“We are living in the middle of the city pulse and are continuously overwhelmed by visual impressions and all kinds of information and on top of that we also very often have to make quick decisions. We all handle and cope with these issues in many different ways, but I do think we all need some quiet time – time for reflection to regain strength and energy in our daily lives,” says Swedish artist Eva Vargö, one of the 31 international artists whose work is included in Paperworks: material as medium, at the Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Library, which opens May 10th. Vargö deals with the life’s fast pace by weaving. “The working process is often repetitive and so it becomes meditative,” she says. “Mostly it gives me some peace of mind and my aim is to work at a slow pace. To be able to do one thing at a time without rush and to let go – to meet the unforeseen. I want to trust my intuition and my inner voice.” Vargö is a member of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) and an Honorary Member of The Korean Paper Artists Association. Vargö’s husband was the Swedish Ambassador to Korea until last September and so she has spent considerable time in that country. Vargö’s work was included in last fall’s Swedish Contemporary Craft Art, at the Korean Foundation Cultural Center in Seoul, Korea. Her sophisticated weavings in Paperworks: material as medium incorporate old Korean book paper and ink-dyed paper string. The exhibition runs through June 21st. The opening reception is May 10th from 6 to 8 p.m.; there is a Curator’s Walkthrough on May 12th at 2 p.m. For more information contact the Flinn Gallery at (203) 622-7947.
Art News: Paperworks: material as medium — Eva Vargö
Art News: Paperworks: material as medium — Miriam Londoño
Miriam Londoño studied art at Antioquia University in Medelin, Colombia and at the Arts Academy in Florence, Italy. While she lived in Medelin, Londoño worked as an artistexplained the text from an exhibition earlier this year at Galerie 106 in the Netherlands.”The finished works hang on the wall as transparent paper strips with ornate characters and the words a shadow cast on the wall. The graceful play of light and dark contrasts with the emotional character of the stories described there. This paradox of light and shadow frequently reappear in her work.” Londoño’s work has been exhibited in the US, the UK, and Australia, Europe, Asia and South America. Two of Londoño’s works will be included in Paperworks: material as medium at the Flinn Gallery at he Greenwich Public Library, Greenwich, Connecticut from May 10th through June 21st, curated by Kelly Eberly and Barbara Richards and browngrotta arts. The Flinn Gallery is in the Greenwich Library, 101 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. For more information call: 203.622.7947.
Art News: Paperworks: material as medium — Takaaki Tanaka
Visitors to Paperworks: medium as message at the Flinn Gallery, at the Greenwich Public Library (May 10th – June 21st) will see Takaaki Tanaka’s show-stopping work, A Hardened Nest, at the entrance to the exhibition. A Hardened Nest was created by arranging threads tightly in space and then covering these threads with a paper fiber mixture which, once dried, hold its given shape in space. Combining prepared units, the artist has built a substantial wall of what he refers to as “nests,” which, he notes, are a fundamental starting point for many species of animal life. “I am interested in the way that fiber made from paper, a material harvested from plants, can take on a completely different aspect when it hardens to form a new shape inspired by the natural world,” says Tanaka. “The shapes become emotional shapes,” he says, that illustrate themes of nature, sense of touch and communication.” Tanaka’s work was featured in the exhibition and catalog for Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers at the Japan Society in New York 2011.
Exhibition News: Paperworks: material as medium opens in Greenwich on May 10th
UNTITLED, Naomi Kobayashi, kayori thread, paper, 99″ x 54″ x 5″, 2006, photo by Tom Grotta, courtesy of browngrotta arts
Paper holds a powerful place in the history of human interaction, marking our milestones with birth certificates, marriage licenses and diplomas, maintaining our collective Paperworks: material as medium at the Flinn Gallery at the Greenwich Public Library, Greenwich, Connecticut from May 10th through June 21st, curated by Kelly Eberly and Barbara Richards and browngrotta arts, celebrates paper in another guise – as a medium for art.
The work of more than 30 international artists inspired by and created from paper is featured in Paperworks. In them, paper has been stitched and plaited, carved and stacked, used as pulp to be molded and reformed, while newspapers, telephone books and dress patterns have been repurposed as vessels and sculpture. The artists in Paperworks treat varieties of paper their material as others would wood, linen, clay or marble.
OVER EASY, Dona Anderson, paper armature covered with pattern paper as surface design. Frame (cover) is rounds reeds strengthened with pattern paper, polymer and black paint 10″ x 14″ x 14″ , 2011. photo by Tom Grotta, courtesy of browngrotta arts
Several of the artists in Paperworks create structures of recycled papers. Wendy Wahl of the US uses pages of old encyclopedias to create an arbor of arches while Kazue Honma of Japan creates vessels from Japanese telephone books and Japanese artist Toshio Sekiji weaves wallworks newspapers from around the world. The exhibition includes constructions by the late US artist Ed Rossbach made of cardboard and newpaper and vessels made of dress pattern paper by US artist Dona Anderson.
34ts COUNTERPOINT 8, Toshio Sekiji, Korean newspapers; black urushi lacquer 28″ x 25″ x 4″, 2009, photo by Tom Grotta, courtesy of browngrotta arts
For Jane Balsgaard of Denmark, Naomi Kobayashi of Japan and Pat Campbell and Mary Merkel-Hess of the US, handmade and gampi paper create semi-translucent, ethereal objects that seem capable of floating. In Balsgaard’s case, the paper she uses is made from materials gathered near her summer home in Sweden. Mary Merkel-Hess uses gampi paper, papier-maiche and reed to create baskets, softly lit sculptures and wall works. Other artists, including Sylvia Seventy from the US, use molded paper pulp to create art, including in Seventy’s case, molded paper bowls populated with found and other objects.
brazilian palm, banana leaves, morbærbark paper, 11″ x 24″ x 9.5″, 2010, photo by Tom Grotta, courtesy of browngrotta arts
In conjunction with Paperworks: material as medium there will be a Curator’s Walkthrough on May 12th at 2 p.m. and an Artist’s Talk by artist Wendy Wahl on June 10th at 2 p.m. The Flinn Gallery is in the Greenwich Library, 101 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. An opening reception will be held May 10th from 6-8. For more information call: 203.622.7947.
Upcoming: Events at SOFA New York this Week
Lectures, artist booth visits and more. This week’s events include:
Sue Lawty, John McQueen and Norma Mnkowitz
April 19th
Opening – SOFA NY
April 20th
1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Artist booth visit
John McQueen
browngrotta arts booth 208
Detail of BODY LANGUAGE, by John McQueen
Sue Lawty working on a stone drawing
April 21st
1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Artist booth visit Norma Minkowitz
Detail of Remembrance by Norma Minkowitz
25 at 25 at SOFA NY Countdown: Anda Klancic
Anda Klancic, Black Grove detail, photo by Tom Grotta
Cerni Goj means the black grove in the ancient Slovenian language, but it is also a surname in Slovenia, the name of the late Slovenian painter and graphic artist, August Cernigoj. At SOFA NY 2012 , browngrotta arts will exhibit Anda Klancic’s work, The Black Grove. The work involved several techniques and manipulations, took 13 years to complete and explores the themes of global linkage and the interaction of humans and nature.
Klancic’s first stimulus for The Black Grove was the structure of the vein-like net of the dried fruit from the plant echynocystis lobata, a wild pumpkin. Inspired by this natural structure, Klancic designed a pattern for industrial machine-embroidered lace and machine-embroidered fabric. From a piece of this embroidered fabric, produced from selected raw materials especially for this hand-manipulated experiment, she produced The Black Grove, using numerous hand-applied techniques.
Klancic’s work has garnered international acclaim. Her three-dimensional lace work, Foothpaths 2, was commended by the judges at last year’s International Triennial of Tapestry in Poland. Her lighted works Aura and Aura F&M, were presented at the Miniartextil Energheia touring exhibition that opened in Milan, Italy. Aura which is made of palm tree bark, optical fibre, and includes three halogen light sources, is currently in Zagreb, Croatia in the Textil{e}tronic exhibition.
25 at 25 at SOFA NY Countdown: Susie Gillespie
SETTLEMENT detail by Susie Gillespie, photo by Tom Grotta
Settlement by Susie Gillespie, antique handspun linen & Nepalese nettle yarn, modern linen, cotton, natural pigments from caves. gesso, hand-made paper, 45.5″ x 48″ x 1″, 2010, photo by Tom Grotta
25 at 25 at SOFA NY Countdown: Mary Giles
TWIST by Mary Giles, photo by Tom Grotta
53mg TWIST, Mary Giles, waxed linen, iron twists, and hammered tin coated copper wire, 22″ x 10″ x 5″, 2012, photo by Tom Grotta
Mary Giles‘ sculptures, Sentry Field and Twist, made of knotted linen, pressed metal and springs, will be on display at browngrotta arts at SOFA 2012 , booth 208. Giles says of her work, “I interpret and express my concerns about our environment and the human condition through my work. I have also explored themes related to communication and intimacy in relationships, and the results are reflected in my figural work. Today, however, I am very concerned about the environment and try to capture the forms, textures, and light found in nature. I admire the directness and honesty I see in tribal art, and I try to incorporate those qualities in my own.” Giles’ work is in numerous museum collections including that of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the St. Louis Art Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
25 at 25 at SOFA NY Countdown: Chris Drury
Crossing and Recrossing the Rivers of Iceland by Chris Drury, photo by Tom Grotta
Chris Drury’s Crossing and Re-crossing the Rivers of Iceland will be exhibited by browngrotta arts at SOFA NY 2012. The handwritten text on the peat-impregnated paper lists and repeats all the rivers crossed on a six- day walk from Porsmork to Landmanalauga in Iceland. The pattern is from a satellite image of a storm that hit us on the fourth day. The story behind Crossing and Re-crossing the Rivers of Iceland Drury and a friend with a heart condition, went on a six-day walk in central Iceland. On the fourth day they were hit by a storm and waited out the night in a hut. The following day, the storm was still raging but they used a four-hour lull to try and catch their plane. They started for the next hut at 3:00 p.m., crossing a cold river and climbing 2000 feet to a snow-covered plateau. On the top the storm returned and they were enveloped in a whiteout.
7cd Crossing and Recrossing the Rivers of Iceland, photo by TomGrotta
Drury’s friend announced that he wasn’t going to make it to the hut. He was, in fact, having a heart attack. Drury didn’t know it, but his heart was shutting down. He gave him some water, which he used to swallow pills given him by his doctor for just such an emergency. The pills saved his life and he was able to make it to the hut. This experience is reflected in Crossing and Re-crossing the Rivers of Iceland. The blood flows in the heart in a double vortex pattern called a Cardiac Twist; the storm that Drury and his friend were caught in had that same pattern. Drury is an environmental artist who has created site-specific works from South Africa to Ireland to Wyoming. In recent years he has studied systems in the body and on the planet, with particular reference to systems of blood flow in the heart, including combining measurements of the “Earth’s heartbeat,” echograms of Antarctica, with the heartbeat, echocardiogram, of a pilot who flies there in his work, Double Echo. Drury’s work has been included in several books, including Chris Drury: Found Moments in Time and Space (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.).
25 at 25 at SOFA NY Countdown: Lia Cook
Neural Networks Detail by Lia Cook, photo by Tom Grotta
At SOFA NY 2012, browngrotta arts‘ display will include Neural Networks by Lia Cook. Cook works in a variety of media, combining weaving with painting, photography, video and digital technology. Cook’s current practice explores the sensuality of the woven image and the emotional connections to memories of touch and cloth. Working in collaboration with neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine,
23lc Neural Networks, Lia Cook, woven cotton and rayon, 83″ x 51″ x 1.5″, 2011, photo by Tom Grotta
Cook has investigated the nature of the emotional response to woven faces by mapping in the brain these responses and using the laboratory experience both with process and tools to stimulate her work in reaction to these investigations. Her solo exhibition, Bridge 11: Lia Cook, which includes large-scale woven images of human faces and introduces several works based on her recent art-neuroscience collaboration, is at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft through May 13th. Cook is one of 11 artists whose work is highlighted in the current exhibition, Sourcing the Museum, at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC through August 19th and one of 14 artists featured in Sleight of Hand at the Denver Art Museum through May 13th.