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Art Assembled – New This Week in March

March 27, 2024 arttextstyle0 Comment

March was an eventful month at browngrotta arts! From celebrating Women’s History Month to gearing up for our upcoming spring exhibition, it was a month filled with excitement and anticipation. With Discourse: art across generations and continents (May 4 – 12, 2024) just around the corner, we’re eagerly counting down the days. Plus, we’ve been showcasing a diverse range of talented artists on our ‘New This Week’ series. Now, we’re here to give you a recap of everything we’ve covered so you can stay up to date.

Dive in for all the details!

To start off the month, we highlighted art from renowned Japanese artist Kyoko Kumai. With a background in weaving, Kumai honed her craft over the years, refining her own techniques of interlacing and knotting. Since 1975, she has been exploring the possibilities of stainless steel filaments – resulting in mesmerizing pieces that exude an ethereal, weightless quality, evoke a sense of movement and garner her international acclaim.

It’s been an absolute honor for us to collaborate with such a talented artist, and we couldn’t wait to share her work with all of you this month.

Up next in March, we then turned our spotlight to the late, gifted artist Tsuruko Tanikawa. Tanikawa’s profound exploration of space, shade, and light was deeply rooted in her use of metal, which she described as simultaneously open and interconnected.

“I am interested both in a part in light and in a part in shadow,” said Tsuruko Tanikawa. “The shape of my work is made by deleting a part from a complete form.”

It was a privilege to delve into Tanikawa’s remarkable body of work and share her artistic journey with you this month.

We then turned our focus to UK artist, Caroline Bartlett. Bartlett delves deep into the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of textiles, delving into their tactile significance and their unique capacity to evoke memory.

In her practice, she masterfully blends techniques, imprinting, stitching, erasing, and reworking cloth, seamlessly integrating textiles with other media like porcelain.

We’re thrilled to announce that Bartlett is among the esteemed lineup of 50+ artists to be showcased in our forthcoming exhibition, Discourse. We can’t wait to present her captivating work to you firsthand!

Finishing off the month strong, we featured the work of artist Irina Kolesnikova. Originally from Russia and now based in Germany, Kolesnikova brings a unique perspective to her textile creations.

Her pieces often delve into the interplay of color and texture, weaving together a narrative that resonates deeply with viewers. Kolesnikova’s exploration extends to black-and-white photography, where she cleverly integrates silhouettes, attire details, and occupational symbols into her collages, which are then translated into intricate weavings.

In her own words, her creations offer a glimpse into her alter ego—a whimsical, slightly awkward character navigating the complexities of life.

Kolesnikova is another talented artist that will be featured in Discourse this May, so be sure to mark your calendars to see her work for yourselves!

Thank you for joining us on this remarkable journey. Stay tuned for more updates, insights, and artistic discoveries in the months ahead. Until then, keep exploring, keep creating, and keep embracing the beauty of art in all its forms.

Art Assembled – New this Week in May

May 31, 2023 arttextstyle0 Comment

Welcome to our May Art Assembled blog, where we are delighted to present the latest additions to our New This Week series. As we bid farewell to our in person exhibition, Acclaim! Work by Award-Winning International Artists, we are thrilled to announce that this captivating exhibition is now available for online viewing on Artsy. For a closer look at the remarkable artworks that graced our in-person exhibition, click here.

In this month’s feature, we turn our spotlight to the exceptional talents of Grethe Sørensen, Dominic Di Mare, Mercedes Vicente, and Lewis Knauss. Each artist brings a unique perspective and artistic vision, showcasing their mastery of different mediums and techniques. From Sørensen’s intricate tapestries to Di Mare’s dimensional weavings and intricate assemblages, Vicente’s captivating sculptures, and Knauss’s textured landscapes – their artworks will transport you to new realms of artistic expression.

Read on as we delve deeper into the artistic journeys of these remarkable artists, exploring their inspirations, techniques, and the stories behind their captivating creations. Be prepared to be captivated and inspired by their exceptional talent!

At the beginning of the month, we highlighted art from the one and only, Grethe Sørensen. If you don’t already know, Sørensen is a visionary Danish artist whose exploration of digital technologies has revolutionized the art of tapestry. Her mastery of digital thread control and digital jacquard weaving has allowed her to weave intricate and diverse motifs with remarkable precision.

Sørensen’s technique combines the ancient craft of weaving with the realm of video, where she meticulously selects and manipulates still images to create poetic compositions of pixels, traffic lights, neon signs, and more, all rendered in delicate cotton threads. Color gradation holds a special fascination for Sørensen, as she experiments with dying the warp before weaving, blending threads of varying nuances to achieve captivating shades and tones.

We then turned our spotlight to the remarkable artist Dominic Di Mare. Hailing from the United States, Di Mare is a true master of multiple artistic mediums, including weaving, abstract mixed-media sculpture, watercolor paintings, cast paper art, and fiber art. His diverse body of work explores themes of personal spirituality, captivating viewers with its depth and emotive power.

Di Mare’s artistic journey has been marked by groundbreaking innovations. In the 1960s, he gained acclaim for pioneering dimensional weaving, pushing the boundaries of traditional weaving techniques and creating captivating three-dimensional structures.

In the following decades, he continued to push artistic boundaries, exploring cast paper techniques and mixed-media sculpture that seamlessly blend different materials and textures. His sculptures, featuring delicately carved hawthorn branches adorned with feathers, beads, paper, and horsehair, evoke a sense of poetic beauty that resonates deeply with viewers – which is obvious in the artwork we highlighted throughout the month.

We then turned our attention to Mercedes Vicente, hailing from Galicia, Spain. With a specialization in craft art, Vicente has garnered recognition as a regular participant in exhibitions worldwide. Her current artistic endeavors revolve around wood and textile projects, with a particular focus on sculptures crafted from canvas strips.

Vicente’s artistic journey has been a dynamic one. While her early work leaned towards the pictorial, it eventually evolved into the realm of sculpture, with canvas becoming her primary medium of choice. Embracing this technique, she discovered that people were captivated by the intricate and labor-intensive process involved. This realization led her to view her work as a fusion of craftsmanship, art, and design—an expression of creativity that transcends traditional boundaries.

What truly inspires Vicente is the remarkable nature of the fabric she works with. The elastic, organic, flexible, and translucent properties of the material serve as a constant source of fascination and experimentation. It is through her meticulous manipulation of these fabrics that she breathes life into her sculptures, imbuing them with a sense of fluidity and movement.

The best of all? You can now get your hands on artwork from Vicente in our spring exhibition, Acclaim!, which is now live on Artsy.

Last, but not least, we delve into the captivating world of Lewis Knauss, where the significance of place takes center stage. Knauss’s artistic practice revolves around the exploration of landscape, identity, and our sense of belonging, all expressed through the textures, materials, and processes of textiles.

In Knauss’s intricate works, we witness a visual narrative that pays homage to the places that hold deep personal meaning to the artist. From the charming towns of Macungie and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the serene landscapes of upstate New York, the rugged beauty of Colorado, the enchanting deserts of New Mexico, and the coastal allure of Cape Cod—each location weaves its essence into his art.

Using a diverse array of fibers and materials, Knauss meticulously knots and weaves these elements together, creating intricate tapestries that evoke the organic growth found in nature. Through his masterful craftsmanship, he artfully references the passage of time, capturing the ever-changing landscapes and the narratives they hold.

We invite you to continue exploring the diverse and captivating works of these artists by visiting our online exhibition, Acclaim!, now available on Artsy until Friday, June 30. Immerse yourself in the beauty, intricacy, and thought-provoking narratives captured in each artwork. Let their creations spark your own creative journey and inspire a deeper appreciation for the boundless possibilities of art.

Thank you for joining us on this artistic adventure. Stay tuned for more exciting exhibitions, artist highlights, and art discoveries in the months to come. Until then, keep embracing the transformative power of art in your own lives!

Art Assembled – New this Week in April

May 3, 2023 arttextstyle0 Comment

Welcome to our April Art Assembled blog, where we are thrilled to showcase the incredible artists featured in our New This Week series. Last month, the artists highlighted in our New This Week series all happen to be included in our current exhibition, Acclaim! Work by Award-Winning International Artists.

As we near the end of the exhibition, we’ve been enjoying seeing and meeting everyone at Acclaim! and invite those who haven’t had the chance to visit yet to come experience the stunning works of James Bassler, Adela Akers, Ed Rossbach, Helena Hernmarck, Mary Giles, and so many more while it’s still open! You have until this Sunday, May 7 to come check it out in person.

In the following paragraphs, we will dive deeper into the art of James Bassler, Adela Akers, Ed Rossbach, Helena Hernmarck, and Mary Giles, highlighting some of their stunning pieces on display in our exhibition.

To kick off the month of April, we introduced you to the masterful textile artist James Bassler, whose piece “Unravelling” exemplifies his skill and creativity. Bassler’s unique style combines traditional weaving techniques with modern sensibilities, resulting in pieces that are both timeless and contemporary.

This particular piece features a map of the United States on PBS, illustrating the deep divide of the states and Bassler’s concern for the state of democracy. He wondered if our democracy is unraveling, leading him to name this piece “Unraveling.” He finished the piece on his 89th birthday.

Throughout his career, Bassler has received many accolades and honors for his art, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Craft Council.

As the month continued, we introduced you to Adela Akers, a talented textile artist who uses mediums like metallic threads and horsehair to create a mesmerizing interplay of light and shadow, evoking the movement of waves in the ocean. “Silver Waves” is a captivating piece that will leave you in awe of Akers’ skill and imagination. Her art is a beautiful representation of the delicate balance between nature and human creativity.

Born in the Czech Republic, Akers grew up in Venezuela and later moved to the United States. Her art is a beautiful representation of the delicate balance between nature and human creativity, and her pieces are included in many prestigious private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution.

Ed Rossbach was a master weaver and sculptor who revolutionized the world of basketry with his innovative use of ancient techniques and unconventional materials like plastics and newspaper.

His incorporation of pop culture references into his art is a testament to his imaginative prowess. Rossbach’s art invites the viewer to see beauty in the unexpected, and his unique style continues to inspire artists today.

Throughout his long and prolific career, Rossbach received many awards and honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Up next, we turned our attention to the visionary Swedish-born artist and handweaver, Helena Hernmarck. Hernmarck has revolutionized tapestry as a medium for modern architectural spaces. Her tapestries are renowned for their incredible illusion of movement, captivating viewers and transcending the boundaries of two-dimensional art.

Born in Stockholm, Hernmarck studied at the Handarbetets Vänner textile school in Stockholm before moving to the United States. She has received numerous awards and honors throughout her career, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Craft Council.

Last, but not least, we highlight the work of the late Mary Giles. Giles was a renowned artist who mastered the coiling technique associated with Native American basket traditions. Her work included striking wall pieces and freestanding sculptures that draw inspiration from the environment, human figures, and vessels.

Her signature style incorporated thin metal strips, some of which are shaped like human figures, layered over a surface or core. Her pieces are a beautiful representation of the connection between art and nature, and her work is included in many prestigious collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

There are only a couple of days left to experience the stunning works of the incredible artists in our Acclaim! exhibition in person. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to engage with the art and immerse yourself in the world of these talented artists. For more information on Acclaim! or to register, click here. We hope to see you there!

browngrotta arts Year in Review/Preview

January 4, 2023 arttextstyle0 Comment

Hi all!
We like to take a look back most Januarys. We make plans, and, more optimistically, resolutions for the New Year.

This year has been a busy one for us and next year is shaping up to be busier still!

Below, a look back and a look ahead for browngrotta arts. Hope you’ll add some of our upcoming activities to your schedule.

Exhibitions

Opening reception for crowdsourcing the Collective — Crowdsourcing the Collective exhibition. Photo by Ezco Productions

2022
• More than 500 people attended our 2022 Exhibitions, Crowdsourcing the Collective: a survey of textiles and mixed media and Allies for Art: Art from NATO-related countries.

• After the in-person exhibitions ended, we posted the work on Artsy as exclusive on-line collections.

• We curated a Viewing Room in March. Featuring works in frames, it was entitled Art With an Edge: The Case for Frames.

Tom installing *The Station/Kuala Lampur* for our Upcoming Glen Kaufman Viewing Room exhibition. Photo by Rhonda Brown

2023
• We’ll host two in-person exhibitions next year, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. Add the Spring exhibition dates to your calendar now: April 29 – May 7, 2023

• We’ll be involved with three exhibitions at public spaces. We’ve loaned work to Norma Minkowitz: Body to Soul at the Fairfield University Art Museum in Connecticut, which opens January 27th and will loan several indigo works to the Denver Botanic Garden in Colorado for an exhibition that opens July 1st and we’ve partnered with the Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Public Library, Connecticut for Wordplay: Messages in Branches and Bark, which opens on March 30th.

• We’ll present an online exhibition of the late Glen Kaufman’s work, Glen Kaufman: 1960-2010 in our Viewing Room on our new website.

• We will curate at least one other 2023 on-line exclusive exhibition in the View Room on the new website. Topic TBD.

Outreach

James Bassler Two Flags video

2022 Social Media:
• We have continued to post regularly on our social channels, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and our blog, arttextstyle. We’ve upped the amount of information we provide on Instagram and you’ve responded by engaging with us more.

• Our Instagram impressions are up 13.5%, engagements 12.6% and Instagram video views up 16.9%

• Our Facebook Engagements are up 32.1%

• Page views on arttextstyle increased by 15%

• Our Instagram Net Follower Growth has grown 90.5%

• Our Total Net Audience has Grown 46%

2023 Social Media and Live Programs:
• We’ll continue our social media postings on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and arttextstyle, which will move to our new website when it launches.

• Gyöngy Laky and John McQueen will each speak on different dates at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich in April in conjunction with the Wordplay: Messages in Bark and Branches exhibition that features their work. Tom will also speak at the Flinn during the Wordplay exhibition. More on dates and times to come.

• Tom will speak at the Ridgefield Library on Contemporary Art Textiles and Fiber Art on Sunday, April 16, at 2 pm and also at the Appraisers Association of America meeting in NYC in June.

Publications

Gyöngy Laky: Screwing with Order, assembled art, actions and creative practice; Allies for Art: Work from NATO-related countries; Crowdsourcing the Collective: a survey of textiles and mixed media art catalogs

2022
• We were pleased at the publication of Gyöngy Laky: Screwing with Order, assembled art, actions and creative practice, this Spring. It was designed by Tom features text by Jim Melchert, Mija Reidel and David M. Roth. You can buy it on our website and in the MoMA book store, among other outlets.

• We published a 148-page, color catalog for our Crowdsourcing the Collective exhibition.

• We published a 148-page, color catalog for our Allies for Art exhibition.

2023
• In early 2023, we will make available our fifth monograph, Glen Kaufman: 1960 – 2010.

• On March 15th Anne Newlands authoritative book on noted Canadian artist Mariette Rousseau-Vermette, Weaving Modernist Art: The Life and Work of Mariette Rousseau-Vermette will be published. It features many of Tom’s photos of Mariette’s work. We hope to make it available in the browngrotta arts’ site.

• We will publish a color catalog for our Spring “Art in the Barn” exhibition in April 2024.

• We will publish a color catalog for our Fall “Art in the Barn” exhibition in September-October 2023.

External Platforms

Artsy viewing room and 1stdibs browngrotta arts page — Artsy and 1stdibs

2022
• Art from browngrotta arts could be found on 1stDibs and Artsy in 2022. We created our first Artsy Viewing Room to showcase the work of Wendy Wahl and Norma Minkowitz, then-included in the Westport Museum of Contemporary Art Exhibition, Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse, in Connecticut. Artsy included Yasuhisa Kohyama in its article: 5 Artists on Our Radar in June.

2023
• Art from browngrotta arts will again be found on 1stDibs and Artsy in 2023. We’ll be adding videos on Artsy to give viewers even more information about available works.

Please join us. We’d love to see our views grow in 2023.

Happy Summer Hiatus!

August 2, 2019 arttextstyle0 Comment

At browngrotta arts we have a boatload of projects in the works for Fall. To concentrate on those — and on a couple of great trips we have planned — arttextstyle is taking the month of August off — to recharge our batteries and do some big picture thinking. We’ll be back in September with new posts, ideas, information and loads of luscious artwork.
Happy Summer!!

Art Assembled: Featured in January

January 31, 2017 arttextstyle0 Comment

We had four New This Week selections in January, including evocative sculptures of black willow and recycled aluminum plate and two works that offer commentary on current events.

40cj Smoke Ring, Christine Joy
willow with black encaustic, 23″ x 22″ x 12″, 2014

Christine Joy sources, harvests and then transforms willow into dramatic sculpture. Smoke Ring represents a new direction for Joy, she says, “more looseness and movement on the edge, visually, of coming apart, more exploration of added color to give unity and emotional depth.”

11mw Water Lily, Merja Winqvist
recycled aluminum plate, 26” x 25.75” x 1.75”, 2016

Merja Winquist of Finland has created a stylized and shimmering Water Lily of recycled aluminum.

14cg The Iron Curtain, Ceca Georgieva
burrdock burrs, 19” x 16” x 5” 2016

In Iron Curtain, a sculpture of burdock burrs, by Ceca Georgieva of Bulgaria, a figure seeks escape from a web of red threads. The work is about Georgieva’s generation, who remained n Eastern Europe after World War II on the Red side―the Communist side―of the Iron Curtain. “As children,” she says, “we proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, and we believed whatever we were told to believe. Our future was programmed and seemed to be clear and beautiful. When cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain and news from the West slowly filtered into the country, we learned about beat poetry, rock ‘n’ roll, blue jeans and Coca-Cola. We started to feel the lack of freedom and the desire to go out and to live without fear of restriction and deprivation. Then the wall fell down. Now, 25 years later, we are still in front of the half-open curtain, making efforts to get rid of the red iron threads.”

66nm Are We The Same?, Norma Minkowitz, mixed media, 12” x 28” x 26.375”, 2016

Are We the Same? by Norma Minkowitz, also addresses societal change, in this case, assimilation. “My thought was about our society and how, as time goes on, we intermingle and intermarry, ” says the artist, “and at the end we are a combination of many different genes and DNA and perhaps are eventually blended in some way.” Enjoy our selections.

Upcoming: Guest Posts on arttextstyle

February 4, 2014 arttextstyle0 Comment

Art, architecture and the environment are upcoming topics for guest bloggers on arttextstyle.com over the next few months.

David Ling, Wend Wahl & Gyöngy Laky, photos by Tom Grotta

In February, architect David Ling will write about studying glass at Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Maine a follow up to Hisako Sekijima’s 2013 blog about teaching basketry in the same session. Ling founded David Ling Architects in 1992 after training with Richard Meier, I.M. Pei and Emilio Ambasz. Ling has held teaching positions at Parsons School of Design and University of Nuremburg and has served on design juries at Interiors Magazine, Harvard Graduate School of Design and Columbia University. The essence of Ling’s architecture is the artistic integration of space, form, light and function enriched by materiality. Among his design projects is the home/office of browngrotta arts.

Artist Wendy Wahl will write three posts about art, environment and ideas — the first to appear in mid-February. Wahl‘s work has been exhibited internationally and is in a number of private and public collections including the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York and the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. Her work has been the subject of exhibitions at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan, the Newport Art Museum, Rhode Island and the Fuller Craft Museum in Massachusetts.

In March, artist Gyöngy Laky’s Process Notes; Red in Art and Life will also appear on arttextstyle. Laky’s sculptural forms have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States. Internationally, her work has been exhibited in France, Sweden, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Hungary, Lithuania, Colombia, the Philippines, China, with one-person exhibitions in Spain, Denmark and England. Her outdoor site-specific installations have been exhibited in the US, Canada, England, France, Austria and Bulgaria. From April 26th to May 5, 2014 Laky’s baskets and wall sculpture will be included in Of Two Minds; Artists Who Do More Than One of a Kind.

In March, readers will learn about the creative journey Dutch artist, Marian Bijlenga has taken, as she muses on 30 years of work. Bijlenga’s “spatial drawings “of horsehair, paper, thread and fish scales have been exhibited worldwide. Her work is represented in major museum collections including LongHouse Reserve; The Museum of Art & Design; The Craftmuseum, Finland; Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle, Calais, France; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Bijlenga’s wall works and glass sculpture will be featured this April in Of Two Minds; Artists Who Do More Than One of a Kind at browngrotta arts.

Objects of Desire Gift Guide: Part Four — The Concierge Collection

December 15, 2013 arttextstyle0 Comment

Are you looking for an overlooked, understated, exceptional gift? We’ve culled just such a selection for The Concierge Collection. Priced from $55 to $5000, in this grouping you’ll find good reads and items from our back room that we are surprised have not yet been acquired.

1) LITTLE RED, Grethe Wittrock
paper, aluminum, 69″ x 14″ x 9″, 2009

2) BALANCING II, Irina Kolesnikova
flax, silk, paper, hand woven, 21″ x 16″, 2009