As we journeyed through August, our New This Week series began with a feature of artwork from artist Helena Hernmarck. Hailing from Sweden, Hernmarck is a trailblazer in the world of tapestry, revolutionizing the field with her innovative techniques and captivating designs. Her tapestries are not just artworks; they are harmonious unions of art and architecture, seamlessly integrating into modern spaces.

Hernmarck’s mastery lies in her handweaving technique, which allows her to conjure the illusion of movement within her tapestries. With every thread, she orchestrates a dance of colors and shapes that come alive, captivating our senses and challenging our perceptions.

Her tapestries, as displayed here, are dynamic conversations between art and observer – inviting us to explore their depths from various distances, each unveiling a different facet of the narrative.

As we ventured further into August, our New This Week spotlight was turned to Norma Minkowitz, a sculptor whose creations embody an intricate dance between structure and surface. Minkowitz has devoted years to pushing the boundaries of crocheted sculptures, weaving them into mesmerizing mesh-like forms that transfix the viewer’s gaze.

Minkowitz’s artistic journey delves deep into the thematic interplay of confinement and release. Her mesh sculptures, delicately formed through the art of crocheting, carry within them a profound reflection on the cycles of life, encapsulating the notions of mortality and rebirth. Beyond their visual allure, her works exude a powerful narrative that intertwines the fragility and resilience of existence.

Incorporating elements from the natural world, Minkowitz often intertwines twigs and branches into her sculptures. With each piece, Minkowitz masterfully transcends mere physicality, inviting us to contemplate the profound complexities that underlie the human experience, and Sophia’s Heart is no exception!

Up next we featured art from Gerhardt Knodel. Knodel is known across the world for his contributions that have shaped contemporary fiber art for over five decades. His artistic exploration of textures and textiles has led to pioneering applications that seamlessly merge fibers with interior architecture, pushing the boundaries of creative possibility.

Drawing from his early experiences in theater design, Knodel embarked on a unique path that delved into uncharted territories of textile applications. His innovative concepts resonated globally, showcased in exhibitions around the world and commissioned for contemporary architectural spaces across the United States. Notably, his work extends far beyond the realm of creation; for 25 years, he steered the graduate program in Fiber at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and directed the Academy from 1995-2007, ultimately earning the esteemed title of Director Emeritus.

Through his inventive approach, Knodel invites us to reimagine the potential of fiber and texture in shaping the aesthetics of our surroundings. His journey is a testament to the transformative power of artistic vision, and we are honored to be able to work with him.

And as we rounded out the month, we introduced you all to Ferne Jacobs, a pioneering figure who has been at the forefront of the fiber art revolution since the 1960s. With innovative ideas and a penchant for pushing boundaries, Jacobs has carved a new path in the world of sculpture, introducing an entirely fresh format to the realm of artistic expression.

Jacobs’ journey of creativity has led her to transcend the conventional, reshaping materials into striking sculptures that challenge traditional norms. Her acute sense of color, combined with her poetic and intuitive approach, infuses her artworks with a distinctive vibrancy that captures the essence of her artistic vision. Her pieces are more than sculptures; they are vibrant dialogues between imagination and reality, form and color.

As we bid farewell to August, we are humbled by the incredible artistic journeys we’ve had the privilege to explore. In the meantime, we are eagerly awaiting the opening of Vignettes: one venue, three exhibitions on Saturday, October 7. We invite you to register for the event and follow along as we continue to drop new artist features throughout September!

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1) Christine Joy and Sara Mast: Passage 
Yellowstone Art Museum 
Billings, MT 
through July 16, 2023

https://www.artmuseum.org/project/christine-joy-and-sara-mast-passage/

Christine Joy and Sara Mast explorethe mystery of nature through the transformation of materials, texture, and form.

The large, twisted willow forms by Christine Joy are the result of a rhythmic process beginning with the hunt and harvest of willow in autumn — followed by sorting, bunding, and storing. Joy began rug braiding in the 1970s. Over time, Joy moved on from rug braiding, leading her to a period of experimentation, and ultimately to reclaiming and reorienting her love of gathering and process with willow, grounding her to the earth. Sara Mast, a descendant of miners from Cornwall, England, resides on the site of Storrs, Montana, an early Anaconda Company mining town. Today, she incorporates PEM (plasma enhanced melter) glass into her work. PEM is a byproduct of plasma gasification, an advanced waste management technology that turns any kind of trash into inert, non-toxic glass and clean fuels. Mast writes, “PEM glass is not just another art material, but represents a profound paradigm shift in using technology to heal our environmental dilemma by keeping waste out of landfills and greenhouse gases out of the air. My use of PEM glass is one way I am able to reclaim a healthy relationship with the earth.”

2) International Linen Biennial in Portneuf (BILP)
Heritage sites throughout Deschambault-Grondines 
Quebec, Canada
June 18 – October 1, 2023
https://biennaledulin.com/

Anneke Klein (the Netherlands) Blair Tate (United States of America) Stéphanie Jacques (Belgium), Carole Frève (Québec) will all participate in the upcoming biennial of Linen — the 10th in Portneuf. The biennial will feature two exhibitons; the work of 20 professional artist; 20 emerging artists; multiple mediation activities and a day of converences. 

3) Couples in Craft
Craft in America Museum
Los Angeles, CA
through September 24, 2023
https://www.craftinamerica.org/exhibition/couples-in-craft/

Couples in Craft highlights artist couples that specifically work in fiber and ceramics, either collaboratively or independently. While very different in their physical qualities—malleable and rigid, vegetable and mineral—both media require methodical construction processes that can take years to master. Many of these artist couples met during their formative educational years and thus share a lifelong dedication to each other and to their respective craft. These partners support and inspire each others’ extensive pursuit of mastering materials and continued exploration of their potential. Their intuitive knowledge of process allows for layers of meaning to become integrated into the works as they are made.

Among the artists included in this exhibition are Veralee Bassler and Jim Bassler. Veralee Bassler graduated from the UCLA Art Department with a concentration in ceramics. She shared her passion for creativity, teaching, and ceramics with the students of the Los Angeles School District for 25 years. Jim Bassler graduated from UCLA with an MA in Art in 1968 and later served there as professor and department chair between 1975–2000. Jim, recipient of the American Craft Council 2022 Gold Medal, is a renown weaver whose work adapts ancient Peruvian techniques and explores a range of materials and concepts. Veralee and Jim live and work in Palm Springs, CA.

4) At Own Pace: Włodzimierz Cygan 
7th Riga International Textile and Fibre Art Triennial
Mentzendorff’s House 
Grēcinieku iela 18, Riga, Latvia
through July 27, 2023

https://www.lnmm.lv/en/museum-of-decorative-arts-and-design/news/programme-of-the-7th-riga-international-textile-and-fibre-art-triennial-quo-vadis-139

Baiba Osīte: Exodus
7th Riga International Textile and Fibre Art Triennial
Art Station Dubulti 
Z. Meierovica prospekts 4, 

Jūrmala, Latvia https://www.lnmm.lv/en/museum-of-decorative-arts-and-design/news/programme-of-the-7th-riga-international-textile-and-fibre-art-triennial-quo-vadis-139

The 7th Riga International Textile and Fibre Art Triennial,  QUO VADIS? unites 79 artists from 30 countries who were selected by an international jury from 237 submissions. Responding to the motto of the triennial, QUO VADIS? (Where Are We Going?), the authors, through their works, partake in conversations about the evolution of art and this particular field today as well as global geopolitical and social problems, engaging in self-reflection through the perspective of their time and art form. 

The Triennial features an exciting solo exhibition by the internationally acclaimed Polish guest-artist Włodzimierz Cygan at the Mentzendorff’s House in Riga and one featuring Latvian artist Baiba Osite.

5)  Ferne Jacobs: A Personal World
Claremont Lewis Museum of Art
Claremont, California
through September 24, 2023

https://clmoa.org/exhibit/ferne-jacobs-a-personal-world/

Ferne Jacobs: A Personal World at the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art presents the work of Ferne Jacobs, a pioneer in fiber arts who creates unique three-dimensional sculptural forms using ancient basket-making techniques. Ferne Jacobs: A Personal World features a broad selection of her sculptures as well as books of her psychological drawings and collage diaries. 

6) Jane Balsgaard
Galleriet Hornbæk
Hornbæk, Denmark
Summer 2023

http://xn--galleriethornbk-bmb.dk/category/jane-balsgaard/

Jane Balsgaard’s work is available this summer at Susanne Risom’s Galleriet Hornbæk in Denmark.

7) Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890 – 1980
Milwaukee Art Museum
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
through July 23, 2023

https://mam.org/exhibitions/scandinavian-design/

Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890–1980 is the first exhibition to explore the extensive design exchanges between the United States and Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Iceland during the 20th century.  It includes works by Helena Hernmarck who moved from Sweden to the US, and Lenore Tawney, who studied with noted Finnish weaver Martta Taipale at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.

8) Indigo 
Denver Botanic Garden
York Street Location
Denver, Colorado
July 2 – November 5, 2023 

https://www.botanicgardens.org/exhibits/indigo

Rich and alluring, the striking blue color known as indigo has inspired weavers, dyers, designers, and sculptors across the globe. This exhibition, which  contemporary artists from the United States, Nigeria, Japan and South Korea Includes several works loaned by browngrotta arts  from artists Polly Barton, Eduardo Portillo and Mariá Dávila, Chiyoko Tanaka, Hiroyuki Shindo, and Yeonsoon Chang.

9) Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest
Bard Graduate Center Gallery
New York, New York
through July 9, 2023

https://www.bgc.bard.edu/exhibitions/exhibitions/117/n-a

Shaped by the Loom: Weaving Worlds in the American Southwest invites you to explore the world of Navajo weaving. This dynamic gallery and online experience presents never-before-seen textiles created by Diné artists. These historic blankets, garments, and rugs from the American Museum of Natural History are situated alongside contemporary works by Diné weavers and visual artists, such as Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete.

10) Expressing Cloths: Oceanian Modeling and Shigeki Fukumoto/Shigeko Fukumoto
Aomori Contemporary Art Center
Aomori, Japan
through June 14, 2023

https://acac-aomori.jp/program/2023-1/

This exhibition features Fukumoto, who has pursued an expression that can only be achieved through “dyeing” through his insight into the theory of craftsmanship in Oceania and Japan, and handcrafted fabrics that have been handed down since before textiles, such as tapa (bark cloth) and knitted fabrics from Melanesia in the South Pacific. In recent years Shioko Fukumoto has developed works using old natural fabrics that were made and used in rural life and labor. Three works. By group, we will think about the expression that can only be achieved with cloth, and the possibilities of cloth as a medium of expression. Both Fukomotos have visited Papua, New Guinea on more than one occasion.

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In conjunction with our spring exhibition, Acclaim! Work by Award-Winning International Artists, we produced our 56th catalog. The 164-page volume features images of art by each of the 51 artists in the exhibition. It also includes detail shots and installation images of the works in space. 

The 51 artists in Acclaim! like the others that we work with at browngrotta arts, have had their work acquired by museums and recognized by collectors. In addition, each of the artists included have achieved formal art acknowledgment in the form of an award or medal or exclusive membership. In the US, that may mean the award of a Gold Medal from the American Craft Council — 10 of the artists in Acclaim! belong to that group. In Canada, it means membership in the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, which three of our artists have achieved. The late-master weaver Peter Collingwood received an OBE, Order of the British Empire.Yeonsoon Chang of Korea was selected Artist of the Year, by the Contemporary Art Museum in Seoul. In France, Simone Pheulpin was awarded the Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris. Grethe Sørensen of Denmark and Agneta Hobin of Finland received the Nordic Award in Textiles; Sheila Hicks the French Legion of Honor, and so on.

The catalog also includes an essay by Caroline Kipp, Acclaim! and the Art of Serious Play. Kipp (she/they) is a curator, artist, and historian. She holds a BFA in Fibers from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, an ALM in Museum Studies from Harvard University, and is currently a PhD student in Art History at the University of Maryland, College Park.From 2019 to 2023, Kipp was the Curator of Contemporary Art at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum in Washington, DC where she curated Anne Lindberg: what color is divine light?. Previously, she was the Curatorial Associate in the Department of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston where she was responsible for the contemporary decorative arts collection, including the Daphne Farago collection. She curated the Farago gallery rotations, Jack Bush: Radiant Abstraction, Community Arts Initiative: Mindful Mandalas, and Community Arts Initiative: Endless Feast, co-curated Beyond the Loom: Fiber as Sculpture/Subversive Threads as part of Women Take the Floor and Perception is the Medium. Kipp served as the assistant and project manager on Cecilia Vicuna: Disappeared Quipu, Sheila Hicks, Nan Goldin, Lorraine O’Grady: Family Gained, Candice Breitz: Love Story, Maia Lynch: In Between, and Monuments to Us. Prior to this, Kipp was part of the MFA Boston’s Textile and Fashion Arts Department where she contributed research to the exhibition Gender Bending Fashion. She serves on the boards of the Textile Society of America (TSA) and the James Renwick Alliance for Craft (JRA). You can find her on Instagram at  @carolinekipp_curator.

In the “very insightful and thoughtful” essay, Kipp writes about the importance of community, identifying fiber departments and exhibitions like the Lausanne Biennials, where artists interacted with peers from around the world. Kipp also writes about motivation, noting that these artists continued their work even without recognition, leading to “a contradictory point about accolades and honors: they represent high points within a career and simultaneously are rather anticlimactic.” Kipp observes that “the labor of artmaking is heavier and deeper than most people realize.” These artists have realized that it’s possible to turn a difficult task into a fulfilling one by engaging in the act of “serious play.” In artmaking, serious play is the heart of a sustained studio practice — leaning into uncertainty generates creativity. Kipp finds “playful” qualities in many of the works in claim!, experimental material choices and techniques, and innovative uses of color, form, and imagery. 

Order a copy of Acclaim! Work by Award-Winning International Artists, to learn more. One of our readers described it as “an important document much needed now.”

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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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reserve a spot here: RESERVE

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Artists whose work is shown by browngrotta arts are not immune to the attractions of these images. Ed Rossbach, is one such artist — he created a printed textile based on images from Sports Illustrated — highlighting advertisements in particular. Other works featured John Travolta and US astronauts. Rossbach is best known for including Mickey Mouse in many examples of his work — woven in damask, painted on cedar baskets, illustrated in lace, featured in embroidered photographs. Rossbach’s The New Mickey basket features images of Mickey throughout. He reportedly co-opted the world’s famous rodent in response to snide remarks about his classes and occupation. The motif came to be included in some of his best-known works — including works in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Cleveland Art Museum.

“If you’re doing knotless netting, you need an image, or I want an image,” Rossbach explained in an oral history prepared by Harriet Nathan in 1983. “What image do you put in nowadays? Sometimes the images were there for you, certain religious images, and now in our culture, what images do you put in? So you put in Mickey Mouse, and it’s a statement about that, too, I think. I like Mickey Mouse. I think it’s partly because it’s a defensive attitude on my part, that what people think very much is Mickey Mouse. They refer to the classes that you teach as Mickey Mouse classes, and everything is just dismissed as, ‘It’s Mickey Mouse.'” Rossbach found that very damaging. “So I put a Mickey Mouse on baskets and the most elaborate textile; I wove Mickey Mouse in double damask,” he said laughing. “I did him in ikats. I’ve done a lot of Mickey Mouses. And Mickey Mouses sell,” he added wryly.

In our recent work with the estate of Glen Kaufman, we discovered pop culture themes interested him as well. In 1983, he created a series works that took the form of diminutive prayer rugs with McDonald’s arches replacing the traditional mihrabs — arch-shaped designs that indicate the direction of Mecca.

James Bassler’s interest was in Trader Joe’s market — literally. He created a bag from their bags. He wanted to introduce his class to the technology of spinning. What materials do we have readily available, he asked. “I spotted a Trader Joe bag on a table, in which I had carried supplies to class,” he says. “At that point, much to my surprise, I had established my lesson plan for the day. I told them that their first assignment was to cut and spin yam from a T.J. bag. I then demonstrated what it takes to do this … I proceeded to weave, using the resulting brown paper ‘yarn.’ As I wove, my concept crystallized to create a Trader Joe Bag. It took approximately eight bags, a lot of spinning and 2-3 intermittent years to complete.”

Popular products often serve as graphic inspiration. Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Tomato Soup can prints and Brillo boxes are prime examples. For a commission, Helena Hernmack created a collage that incorporated a Juicy Fruit label, then wove the imagery into a tapestry.

For more information about our artists, visit browngrotta.com.

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This deconstructed portrait by Ed Rossbach works on two levels — it appears to be a model of the way a likeness can be formed, and of course, it revels the likeness in black transferred onto fabric.

Portrait by Ethel Stein is an imagined depiction of a woman in contemplation while Helena Hernmarck’s On the Dock seems to capture an actual moment in time.

Marjike Arp made a statement about gender in DNA=Unique. The pair of subjects resemble one another and raise questions for the viewer: Are they related? Are they more similar than different? 

Other artists also work from photographic images. Irina Kolesnikova, for example, likes old black-and-white old photos. “I play with images of these pictures, using silhouettes, details of dress, signs of profession. I make collage and imitate collage in woven technique. You can not recognize an exact person in these pieces, because it is not important for me …. I like a paradoxical combination of contemporary art language and ancient handweaving technque.”

Ukrainian-born artist Aleksandra Stoyanov began making tapestries in 1987, building on her background in graphic and set design. Some of these are based on photographs from her family album. The images evoke memories; the position of the subjects’ heads on their sides suggests the importance of one’s vantage point in interpreting events.

Lia Cook is a master of creating woven portraits from photographic images. Her Su Series Installation features 32 individual portraits. The exact same face, an image of Cook as a child, is used in each of the pieces but it is physically and materially translated differently each time through the weaving process. “The specific way each is translated creates a subtle and sometimes dramatic variation in emotional expression.” Cook says. “As one moves through the installation each iteration evokes a new response. The experience of the person viewing the piece is what is important to me. I am interested in the threshold at which the face dissolves first into pattern and then into a sensual tactile woven structure.  What does this discovery and the resulting intense desire to touch the work add to our already innate, almost automatic emotional response to seeing a face?… The viewer can experience sadness, happiness anger fear etc.  They don’t believe it is the same image”. It is fascinating to Cook — and to viewers of her work — that how an image is translated through the technical weaving process can change the emotional expression of the work.

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Boats and ships and time on the water are potent metaphors for the highs and lows of contemporary life.

As FineArt America says of “boat art”:”… whether you own a boat, grew up by the sea, or dream of sailing the wide-open ocean, boats have a way of making us feel a unique combination of calm and adventurous.”.

Artists at browngrotta arts explore the artistic potential of boats and boat shapes in widely divergent ways. 

Some, like Lawrence LaBianca, Helena Hernmarck, Chris Drury and Annette Bellamy, have referenced them literally in their work. Lawrence LaBianca creates experiences in which water is an integral part. In Skiff, an antique telephone receiver links viewers to sounds of a rushing river. Twenty-four Hours on the Roaring Fork River, Aspen, CO, is a print created by Drawing Boat, a vessel filled with river rocks that makes marks on paper when it is afloat. Annette Bellamy has lived in a small fishing village called Halibut Cove right across the bay from Homer, Alaska and worked as a commercial fisherwoman. Off season, she reflects on her day job, creating porcelain, earthenware, raku-fired ceramic and stoneware boats, buoys, sinkers and oars that float inches from the floor.

Others, like Dona Anderson, Jane Balsgaard, Merja Winquist, Birgit Birkkjaer and Christine Joy, are moved to create more abstract versions. Boat is a part of new work of hers that is more angular, says Christine Joy. “The shape that occurs when I bend the willow reminds me of waves on choppy water, boats, and the movement of water.” Birgit Birkkjaer’s baskets contain precious amber that she has found washed up on the shore. The indigo-dyed baskets symbolize the sea that brings the amber to the shore – and a ship from ancient times, transporting the Nordic Gold to the rest of Europe. Boats and boat shapes conjure thoughts of water as a natural force, a spiritual source, or a resource for which humans are responsible — and not doing such a red hot job. 

in each case the results are imaginative and intriguing. Enjoy these varied depictions and see more on our website.

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browngrotta arts is devasted by the loss of Sandra Grotta, our extraordinary collector and patron and mother and grandmother. Sandy and her husband Lou have been pivotal in the growth of browngrotta arts through their advice and unerring support. Sandy graduated from the University of Michigan and the New York School of Interior Design. For four decades, she provided interior design assistance to dozens of clients — many through more than one home and office. She encouraged them to live with craft art, as she and Lou had done, placing works by Toshiko Takezu, Mariette Rousseau-Vermette, Helena Hernmarck, Gyöngy Laky, Markku Kosonen, Mary Merkel-Hess and many other artists in her clients’ homes. Among her greatest design talents was persuading people to de-accession pieces they had inherited, but never loved, to make way for art and furnishings that provided them joy. Sandy was a uniquely confident collector and she shared that conviction with her clients.  

Her own collecting journey began in the late 1950s, when she and Lou first stepped into the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City after a visit to the Museum of Modern Art. “The Museum’s exhibitions, many of whose objects were for sale in its store, caused a case of love at first sight. It quickly became a founding source of many craft purchases to follow,” Sandy told Patricia Malarcher in 1982 (“Crafts,” The New York Times, Patricia Malarcher, October 24, 1982). It was a walnut table ”with heart” on view at MoCC that would irrevocably alter the collectors’ approach. The table was by Joyce and Edgar Anderson, also from New Jersey. The Grottas sought the artists out and commissioned the first of many works commissioned and acquired throughout the artists’ lifetimes, including a roll-top desk, maple server and a sofa-and-table unit that now live in browngrotta arts’ gallery space. She followed the advice she would give to others:  “When we saw the Andersons’ woodwork,” Sandy remembered, “we knew everything else had to go,” Sandy told Glenn Adamson. From the success of that first commission, the Grottas’ art exploration path was set. The Andersons introduced the Grottas to their friends, ceramists Toshiko Takaezu and William Wyman. “The Andersons were our bridge to other major makers in what we believe to have been the golden age of contemporary craft,” Sandy said, “and the impetus to my becoming our decorator.”  

When Objects USA: the Johnson Wax Collection, opened in New York in 1972 at MoCC, by then renamed the American Craft Museum, the Grottas began discovering work further afield. ”Objects USA was my Bible,” Sandy told Malarcher describing how she would search out artists, ceramists, woodworkers and jewelers. A trip to Ariel, Washington, led the Grottas to commission an eight-foot-tall Kwakiutl totem pole for the front hall by Chief Don Lelooska. Sandy ordered a bracelet by Charles Loloma from a picture in a magazine. ”I always got a little nervous when the packages came, but I’ve never been disappointed,” Sandy told Malarcher. ”Craftsmen are a special breed.” Toshiko Takaezu, as an example, would require interested collectors like the Grottas to come by her studio in Princeton, NJ, a few times first to “interview” before she’d permit them to acquire special works. It took 15 years and several studio visits each year for the Grottas to convince the artist to part with the “moon pot” that anchors their formidable Takaezu collection. Jewelers Wendy Ramshaw and David Watkins in the UK also became dear friends as Sandy developed a world-class jewelry collection. At one point, in a relationship that included weekly transatlantic calls, Sandy told Wendy she needed “everyday earrings.” Wendy responded with earrings for every day – seven pairs in fact. “For me, the surprise was that they found me,” says John McQueen. “I lived in Western New York state far from the hubbub of the art world.” McQueen says that he discovered they the Grotta’s were completely open to any new aesthetic experience. “from that moment, we established a strong connection, that has led to a rapport that has continued through the years – a close personal and professional relationship.”

Their accumulation of objects has grown to include more that 300 works of art and pieces of jewelry by dozens of artists, and with their Richard Meier home, has been the subject of two books. The most recent, The Grotta Home by Richard Meier: A Marriage of Architecture and Craft, was photographed and designed by Tom Grotta of bga. They don’t consider themselves collectors in the traditional sense, content to exhibit art on just walls and surfaces. Sandy and Lou’s efforts were aimed at creating a home. They filled every aspect of their lives with handcrafted objects from silver- and tableware to teapots to clothing to studio jewelry and commissioned pillows, throws and canes, a direction she also recommended for her interior design clients. The result, writes Glenn Adamson in The Grotta Home,”is a home that is at once totally livable and deeply aesthetic.” Among the additional artists whose work the Grottas acquired for their home were wood worker Thomas Hucker, textile and fiber artists Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney and Norma Minkowitz, ceramists Peter Voulkos, Ken Ferguson and William Wyman and jewelers Gijs Bakker, Giampaolo Babetto, Axel Russmeyer and Eva Eisler. They have traveled to Japan, the UK, Czechoslovakia, Germany and across the US to view art and architecture and meet with artists.

Perhaps their most ambitious commission was the Grotta House, by Richard Meier. Designed to house and highlight craft and completed in 1989, it is a source of constant delight for the couple, with its shifting light, showcased views of woodlands and wildlife and engaging spaces for object installation. The Grottas were far more collaborative clients than is typical for Meier. “From our very first discussions,” Meier has written,”it was clear that their vast collection of craft objects and Sandy’s extensive experience as an interior designer would be an important in the design of the house.“ The sensitivity with which the collection was integrated into Meier’s design produced “an enduring harmony between an ever-changing set of objects and they space they occupy.” The unique synergy between objects and architecture is evident decades later, even as the collection has evolved.  Despite his “distinct — and ornament-free — visual language, Meier created a building that lets decorative objects take a leading role on the architectural stage,” notes Osman Can Yerebakan in Introspective magazine (“Tour a Richard Meier–Designed House That Celebrates American Craft,” Osman Can Yerebakan, Introspective, February 23, 2020). The house project had an unexpected benefit — a professional partnership between Sandy and Grotta House project manager, David Ling, that would result in memorable art exhibition and living spaces designed for the homes and offices of many of Sandy’s design clients.

Sandy and Lou became patrons of the American Craft Museum in 1970s. As a member of the Associates committee she organized several annual fundraisers for the Museum, including Art for the Table, E.A.T. at McDonald’s and Art to Wear, sometimes with her close friend, Jack Lenor Larsen, another assured acquirer, as co-chair. At the openings, she would sport an artist-made piece of jewelry or clothing, sometimes both, and often it was an item that arrived or was finished literally hours before the event. “I wear all my jewelry,” she told Metalsmith Magazine in 1991 (Donald Freundlich and Judith Miller, “The State of Metalsmithing and Jewelry,” Metalsmith Magazine, Fall 1991) “I love to go to a party where everyone is wearing pearls and show up in a wild necklace …. I have a house brooch by Künzli – a big red house that you wear on your shoulder. I can go to a party in a wild paper necklace and feel as good about it as someone else does in diamonds.” Sandy served on the Board of the by-then-renamed Museum of Arts and Design, stepping down in 2019. 

From its inception, Sandy served as a trusted advisor, cheerleader and cherished client to browngrotta arts. She introduced us to artists, to her design clients and Museum colleagues. Questions of aesthetic judgment — are there too many works in this display? too much color? does this work feel unfinished? imitative? decorative? — were presented to her for review. (She was unerring on etiquette disputes, too.) The debt we owe her is enormous; the void she leaves is large indeed. We can only say thank you, we love you and your gifts will live on.

You can learn more about Sandy’s life and legacy on The Grotta House website: https://grottahouse.com and in the book, The Grotta Home by Richard Meier: A Marriage of Architecture and Craft available from browngrotta at: https://store.browngrotta.com/the-grotta-home-by-richard-meier-a-marriage-of-architecture-and-craft/.

The family appreciates memorial contributions to the Sandra and Louis Grotta Foundation, Inc., online at https://joingenerous.com/louis-and-sandra-grotta-foundation-inc-r5yelcd or by mail to The Louis and Sandra Grotta Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 766, New Vernon, NJ 07976-0000.

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Lookout
Mas de Barberans, Spain
An exhibition of the best of European basketmaking, Lookout, has been curated by Monica Guilera and Tim Johnson at the Museu de la Pauma, Mas de Barberans in Catalonia, Spain until September 30, 2021. The collection includes work by Dail Behennah, Mary Butcher and makers from Poland, France, Italy, Crimea and elsewhere. There is a beautifully illustrated 52-page catalogue which you can view online here.

Archie Brennan Goes Pop
Edinburgh, Scotland
The Dovecot Studios in Scotland, is celebrating the extraordinary career of Archie Brennan in Archie Brennan Goes Pop through August 21, 2021. The Studios describe the exhibition as: “Bringing together over 80 tapestries as well as archive material, this is a chance to delve into the world of a master of modern tapestry. Sharp, witty, and immensely talented, Brennan began his 60-year weaving career at Dovecot and was an innovator and iconoclast who inspired weavers all over the world from Papua New Guinea to Australia.” Brennan’s contribution as a pop artist has not been recognized, until now.

ArtTapestry 6
Jyväskylä, Finland
2020’s ArtTapestry finally opened and has begun traveling, opening in Denmark and now installed in Finland and the Museum of Central Finland in Jyväskylä, through September 2022. Next it travels to Sweden. 43 works of 40 artists, from 16 countries were selected. Among the artists included are Gudren Pagter of Denmark, Wlodzimierz Cygan of Poland, Nancy Koenigsberg of the US and Helena Hernmarck, originally from Sweden but now of the US. For more information and to see the catalog, visit here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e55552503aff02749460670/t/602e819c27e2076281e2ef40/1613660584707/Artapestry6_catalog_2021.pdf

Sheila Hicks: Cosmic Arrivals
Milan, Italy
The Francesca Minini gallery opened an exhibition of Sheila Hick’s work last week in Milan. Sheila Hicks: Cosmic Arrivals runs until July 17, 2021 (http://www.francescaminini.it/exhibition). The gallery quotes Hicks in its press release, “Nature determines everything. Climate and light influence space. Each of my works inhabits in a particular place, respects its history, its temperature, its architecture.” Fibers are unmade and recreated in her hands, according to the release. Cloth is thus the cornerstone of a way of thinking that was developed under the influence of her mentor [Josef] Albers and continued through the search for a new construction of color and the reuse of textile fibers, often considered functional or decorative.

Making Nuno: Japanese Textile Innovation from Sudō Reiko
London, UK
Japan House in London hosts an extraordinary exhibition, Making Nuno: Japanese Textile Innovation from Sudō Reiko, showcasing the innovative work of Japanese textile designer Sudō Reiko. Sudō is renowned for pushing boundaries of textile production and championing new methods of sustainable manufacturing. She has been the design director of leading textile design firm Nuno for over 30 years and is a member of the Japan Design Committee. Her fabric designs combine Japanese craft traditions with new engineering techniques and unusual combinations of diverse materials such as silk, hand-made washi (Japanese paper), nylon tape and thermoplastic. Through July 11, 2021: https://www.japanhouselondon.uk/whats-on/2021/exhibition-making-nuno-japanese-textile-innovation-from-sudo-reiko/.

Textilés
Mons, France
BeCraft in collaboration with the City of Mons and Les Drapiers, Contemporary Art Center (Liège) has installed a provocative exhibit, Textilés through August 1, 2021. www.becraft.org

Happy travels!

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