible response and the thoughtful conversations sparked around the connections between Japanese and Scandinavian art. Thank you to all who visited and engaged with the exhibition! We look forward to continuing this journey of discovery with you as the year progresses.
This month, our New This Week series has introduced work from four brilliant artists—Lizzie Farey, Lawrence LaBianca, Caroline Bartlett, and Birgit Birkkjær. Let’s take a moment to revisit their featured works, each of which brings something unique to the world of contemporary art.
We kicked off January by featuring the talented Scottish artist Lizzie Farey, renowned for her innovative use of natural materials in her sculptural works. Known for her exceptional skill in weaving and creating intricate forms from willow, birch, and other locally sourced fibers, Farey’s work explores the intersection of nature and art.
Her sculptures evoke a deep connection to the land and reflect her commitment to sustainable practices. Lizzie’s weaving techniques create organic, flowing forms that are both visually striking and rooted in the traditions of her craft. Her work continues to captivate, as it brings the natural world indoors, transforming raw materials into art that speaks to both the environment and the human spirit.
17ll Call Me Ishmael, Lawrence LaBianca, wood boat etched with text from Moby Dick, 43″ x 11″ x 5″.
We then turned out attentino to the captivating work of Lawrence LaBianca, whose sculptures intertwine text and form in a way that sparks both intellectual and emotional engagement. LaBianca’s Call Me Ishmael piece, inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, was a focal point this month, offering a layered narrative that weaves literary history into contemporary sculpture. The piece invites viewers to explore the intersection of language, memory, and visual art, encouraging reflection on both personal and collective stories.
LaBianca’s ability to transform literature into a physical experience through sculptural work continues to resonate, and we’re thrilled to have featured his thought-provoking art in January.
In mid-January, we turned our spotlight to the work of Caroline Bartlett, an artist whose weaving practice defies convention by blending textile art with elements of sculpture and painting. Bartlett’s intricate, handwoven pieces explore the relationships between form, space, and color, creating works that evoke calmness and balance. Her Curves and Lines series, with its harmonious geometry and nuanced color palette, captivates viewers and brings a sense of movement within the stillness of the woven fibers.
Bartlett’s unique approach to weaving and her innovative use of materials continue to set her work apart in the contemporary textile art world.
92bb Agua Azul 47, Birgit Birkkjær, Linen, cotton, horsehair, recycled fisherman’s rope, natural beads, glue, 3″ x 3″ x 3″, 2024
To close out January, we showcased the minimalist beauty of Birgit Birkkjær’s work, particularly her piece Agua Azul 47. Birkkjær’s approach to weaving combines traditional craft with a modern aesthetic, using materials like linen, cotton, and horsehair to create intricate geometric patterns that seem to shift and evolve with the viewer’s perspective. Her work stands as a testament to the power of repetition and precision, capturing a sense of movement while maintaining a serene, contemplative quality.
Birkkjær’s ability to balance simplicity with depth continues to inspire, and we were honored to feature her stunning art this month.
As we wrap up January, we’d like to thank you for being part of our journey as we continue to share and celebrate the works of incredible artists. Stay tuned as we bring even more exciting new art in the coming months, and we look forward to sharing more inspiring stories with you as we move through 2025.
We are deep in winter doldrums in the US — devastating fires in the West; plunging temperatures in the East. Art can be a balm and a bright spot. Here we round up some exhibitions of note and share some art news to remind you of the power of creativity.
On view in Cut from the Same Cloth: Textile & Technology. Left to Right: Little Happy Accident, Lia Cook (2019) and Intense and Questioning, Lia Cook (2018) Photo curtesy of the artist.
As the Cultural Center observes, “textiles have not only fueled the creative inspiration of artists throughout history, they also have provided the catalyst for technological innovation. Joseph Marie Jacquard, a French merchant, invented the ‘jacquard machine’ in 1801, which simplified the manufacture of textiles and later became the inspiration for IBM’s first computer introduced in the 1940s and 1950s. This exhibition,” which includes Lia Cook, “investigates the many unexplored relationships between craft and technology and demonstrates, through the work of a group of artists, how contemporary art practice has seamlessly embraced both.”
9 x 9: Contemporary Quilts & Containers Palo Verdes Art Center January 25 – April 12, 2025 Opening Reception: February 1, 2025, 6 – 9 pm 5504 Crestridge Road Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
Karyl Sisson, Piece Work VII, Vintage paper drinking straws and polymer, 20.5″ x 20.25″, 2022, Photo by Susan Einstein; Speaking Out, vintage cotton/rayon ribbon, thread, mini-spring operated clothespins, 9″ x 14″ x 14″. Photo by Heather Cleary.
Beginning on the 25th, the Palo Verdes Art Center will showcase artworks by 18 distinguished artists from California’s established fiber art community. The artists, who include Karyl Sisson, Kay Sekimachi, and Carol Shaw-Sutton, will present innovative interpretations of traditional craft forms. “These dynamic quilted, woven, plaited, and twined works investigate the purposes and potential of cross-cultural narratives and techniques through diverse media,” says the Center, “expanding our understanding of visual culture. Material-based, conceptually engaged, and skillfully executed, these artists transform conventional quilting and container-making practices into sophisticated contemporary expressions.”
Detail: The Cage, 2022, Irina Kolesnikova, silk, flax, polyester; hand weaving, 138 x 98 cm. Photo courtesy of the artist.
This is the seventh time that the organization European Tapestry Forum has sent a juried exhibition of woven tapestries on tour in Europe, and the fourth time that the triennial has been exhibited in Silkeborg. The triennial, which includes work by Gudrun Pagter, Irina Kolesnikova, and Lija Rage, gives the audience a good insight into the current trends among weaving artists. The jury has selected the 37 most beautiful, skillfully executed and most creative tapestries from more than 100 submissions.
In 1981, the Smithsonian acquired 35 qulits collected by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, who holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering, is a prolific artist, curator, and scholar. Dr. Mazloomi founded the African American Quilt Guild of Los Angeles, and then, in 1985, she founded the Women of Color Quilters Network, fulfilling the desire of isolated makers to connect and continue Black textile traditions. The quilts in this exhibition are remarkable in scope and groundbreaking in their representation of Black history and culture as told with needle and thread. “Sometimes the weight of living on this planet as a woman, we have to be reminded of who we are,” Dr. Mazloomi has said. “Quilts help to serve that purpose of reminding women about their power.”
MAD Drawing Room at the Museum of Arts and Design, NY, NY. Photo courtesy Anne Wilson
Chicago artist, Anne Wilson has created the MAD Drawing Room, where visitors can engage in the beauty and complexity of the artist’s personal archives of lace and openwork textiles through close looking, drawing, or writing. The Drawing Room is inspired by the Davis Street Drawing Room, Wilson’s experimental and participatory art project in Evanston, Ilinois. Within the space, visitors are invited to explore Wilson’s library of art and fiber texts, listen to the playlist of sound sources for her video installation, and draw or write using the materials provided. Wilson’s sound-and-video installation, Errant Behaviors, newly acquired by MAD, plays in the gallery. Its source material of lace and openwork fragments are also on view in The MAD Drawing Room. You can see multiple images and learn more about the MAD Drawing Room on Wilson’s website.
Canada Dawn MacNutt: Timeless Forms through April 18, 2025 Mount St. Vincent’s University Gallery Mount Saint Vincent University 166 Bedford Highway Halifax, NS B3M 2J6
Feature image: Dawn MacNutt, Robin 2008. Patinated bronze, cast from twined willow, acrylic paint. Collection of the Nova Scotia Art Bank.
This comprehensive retrospective exhibition celebrates Nova Scotia artist Dawn MacNutt. Co-curated by Melanie Colosimo and Emily Falvey, this exhibition showcases MacNutt’s unique approach to weaving, which she transforms into large-scale figurative sculptures that explore themes of human fragility. Accompanying the exhibition is a catalogue featuring essays by the artist herself. Spanning four decades, the exhibition moves from delicate miniatures crafted in silver and copper wire to monumental bronze sculptures cast from woven, local willow branches. Together, these works link traditional craft practices to modern and conceptual sculpture and enrich contemporary perspectives on care and the handmade. Accompanying the exhibition is a book, Timeless Forms, that features essays by the artist herself.
Yeonsoon Chang, Craft Trend Fair in Seoul, December 2024, teflon mesh, pure gold leaf, and eco-resin. Photo courtesy of the artist
Korea In the art news department: The Korean Craft and Design Foundation selected Yeonsoon Chang as the winner of its 2024 Creation Division Prize. The artwork in the photo was showcased at this year’s Craft Trend Fair in Seoul in December 2024. It is made of Teflon mesh, pure gold leaf, and eco-resin. “The artist Yeonsoon Chang continues to create works that visualize a unique aesthetic through a Korean sense of beauty, transcending the boundaries of tradition and modernity, time and space, using the properties and structure of textiles,” the Foundation wrote. “Her ongoing dedication has set an example in the craft community and garnered international recognition for the excellence of Korean craftsmanship.”
Receiving the prize has energized and inspired Chang. “For the past nine and a half years since my retirement, I have immersed myself in the study of Eastern classics and the creation of my work,” she wrote on Instagram. “Through this journey, the once-abstract concepts of 空 (Emptiness) and 虛 (Void) have taken on a tangible and experiential reality. I believe the endurance of Korean craft over thousands of years is not solely due to its techniques but to the profound spirit that lies beyond them, deeply woven into its essence. Just days ago, I envisioned slowing the pace of my life to delve deeper into this path, yet now I find myself aboard a high-speed train, unable to control its momentum. Looking ahead, I see my calling as bringing to life the spirit of Korean craft, allowing it to breathe and resonate through my work.”
Japandi Revisted installation. Photo by Tom Grotta
We’ve been excited by the reaction to our Japandí Revisited partnership with the Wayne Art Center in Pennsylvania. Attendance has been good to date. Tours of viewers have been scheduled including the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia and the American Swedish Historical Museum. There are 10 more days to see the exhibition and the two of us (Tom Grotta and Rhonda Brown) will be at Wayne on January 25, 2025 for the closing reception from 1 pm to 4 pm.
Works by Naoko Serino, Helena Hernmarck, Keiji Nio, Kari Lønning. Photo by Tom Grotta
The Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Gallery, where Japandí Revisited is installed, is airy and full of indirect light. In the exhibition we’ve had the opportunity to place Japanese and Scandinavian works side by side, so viewers can see the affinities for themselves. Flowers by Keiji Nio (JP) is hung next to Kari Lønning’s (NO) work Horn. In an imaginative merger of technology and tradition, Nio takes photographs, silkscreens the images on ribbons that he braids using Japanese technique kumihimo. In Horn, Lønning works with akebia, a vine found in the Northeast US. Horn is the largest work that Lønning has created from akebia.
Japandi Revisted installation. Photo by Tom Grotta
Agneta Hobin’sClair de Lune (FI) fans made of steel and mica are displayed next to Oh! Precious by Hirohito Sato-Pijanowski (JP/US)i. Pijanowski’s work is made of glued paper cord. Both works use unusual materials — mica and paper cord — to create shine. Both reflect the exquisite craftsmanship that is another element of Japandí design.
Gudrun Pagter, Masakazu Kobayashi, Merja Winqvist. Photo by Tom Grotta
On another wall is Gudrun Pagter’s (DK) abstract, Framed, of wool, hangs beside Masakazu Kobayashi’s (JP) Bow White of layered silk and aluminum bows, each illustrating a preference for neutrals and primary colors, clean lines, and minimal ornamentation that are a third element of Japandí style.
Works by Eva Vargö, Masako Yoshida, Kogetsu Kosuge. Photo by Tom Grotta
Eva Vargo’s (SE) Book of Changes and Toshio Sekiji’s (JP) Counterpoint 8 appear on the same wall. In another spot in the gallery, appears Helena Hernmarck’s (SE/US), Shredded Memories series, in which strips of letters by her mother are incorporated into weavings. Each of these works transforms used paper into art. Each repurposes materials and, central to these cultures’ approaches, each reflects respect for old and cherished items.
Works by Markku Kosonen, Ulla Maija Vikman, Jiro Yonezawa, Kay Sekimachi. Photo by Tom Grotta
Appreciation for natural materials is the fifth element attributed to Japandí style. The exhibition combines baskets of multiple materials made by artists from several countries. Bamboo, jasmine, walnut and cedar baskets by Hisako Sekijima join ramie works by Noriko Takamiya, and works of jute by Naoko Serino of Japan. Works of handmade paper and twigs by Jane Balsgaard of Denmark are shown as are works of willow with catkins still attached and crowberry root by Markku Kosonen of Finland.
Works byMia Olsson, Hideho Tanaka, Jin-Sook So, Hisako Sekijima, Naomi Kobayashi. Photo by Tom Grotta
Hope you get a chance to visit Japandí.
Details through January 25th: Japandí Revisited: shared aesthetics and influences Wayne Art Center 413 Maplewood Avenue Wayne, PA 19087
Dates: Through January 25, 2025
Events: Curator’s Talk: Saturday, January 25, 1:00 – 2:00 pm
As we welcome the new year, we’re excited to share the ongoing buzz around our current exhibition, Japandi Revisited: Shared Aesthetics and Influences, now live at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania. This exhibition, which opened on December 7, 2024, revisits the fascinating dialogue between Japanese and Scandinavian artists—a theme we first explored three years ago. We’ve uncovered even more intriguing connections and cultural influences that continue to shape the work of artists from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Japan. If you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, we’d love to have you join us before the show closes on January 25, 2025.
In addition to the exhibition, our New This Week series has spotlighted the work of six exceptional artists throughout December: Nancy Koenigsberg, Karyl Sisson, Annette Bellamy, Yeonsoon Chang, and Marian Bijlenga. Let’s take a look back at these inspiring artists and their contributions to the world of art.
83nak City View, Nancy Koenigsberg, coated copper wire, 27″ x 24″ x 3″. photo by Tom Grotta
We started the month of December off by featuring the talented artist Nancy Koenigsberg, renowned for her intricate wire sculptures. Koenigsberg’s work challenges both visually and conceptually, with sculptures that are free-standing, wall-mounted, or part of installations. Her pieces are created using a variety of materials—copper, steel, and aluminum wire—woven and knotted into grids that are shaped and layered.
Koenigsberg’s use of materials that are both shiny and dull, fragile and industrial in strength, creates an interesting interplay between form and texture. This combination of contrasts has made her work notable in the contemporary art world, with an extensive exhibition history in the United States, Europe, and South America. Koenigsberg’s ability to work with both fragile and industrial materials, pushing the boundaries of wire as an artistic medium, has garnered her numerous commissions.
106-109ks Straw Suites, Karyl Sisson, woven vintage paper drinking straws, 14″ x 13.75″ x 1.5″ each, 2016. Photo by Tom Grotta
We continued the month by featuring the exceptional artist Karyl Sisson, whose work draws from the materials of everyday life. Based in Los Angeles, Sisson’s work explores the intersection of fiber art and sculpture, using materials both past and present to create intricate, textured forms. Her artistic influences range from the landscape of Los Angeles to microbiology and even fashion manufacturing, bringing a multidisciplinary approach to her practice.
Throughout her three-decade-long career, Sisson has consistently focused on pattern, repetition, and structure as central themes in her work, which she explores dimensionally. Drawing from her background in basketry and needlework, she transforms everyday materials into art that speaks to the complex relationships between domesticity, gender roles, and traditional craft.
Sisson’s recent work, particularly with paper straws, is inspired by cells and organisms, which inform the organic, growing shapes she creates. Her work has been featured in numerous museum collections, and she is part of the Craft in America collection, further cementing her place in the contemporary craft world.
5ab Threading Fish. Annette Bellamy, Pacific Halibut, Sockeye Salmon, Yellow Eye Rockfish skins, linen, artificial sinew, embroidery thread, and plastic strands, 26.875″ x 26.875″ x 2.5″, 2023. Photo by Tom Grotta
We then highlighted the work of Annette Bellamy, an artist based in Alaska whose work reflects her unique life experiences. Having spent many years commercially fishing in Alaska, Bellamy’s life on the water has deeply influenced her artistic practice. The physicality of both her work as a fisherwoman and her art-making process have fueled each other, creating a dynamic relationship between the two.
Bellamy strives to create art that communicates through a universal visual language. She works with both ceramics and textiles, weaving her life and experiences into pieces that speak to a broader audience. Her work reflects a balance of her life on the water and her craft, merging physicality and art with sensitivity and strength.
We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with her and showcase her art!
27yc The path which leads to the center III 202304 LG, Yeonsoon Chang, Teflon mesh. Pure Gold leaf. eco-Resin, 23.875″ x 22.5″ x 6.125″, 2022. Photo by Tom Grotta
We continued our December features with Yeonsoon Chang, whose masterful use of Teflon mesh, pure gold leaf, and eco-resin creates a dynamic interplay of texture and form that blends the modern with the traditional.
Chang’s work beautifully bridges cultures and techniques, merging contemporary materials with ancient traditions, resulting in pieces that captivate both the eye and the mind. Her precision and delicate craftsmanship make her a standout figure in contemporary art. Chang received the Craft Design Award of the Year from the Korea Craft & Design Foundation in December.
With her innovative approach, Chang has developed an eco-friendly resin that she applies to structures crafted from abaca fibers and Teflon-coated glass-fiber mesh. She uses a special glue to attach gold leaf to the fibers, resulting in pieces that evolve with the light. As the light shifts, the structures change, casting intriguing shadows and reflecting or refracting light, transcending the functional to become art that’s constantly in motion.
40mb Scale Flowers, Marian Bijlenga, dyed Nile Perch fish scales, 22.375″ x 18.875″ x 2.5″, 2019
Finally, we turned our attention to Marian Bijlenga, whose work continues to challenge traditional notions of textile art. Known for her intricate woven sculptures and use of natural materials, Bijlenga explores the relationship between form, texture, and the space around her work.
Her pieces often play with the idea of repetition and the fluidity of materials, creating a dynamic conversation between the natural world and the human hand. Bijlenga’s work is celebrated internationally, and we are proud to feature her work at browngrotta arts.
Keep following along and stay tuned for more exciting updates all of 2025.
Woven seagrass and copper wire sculptures, 2002-2021 by Dawn MacNutt: 50dm Connection, 43″ x 14″ x 12″; 49dm Last One Standing, 59″ x 18″ 18″. Photo by Tom Grotta
Artist Nancy Moore sent us a Holiday Greeting she drafted that we wanted to share (with her permission):
May we have the courage to stand up for what is good and true and the fortitude to create our own happiness. Dare greatly, and often!
Wishing you a bold, bright, better-than-expected 2025!
Window by Glen Kaufman, 1960. Photo by Tom Grotta.
We are wishing you love, laughter and lots of art for the holiday season and a few flashback images from holidays past.
Birds: The Gathering, mixed media by Norma Minkowitz, 2016-2019.; Basket: Norwegian White Birch Sculpture III by Markku Kosonen, 1998, 12” x 18” x 18”, 1998.
We’ve had a busy year! We are so grateful for all those who have visited browngrotta arts in person and online.
91jy Fossil, Jiro Yonezawa, bamboo, urushi laquer, 10.75″ x 14.5″ x 15″, 2019; 68-69bb Birgit Birkkjær,Mini Basket Symphony in Black & White, ashes, glued, horsehair/cotton yarn, linen, paper yarn, polyamide, viscose, 19.25″ x 19.25″ x .625” each, 2019. Photo by Tom Grotta
We are lucky to have such talented teams at Juice Creative Group and One + One Solutions to help us with outreach.
1my A Cycle – Infinity, Mariyo Yagi, mixed media (steel, FPR, sisal, resin and polyurethehane), 37.5″ x 65″ x 35.5″, 2016. Photo by Tom Grotta
We are privileged to work with such an extraordinary group of artists and present the work of so many others.
Toshiko Takaezu flower pots filled with pointcettas. Photo by Tom Grotta
You all have kept us going — creating concepts and content — even in challenging economic and artistic times.
21dm Timeless Figure, Dawn MacNutt, bronze, 51″, x 21″, 2004. Photo by Tom Grotta
We’ll keep moving forward in 2025. See Japandí Revisited: shared aesthetics and influences at the Wayne Art Center in Pennsylvania through January 25, 2025 and join us at browngrotta arts in Wilton, Connecticut for Field Notes: an art invitational, May 3 – 11, 2025.
works by Mary Giles, Tamiko Kawata, Kyoko Kumai, Gyöngy Laky. Photo by Tom Grotta
Equine Calligraphy, Wendy Wahl, horsehair, 2021. Photo by Wendy Wahl
Wendy Wahl had two 2024 book recommendations to share. “Many years ago, while at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, I discovered Mysteries of the Alphabetby Marc-Alain Ouaknin (Abbeville Press, 1999).
I was as interested then as I am today in the world of alphabets and their origins. This compact book is a compilation of signs, symbols, and pictograms that have been a part of the evolution of letters and their meaning over the past 3,500 years.” In 2021, Wahl made a piece called Equine Calligraphy, composed of hand-gathered and manipulated horsehair stitched to paper with strands of the same hair. She found a category for this kind of work when she came acrossAsemic: The Art of Writing by Peter Schwenger. The book is a survey of contemporary asemic writing and its place between art and recognizable script. [Cliff Notes version — asemic means writing without language.] The book was ecstatically reviewed: “vital and fateful;” “engaging and groundbreaking.” https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/aia-reviews/asemic-writing-peter-schwenger-cy-twombly-roland-barthes-1202688046/.
Wahl and one of the furry donators to Equine Calligraphy
“I was excited to realize that browngrotta arts’ artist Marian Bijlenga‘s artwork was used for the book’s cover,” Wahl wrote. browngrotta arts carries a book by Bijlenga, Written Weed, containing collages by the artist made of dried leaves, grasses, and seeds. The images are like handwriting, Chinese characters, the letters of an alphabet.
Book #43, Written Weed, by Marian Bijlenga. Photo by Tom Grotta
Gyöngy Laky is another artist who is interested in alphabets and messaging without recognizable forms as in the work Notes to Self. Author David Roth, says “her use of language is decidedly postmodern, seen in how she presents symbols and signs as inherently porous and unstable, subject to all the forces that influence perception and thought.”
119L Notes to Self, Gyöngy Laky, wood and paint, 29.5” x 21.5”, 2012. Photo by Tom Grotta
It’s that time of year again, when we share artists’, and our, recommendations for a good read. For those of us who have sworn off televised news, magazines, and blogs, an inspirational, aspirational, transporting title for a good curl-up may be just what the season needs!
Dawn MacNutt signing a copy of her new book Timeless Forms. photo by Laura MacNutt
Dawn MacNutt, in Canada, gets first place with Timeless Forms, the art book and autobiography that she has been working on for a few years. Timeless Forms intersperses over 100 images of MacNutt’s sculptures and textiles, with stories of her life: from growing up in rural Nova Scotia during the Second World War; through her studies at Mount Allison University under the guidance of Alex Colville; to marriages, motherhood and finding, in her 40s, the courage to throw herself into art full time. “Writing about her unique artistic journey with humor and empathy,” the publisher writes, “MacNutt finds joy in the face of loss and resilience in the face of adversity.” The book is officially published by Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery where MacNutt will have a retrospective show in January 2025. Timeless Forms (MSVU Art Gallery and Owens Art Gallery, Halifax, Canada, 2025) is available for preorder on our website.
The lives of other artists were of interest for Polly Barton in New Mexico. She had two favorite books this year: The Slip: The New York Street the Changed Art Forever by Prudence Peiffer (Harper, New York, 2023) was one. “I wanted more about Lenore Tawney,” she writes, “but I loved the descriptions of the artists, their connections, the slip and the whole sense of period in NYC artistically and politically when I was born (1956) and living there.” The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit of Velazquez by Laura Cumming (Chatto & Windus, London, 2016) was the second. “It is beautifully written and a deep dive into the life of Velazquez, a painter I really did not know. Just reading good writing about art was a treat.”
In Germany, Heidrun Schimmel read Parade by Rachel Cusk (Farrar,Straus and Giroux, New York, 2024). Chosen a “Best Book of the Year” by The New Yorker and Vulture, Schimmel says,“it’s a novel for artists!” She also recommends the two-volume catalog for the 60th Biennial of Arts, Venice, Italy, Biennale Arte 2024: Foreigners Everywhere. The editor, Adriano Pedrosa, says it’s “a celebration of the foreign, the distant, the outsider, the queer as well as the Indigenous” that focuses “on artists who are themselves foreigners, immigrants, expatriates, diasporic, emigres, exiled and refugees―especially those who have moved between the Global South and the Global North.”
“Quite amazing – wonderful escape!” Blair Tate in New York, said of Hugo Award Winner, The Three Body Problemtrilogy by Cixin Liu (Tor Books, New York, 2019). Tate is now reading Timothy Snyder’s The Road to Unfreedom, Russia, Europe, America, (Crown Reprint, New York, 2019),”checking back in to this insane world we’re about to experience…..”
Polly Sutton in Washington also had a timely suggestion. She had just finished National Book Critics Circle Award Winner, All the Frequent Trouble of Our Days, by Rebecca Donner (Back Bay Books, 2022), a “disturbing” book, “so close to what we are going through.” It’s the true story of the American Woman at the heart of the German resistance to Hitler. One of her favorites books of the year was Where the Language Lives: Vi Hilbert and the Gift of Lushootseedby Janet Yoder (Girl Friday Books, 2022). Vi Hilbert revitalized her Salish language in the Pacific Northwest, where Sutton lives, written by one of her students at the University of Washington.
In April, Jim Bassler, who lives in California, went to visit friends in Oaxaca, Mexico. At the airport he bought, James, the US National Book Award Winner, by Percival Everett. “Loved it,” he writes, “and now want to get Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.” (Dover Revd. ed. 1998).
In Korea, Young-ok Shin had a full complement of books this year to recommend: Thinking through Craft, by Glenn Adamson (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2007). which dispenses with clichéd arguments that craft is art, and persuasively makes a case for defining craft in a more nuanced fashion; The Living Reed: A novel of Korea (The John Day Company, Inc. New York, 1963) by Pearl S. Buck (who is the most translated American author); What a Plant Knows: Field Guide to the Senses, Expanded Edition by Daniel Chamovitz (Darun, 2012); Le Zubial Alexandre Jardin, (Alexandre Jardin et Editions Gallimard, Paris, 1997) about Jardin’s father who was a lover of women and life.
Marianne Kemp in the Netherlands is reading The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed the Worldby Kasia St. Clair (John Murray, 2020). In 13 episodes, the book tells a story of human ingenuity — from 30,000-year-old threads found in a Georgian cave to the Indian calicoes that sparked the Industrial Revolution.