Category: Museums

Art News — Pulp Culture: Paper is the Medium

November 10, 2014 0 Comment
Morris Museum, Morristown New Jersey, photo by Tom Grotta

Morris Museum, Morristown New Jersey, photo by Tom Grotta

Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey

Takaaki Tanaka work "A Harden Nest" in front of the Morris Museum's Pulp Culture exhibit. Photo by Tom Grotta

Takaaki Tanaka work “A Harden Nest” in front of the Morris Museum’s Pulp Culture exhibit. Photo by Tom Grotta

Through December 7th

More than 80 works are presented in the Morris Museum’s current exhibition of art by contemporary artists who have stretched the boundaries of paper as a creative medium and source of inspiration.

A Red Grethe Wittrock among the works at the Morris Museum, Pulp Culture exhibit, Photo by Tom Grotta

A Red Grethe Wittrock among the works at the Morris Museum, “Pulp Culture” exhibit, Photo by Tom Grotta

The exhibition includes surprising objects made from paper ranging from life-size sculptures of human figures and whimsical figures to geometrically complex folded objects to jewelry and paper dresses. The “paper” includes dollar bills, book pages, florists’ wrapping, dress patterns and more. Included are papermakers, sculptors and engineers, whose methods and materials include handmade paper pulp, folded paper, molded paper, recycled paper and cut paper.

Richard Meier Collages among the artists exhibited in "Pulp Culture" at the Morris Museum. Photo by Tom Grotta

Richard Meier Collages among the artists exhibited in “Pulp Culture” at the Morris Museum. Photo by Tom Grotta

Among those featured in Pulp Culture are architect Richard Meier, designer Massimo Vignelli and jeweler Robert Ebendorf. Ten of the 46 featured artists are represented by browngrotta arts. Takaaki Tanaka’s several-part paper pulp piece appears at the entrance. Wendy Wahl’s works made of Encyclopedia Britannica pages are also included along with

Morris Museum, Pulp Culture, Wendy Wahl, Kazue Honma, Merja Winqvist. Photo by Tom Grotta

Morris Museum, Pulp Culture, Wendy Wahl, Kazue Honma, Merja Winqvist. Photo by Tom Grotta

work by Dona Anderson. Jennifer Falck Linssen, Grethe Wittrock, Kay Sekimachi, Toshio Sekiji, Merja Winqvuist, Mary Merkel-Hess and Kazue Honma. The Morris Museum is at 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, New Jersey and open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information: 973-971-3700 or www.morrismuseum.org.

Fiber Sculpture Gets its Due at MAD in New York

November 1, 2014 0 Comment

At Long Last Love Update

Kay Sekimachi, Ed Rossbach, Françoise Grossen, Katherine Westphal and others Museum of Art Design installation of What Would Mrs Webb Do?, Photo by Tom grotta

Kay Sekimachi, Ed Rossbach, Françoise Grossen, Katherine Westphal and others Museum of Art Design installation of What Would Mrs Webb Do?, Photo by Tom Grotta

We visited What Would Mrs. Webb Do? A Founder’s Vision at the Museum of Arts and Design and discovered the answer is, in part, “collect sculptural and other examples of textile art.” The exhibition celebrates the enduring legacy of its founder Aileen Osborn Webb, highlighting Webb’s advocacy and dedication to skilled makers across America, and featuring objects drawn largely from the Museum’s permanent collection.

Anni Albers, Tikal, 1958, Photo by Eva Heyd

Trude Guermonprez; Banner, 1962 Silk, brass rods; double weave 81 x 28 x 28 in. (205.7 x 71.1 x 71.1 cm) Museum of Arts and Design, Purchased by the American Craft Council with funds from the Valerie Henry Memorial Fund, 1967, 1967.96 Photo Credit: Eva Heyd

Trude Guermonprez; Banner, 1962, Photo: Eva Heyd

The exhibition is especially rich in works from the 50s and 60s, according to Karen Rosenberg in The New York Times. The pioneering fiber works we’ve been touting on arttextstyle are well represented, including textile designs by Studio Jack Lenor Larsen, tapestries by Jan Yoors and Anni Albers, dimensional works by Kay Sekimachi, Lia Cook, Ed Rossbach, Trude Guermonprez and Françoise Grossen, and, one of the ” bigger highlights” according to Rosenberg, “a riotous hand-printed and appliquéd fabric wall hanging by Katherine Westphal.”

Dominic Di Mare Museum of Art Design installation of What Would Mrs Webb Do?

Dominic Di Mare, Where the River Meets the Sea, 1984

The exhibition runs through February 8, 2015. Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019; 212.299.7777.

Art on Display and In Print. In The Realm of Nature: Bob Stocksdale & Kay Sekimachi in San Diego

October 27, 2014 0 Comment
Kay Sekimachi, paper tower, photo by Tom Grotta

Kay Sekimachi, paper tower, photo by Tom Grotta

74b PISTASHIO 6

Pistashio Bowl by Bob Stocksdale, photo by Tom Grotta

In the Realm of Nature: Bob Stocksdale & Kay Sekimachi at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, presents an inspiring, retrospective view of work by two of America’s foremost pioneers in wood and textile art. Kay Sekimachi (1926-) and Bob Stocksdale (1913-2003) married in 1972. Seen together, their 50 years of work has a true poetic resonance.

Hailed as a father of American woodturning, Bob Stocksdale revitalized the craft of lathe-turned bowls, beginning in the 1950s. In his exquisite works, he unveiled a compelling beauty in diseased and in rare woods, of which many are now endangered. Serpentine or ellipsoidal shapes— seemingly impossible to turn— are among his innovations. The exhibition features, for the first time on view, an example of his one-of-kind furniture.

Kay Sekimachi is an influential master of complex weave structures in both off-loom and on multiple-harness loom techniques. Transparent marine creatures were the inspiration for the interlocking hangings in monofilament (fish line) that she created in the 1960s. With these majestic pieces she ascended to the forefront of contemporary fiber art during the 1960s and 1970s. Her work is included in the current exhibition Fiber: Sculpture 1960-present at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Massachusetts through January 4, 2015. Throughout her 60-year career she has created unique works of art in such natural materials as skeletal leaves, hornet’s nest paper and grass. The exhibition includes examples of her translucent sculptural hangings and room dividers, along with other woven forms – accordion-formatted books, vibrant scrolls, seamless nesting boxes and jewelry. The Mingei is at 1439 El Prado, San Diego, California, 92101. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information: ph. 619.239.0003; web address: http://www.mingei.org.

In the Realm of NatureExhibition curator Signe Mayfield has authored a lush 210-page book to accompany the exhibition. In the Realm of Nature: Bob Stocksdale & Kay Sekimachi, available at browngrotta.com features scores of attractive object photos. It includes essays by Melissa Leventon (former Curator-in-Charge of Textiles at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and founding member of Curatrix Group of museum consultants) and John C. Lavine (former editor of Woodwork Magazine and furniture maker.)

At Long Last Love: Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present Opens at ICA, Boston

October 8, 2014 0 Comment
fiber, sculpture, opening, ICA

Fiber: Sculpture 1960 — present opening, photo by Tom Grotta

It looks as if 2014 will be the year that contemporary fiber art finally gets the recognition and respect it deserves. For us, it kicked off at the Whitney Biennial in May which gave pride of place to Sheila Hicks’ massive cascade, Pillar of Inquiry/Supple Column. Last month saw the opening of the influential Thread Lines, at The Drawing Center in New York featuring work by 16 artists who sew, stitch and weave. Now at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the development of abstraction and dimensionality in fiber art from the mid-twentieth century through to the present is examined in Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present from October 1st through January 4, 2015. The exhibition features 50 works by 34 artists, who crisscross generations, nationalities, processes and aesthetics. It is accompanied by an attractive companion volume, Fiber: Sculpture 1960-present available at browngrotta.com.

Fiber, Sculpture, book, ICA

There are some standout works in the exhibition — we were thrilled to see Naomi Kobayashi’s Ito wa Ito (1980) and Elsi Giauque’s Spatial Element (1989), on loan from European museums, in person after admiring them in photographs. Anne Wilson’s Blonde is exceptional and Ritzi Jacobi and Françoise Grossen are represented by strong works, too, White Exotica (1978, created with Peter Jacobi) and Inchworm, respectively.

Françoise Grossen and Kathleen Mangan in front of Grossen’s Inchworm sculpture at the opeing of Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present opening at the ICEA

Françoise Grossen and Kathleen Mangan in front of Grossen’s Inchworm sculpture at the opeing of Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present opening at the ICEA

Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present will tour nationally to the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (January 30 – April 5, 2015), the Des Moines Art Center, Iowa (May 8, 2015 – August 2, 2015) and the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston (August 22, 2015 — November 29, 2015). You can also see Innovators and Legends, which has traveled across the country in the last two years, at 108 Contemporary, Tulsa Oklahoma in January 2015. And not to be outdone, browngrotta arts will open Influence and Evolution next April 24, 2015 in Wilton, Connecticut. Influence and Evolution will also celebrate experimenters in fiber while exploring how the use of textile materials and techniques has evolved, showing early works — from the 60s, 70s and 80s — by Sheila Hicks, Ed Rossbach, Magdalena Abakanowicz and Françoise Grossen, alongside work created after 2000 by both influencers like Ritzi Jacobi, Naomi Kobayashi and Ferne Jacobs and by a later generation of artists, including Stéphanie Jacques, Gizella Warburton and Naoko Serino. Influence and Evolution, will run through May 3, 2015 and will be accompanied by a full-color catalog.

 

Jenelle Porter, Glenn Adamson, Musuem of Arts and Design, photo by Tom Grotta

ICA Mannion Family Senior Curator Jenelle Porter explained in the conversation with Glenn Adamson, Director, Musuem of Arts and Design, photo by Tom Grotta

Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present aims to create a sculptural dialogue, an art dialogue — not one about craft, ICA Mannion Family Senior Curator Jenelle Porter explained in an opening-night conversation with Glenn Adamson, Director, Museum of Arts and Design. On that score, we think it succeeds — go and see for yourself. Let us know what you think.

And watch this space for more about Influence and Evolution.

Jenelle Porter, Ed Rossbach, fiber

ICA Mannion Family Senior Curator Jenelle Porter in front of Ed Rossbach weaving photo by Tom Grotta

Dispatches: Art and Nature in South Jersey

September 28, 2014 0 Comment
Going Solo And Tandem, Selected Works by Marilyn Keating and Debra Sachs

Going Solo And Tandem, Selected Works by Marilyn Keating and Debra Sachs

We traveled to Southern New Jersey for the opening of Going Solo And Tandem, Selected Works by Marilyn Keating and Debra Sachs at the Stockton College Art Gallery in Galloway, New Jersey, near Atlantic City. The works, created over the last 25 years, feature observations and navigations of the artists’ daily environment.

3 OBLONG BOOKS by Debra Sachs, Going Solo And Tandem, Selected Works by Marilyn Keating and Debra Sachs photo by tom Grotta

3 OBLONG BOOKS by Debra Sachs, Going Solo And Tandem, Selected Works by Marilyn Keating and Debra Sachs photo by tom Grotta

They reflect the spirit of the artists’ partnership, general influences, and mutual interest in the South Jersey industrial/natural world. The artists have approached the gallery “like a playground for artists…filling the space with objects recovered from the attic and stripped off walls.”

Stockton College

Stockton College, photo by tom Grotta

It’s a large space in the center of the well-kempt Stockton College campus, which rumor has it, is soon to become a University (choose Parking Lot 6 and look for signs that say PBA (Performing Arts Building).

Going Solo And Tandem, Selected Works by Marilyn Keating and Debra Sachs, photo by Tom Grotta

Going Solo And Tandem, Selected Works by Marilyn Keating and Debra Sachs, photo by Tom Grotta

Sachs’ and Keatings’ works are installed thoughtfully, leading viewers to see shared references, examine where their approaches differ and appreciate their collaborative works. There is an Artists’ Talk on October 16th, at 11:30 a.m. The exhibition runs through November 9, 2014. For more information, visit: http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=230&pageID=5.

Mission B & B Cape May NJ

Mission B & B Cape May NJ, photo by tom Grotta

We stayed an hour away in charming Cape May, New Jersey at a truly memorable B&B, The Mission Inn http://www.missioninn.net. Quite a contrast to the Victorians that make up most of Cape May’s architecture, the Mission Inn was built in 1912 by Nelson Z. Graves inspired by his turn of the century business trip to the Pacific Coast. It’s an authentic example of California Spanish Mission architecture. Its stained glass window, Flemish gable and pergola veranda, exposed wood-beamed ceilings contribute to the warm feeling of this al fresco house. Kayaking, beaching combing and window shopping were all fine. Sachs and Keating also recommend the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife refuge, near Atlantic City, as a must visit for bird lovers.

Cape May NJ Beach View

Cape May NJ Beach View, photo by tom Grotta

Art Update: What’s On in America and Abroad

May 8, 2014 0 Comment

 

Recall, Ane Henricksen, 2010. photo by Ane Henricksen

Recall, Ane Henricksen, 2010. photo by Ane Henricksen

Several artists represented by browngrotta arts are included in exhibitions in Europe and the US this Spring. Among the largest is Artapestry3 at the Jean-Lurçat Museum of Contemporary Tapestry in Angers, France. This is the third is edition of Artapestry3, an initiative launched by the European Tapestry Forum (ETF). The event contemporary  offers visitors an unusual perspective by aligning the works of 25 international textile artists, including Ane Hendricksen and Grethe Sørensen, with the Museum’s collection, which includes work by such artists as Paul Klee, Alexander Calder, Thomas Gleb, Magdalena Abakanowicz and Jean Lurçat. Also included in the exhibition are examples of traditional tapestry works whose iconographic repertory has inspired contemporary creation. The exhibition is structured around nine major themes that enable comparisons between the contemporary pieces that form part of Artapestry3 and the more traditional works from the Angers’ collections. Among these themes, in the Vitality section, a visitor may discover the Red Sun tapestry by Alexander Calder (1919-1976) alongside the lively motifs of Ariadna Donner’s The wolf crossed the road. In the Object section, visitors can admire Temps passé by Pierre Daquin (1936) next to Ivete Vecenáne’s The Bowl. The exhibition runs through May 18th. For more information visit the event website: musees.angers.fr/expositions/en-ce-moment/artapestry3-angers-allers-retours/artapestry3-angers-allers-retours/index.html.

Naoko Serino installing her works as "Fiber Futures" travels to Spain.

Naoko Serino installing her works as “Fiber Futures” travels to Spain.

Fiber Futures: Pioneers of Japanese Textile Art, continues its travels. It is open at c art c., the Computense Art Center in Madrid, Spainthrough May 18, 2014. The exhibition features Japan’s most important contemporary textile artists, including, Naoko Serino, Hideho Tanaka, Kiyomi Iwata, Naomi Kobayashi, Hisako Sekijima and Kyoko Kumai. For more information visit: www.ucm.es/.

works by Jennifer Falck Linssen and Norikko Takamiya

works by Jennifer Falck Linssen and Norikko Takamiya

In the US, in Mesa, Arizona, Norikko Takamiya and Jennifer Falck Linssen join an inventive group of artists working with paper.Fold, Paper, Scissors runs through August 10, 2014 at the Mesa Contemporary Art Museum. The Opening Reception is Friday, May 9th from 7 to 10 p.m. (We’ll be there!) The Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum at Mesa Arts Center is at One East Main Street, Downtown Mesa, Arizona, for more information, call: 480-644-6560 or visit:  www.MesaArtsCenter.com.

Big Tera, 2007 - Tissage de coton 259 x 127 cm

Big Tera, 2007 – Tissage de coton 259 x 127 cm

Lia Cook’s work is the subject of a one-person exhibition at the Drapers Gallery in Liege, Belgium. Lia Cook: Icons Jacquard highlights faces woven in large scale on a Jacquard loom. For more information visit the Gallery’s site: www.lesdrapiers.be/events/lia-cook.

Make A Day of It: Of Two Minds and Other Art Activities in Our Area

April 14, 2014 0 Comment
Glow & Glitter, Agneta Hobin, mica, steel mesh, 8” x 8” each, 2014; Alchemia, Agneta Hobin, gilded gold-leaf wooden reliefs, 8” x 8” each, 2014, photo by Tom Grotta

Glow & Glitter, Agneta Hobin, mica, steel mesh, 8” x 8” each, 2014; Alchemia, Agneta Hobin, gilded gold-leaf wooden reliefs, 8” x 8” each, 2014, photo by Tom Grotta

There are cultural opportunities aplenty in our area in late April and early May. In addition to Of Two Minds: Artists That Do More Than One of a Kind at browngrotta arts (bga), 276 Ridgefield Road, Wilton, Connecticut from April 26th (12pm – 6pm) through May 4th (10 am – 5 pm, April 27th – May 4th), there are exhibitions of interest in nearby Ridgefield, Westport and at the Wilton Historical Society:

Standing in the Shadows of Love: The Aldrich Collection 1964–1974 Part 1 Robert Rauschenberg, (1925–2008) Robert Rauschenberg, Umpire, 1965; Private collection

Standing in the Shadows of Love: The Aldrich Collection 1964–1974 Part 1
Robert Rauschenberg, (1925–2008)
Robert Rauschenberg, Umpire, 1965; Private collection

Celebrating 50 Years:
Standing in the Shadows of Love: The Aldrich Collection 1964–1974
Robert Indiana, Robert Morris, Ree Morton, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Smithson

Aldrich Museum of Art (6.13 miles from bga)
258 Main Street
Ridgefield, CT 06877
http://www.aldrichart.org

Hours
Tuesday – Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m.

The Aldrich will celebrate its 50th Anniversary with three overlapping series of exhibitions that highlight not only the Museum’s legacy, but also the relationship between the era in which it was founded and our current cultural landscape. The first, Standing in the Shadows of Love: The Aldrich Collection 1964–1974 — features iconic, historical works by Robert Indiana, Robert Morris, Ree Morton, Robert Rauschenberg, and Robert Smithson that represent the Museum’s early collection acquired by founder Larry Aldrich.

SOLOS 2014

WAC.logoWestport Arts Center (7.01 miles from bga)
51 Riverside Avenue
Westport, CT. 06880
www.westportartscenter.org

Hours:
Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm
Sunday 12pm – 4pm

Of 150 applicants, Patricia Hickson, the Emily Hall Tremaine Curator of Contemporary Art at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut has selected 12 artists, including browngrotta arts’ friend, Ken Resen, to exhibit in Westport Arts Center’s SOLOS 2014.

wiltonhistoricalsocieylogoChanging Times — Hand Tools Before the Industrial Revolution: Connecticut Tools of the Trades from the Walter R.T. Smith Collection 
and
Tavern Signs & Paintings: Heidi Howard, Maker & Painter

In its Burt Barn Gallery, the Society has mounted a series of eccentrically shaped, unusual tools. In the Sloan House Gallery, the Society presents an exhibition of contemporary interpretations of 18th and 19th century trade and tavern signs crafted from hand-planed 100- to 200-year old boards, painted by Heidi Howard.

Wilton Historical Society (1.98 miles from bga)

224 Danbury Road
Wilton, CT 06897
www.wiltonhistorical.org
Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm

In Honor of Museum Selfie Day

January 31, 2014 0 Comment
Carter sitting on Robert Indiana's LOVE Sculpture in Scottsdale Arizona, photo by Tom Grotta

Carter sitting on Robert Indiana’s LOVE Sculpture in Scottsdale Arizona, photo by Tom Grotta

Wea culpa. We didn’t learn about Happy #MuseumSelfie day (January 22nd) until it had passed .#MuseumSelfie Day is an idea from Culture

Rhonda at Storm King Sculpture Park, photo by Tom Grotta

Rhonda at Storm King Sculpture Park, photo by Tom Grotta

Themes and Mar Dixon aimed to make museums both less haughty and more physical Had we known sooner, we’d have been all in. We’ve been photo op’ing art for years; here’s a selection of our up-close-and-personal art encounters from earlier days. Send us your photo ops and we’ll post them here. Visit The Telegraph online to see this year’s museum selfies from around the world: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/museums/10588960/

Museum-Selfie-day-your-pictures.html.

Carter at the Laumeier Sculpture Park. Photo by Tom Grotta

Carter at the Laumeier Sculpture Park. Photo by Tom Grotta

Congratulations! Mary Giles is a Renwick Gallery Master of the Medium

April 7, 2013 0 Comment
Mary Giles details by Tom Grotta and Don Casper

Mary Giles details by Tom Grotta and Don Casper

Today, Mary Giles will receive the 2013 Master of the Medium award for fiber from the James Renwick Alliance and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. The Masters of the Medium award recognizes artists of consummate craftsmanship who have contributed to and influenced their chosen fields. The Masters of the Medium awards were initiated in 1997 on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the James Renwick Alliance and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Renwick Gallery. The Masters of the Medium Awards are given biennially in odd numbered years.

Mary Giles resides in St. Croix, Minnesota. She creates mixed-media coiled baskets that are sculptural in nature, totems and three-dimensional wall works. Giles’ recently created a 53-inch “boulder,” The Long Divide, of hammered waxed linen, torched tin-coated copper and brass.

The Long Divide by Mary Giles, photo by Don Casper

The Long Divide by Mary Giles, photo by Don Casper

Her 2012 work,Twist, has been added to the American Decorative Arts collection of the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut.

Sentry Field by Mary giles, photo by Tom Grotta

Sentry Field by Mary giles, photo by Tom Grotta

The sculptural piece was made of waxed linen, iron twists, hammered tin and coated copper wire. Giles’ work is in several other museum collections, including that of the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minnesota, Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin, Contemporary Art Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York. She has said of her work, “Today, I am very concerned about the environment and try to capture the forms, textures and light found in nature” and that she is influenced by the views out of her studio windows, “the light on the river, shadows in the woods, and the textures of the water, rocks and trees.”

Against the Grain: Randy Walker’s Dream Elevator and Other News

January 22, 2013 0 Comment

 

photo by Randy Walker

photo by Randy Walker

December 2012 saw completion of Dream Elevator by Randy Walker for the City of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.  The structure is a 45-foot tall stainless-steel-and-concrete tower woven with custom-braided polyester rope.  The sculpture is inspired by the nearby Peavey-Haglin Grain Elevator of 1899, the first cylindrical concrete grain elevator in the world.

photo by Randy Walker

photo by Randy Walker

The dedication date of Dream Elevator is as yet undetermined. This year and next, Walker will be at work on at least four public commissions. First,  a permanent outdoor work, Sky Portal, for the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which will be visible from the sky as well as the ground. Second, Entanglement, in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Walker will use an existing bell tower as a framework for a fibrous wrapping.

photo by Randy Walker

photo by Randy Walker

Third, a temporary, site-specific installation will be built at the two main cargo shipping terminals in San Diego, California that will be part of WRAP: an artistic investigation of the San Diego Tidelands. Finally, Walker will work with his South Minneapolis community to create a large-scale, collaborative installation for which Walker received a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant.