Tag: Ways of Seeing

Ways of Seeing: On Assembling

September 25, 2024 0 Comment

Ways of Seeing, our Fall art event, is mid-exhibition today. It’s a celebration of collecting and the myriad ways that people acquire and arrange art. We’ve put together some groupings within the show and thought of others. We’ll share some of them below for those of you who can’t attend in person. For example, collecting by material, even one as ubiquitous as paper, can result in a varied collection. We put together a wall of works on paper: a print using xerography by Katherine Westphal, a painting on paper by Claude Vermette, collages by Norma Minkowitz and Hideho Tanaka, an intricately folded paper work by Dail Behennah, a composition of twisted commercial paper by Wendy Wahl, and an assemblage of colored sandpaper by Marian Bijlenga.

Gallery Wall of paper works
left to right, top to bottom:
Katherine Westphal, 10w Amphora and Fern, 1993; Wendy Wahl, 2ww 7 by 7 and 22, 1999; Marian Bijlenga, 37mb Luitzen, 2019; Hideho Tanaka, 31ht Emerging 008, 2016; Norma Minkowitz, 114nm The Seeker, 2014; Claude Vermette, 126c Untitled, 1980; Dail Behennah, 56db Two Golds, 2019; Toshio Sekiji, 26ts Lacquered and Torn, 1998. Photo by Tom Grotta

A more unusual material choice — assembling items made of materials from the sea, will also result in a wildly diverse group of works. We’re showing baskets of seaweed, wall work of fish skin and fish scales, and works that incorporate sea sand and sea stones. 

Artwork with sea materials
12jle Bivalve, Jeannet Leendertse, 2023; 5ab Threading Fish, Annette Bellamy, 2023; 40mb Scale Flowers, Marian Bijlenga, 2019; 32kn Sazanami(Ripples), Keiji Nio , 2022; 35sl Coast, East Riding of Yorkshire 1-3, Sue Lawty, 2024. Photos by Tom Grotta

Collecting by artist can yield a broad mix of results. Choosing a category, like Polish, LQBTQ+ or self-taught artists, can result in considerable variation. Even a single artist, if it is one who experiments relentlessly like Jiro Yonezawa, can ground a surprising collection.

Bamboo works by Jiro Yonezawa
Jiro Yonezawa 109jy Yellow Lady Bug, 2021; 95jy Ecdysis , 2019; 64jy Ascension, 2006 92jy Orbit, 2019. Phots by Tom Grotta

There are four very different works by this artist in Ways of Seeing, and they don’t even include the wide bamboo spheres which he has created more recently. 

Works by Hisako Sekijima
Hisako Sekijima
650hs Suspended Decision, 2021; 620hs From 2 to 3 Dimensions V; 643-655hs A Line of Willow, 2020; 639-651hs Bound to Continue VII; 625hs Structural Discussion VI, 2016

Basketmaker Hisako Sekijima, who has worked in everything from cherry bark to kudzu is another example of someone who can be collected in multiples. Lia Cook is another — her practice has moved in several different and exciting ways through out her career.

Works by Lia Cook
Lia Cook 55lc Between Clouds , 1978; 4lc Crazy Quilt: Royal Remnants, 1988; 16lc Presence/Absence: Gather, 1998; 28lc Su Brain Tracts Renew, 2014. Photos by Tom Grotta

Then there are them groupings — we are showing art related to water, but even a color, like Picasso’s blue period, can be an energizing organizing principle. We’ve gathered weavings and objects that meet that criteria: 

Blue Textiles
12lt Cross, Laura Thomas, 2023; 25gs Blue Color Gradation, Grethe Sørensen, 2005; 14jle Blue Levels, Jeannet Leenderste, 2019. Photos by Tom Grotta

There are a few days to see our compilations in person. Or you can order the catalog: https://store.browngrotta.com/c-54-ways-of-seeing/

Happy Hunting!

Ways of Seeing: how individuals envision and curate their art collections

Through September 29, 2024
browngrotta arts
276 Ridgefield Road
Wilton, CT 06897
https://browngrotta.com/exhibitions

Gallery Dates/Hours:
Monday, September 23rd through Saturday, September 28th: 10am to 5pm (40 visitors/ hour) Sunday, September 29th: 11am to 6pm [Final Day] (40 visitors/ hour)

Safety protocols: 
Reservations strongly encouraged; No narrow heels please (barn floors)

Ways of Seeing, Part Three: Right-Sized

September 11, 2024 0 Comment
Ways of Seeing Right Sized installation
Gali Cnaani, 8gs Red Dress, 2006; Jennifer Falck Linssen, 14jl Insight, 2016; Mia Olsson, 4mo Traces 4 Relief, 2006; Lewis Knauss, 38lk Spiked Horizon 2018; Paul Furneaux, 8pf Soft Sea Lewis II, 2024; Mary Merkel-Hess, 61mm Sun Series Orange, 2013; Sue Lawty, 35sl Coast East Riding of Yorkshire 1-3, 2024. Photo by Tom Grotta

“Right-sized” refers to adjusting something to an appropriate or optimal size. In Right-Sized, the third exhibition within Ways of Seeing, we explore collections through this lens. We’ve drawn inspiration from collectors who focus on intention and specificity—such as historic textiles, woven portraits, and Japanese baskets.

Laura Thomas
9lt Focus, Blue IV, Laura Thomas, glass, cotton, linen, silk, 16.75″ x 16.75″ x 1″, 2023. Photo by Tom Grotta

Herb and Dorothy Vogel, for example, a postal worker and a librarian, built a world-class collection of Minimalist and Conceptual art in their New York apartment, mindful of both affordability and space constraints. One artist noted that they would only purchase works they could transport home via subway or taxi. Similarly, Lloyd Cotsen, known for his diverse collections, including Chinese bronze mirrors, children’s books, and Noah’s arks, considered size in his creation of The Box Project, now housed at The Textile Museum at The George Washington University Museum For this project, Cotsen requested 36 artists to create three-dimensional works that fit within boxes measuring either 14 x 14 x 2 .5 inches or 23 x 14 x 2.5 inches. The goal was to observe how contemporary fiber artists navigated challenges related to physical restrictions and dimensions. In Right-Sized, we have selected works that adhere to specific parameters of small size, much like Cotsen’s project, while also considering affordability, akin to the Vogels’ approach.

noriko takamiya
34nt Revolving Cross, Noriko Takamiya, paper, 5.5″ x 7.75″ x 4.5″, 2024. Photo by Tom Grotta

Right-Sized is characterized by its diversity in materials, techniques, and approaches. The exhibition includes a variety of framed paper works—pleated, painted, printed, and collaged—alongside a salon wall of eclectic pieces, including sculptural works made from sisal, paper, linen, and hemp, a “weaving” of copper, “drawings” in stone, and a Japanese watercolor woodblock print (mokuhanga). We have assembled a grouping of cubes and spheres of everything from bark to jute to stainless steel and another of baskets of natural materials, each at least 12 inches high. Elsewhere In Right-Sized, viewers will find exquisite embroidery by Diane Itter, wood vessels by Markku Kosonen, willow sculpture by Lizzie Farey, and threads embedded in perspex by Laura Thomas.

Diane Itter
Detail: 1di Ribbon Rain, Diane Itter, knotted thread on linen, 23.25″ x 14.75″, 1984. Photo by Tom Grotta

With its eclectic assortment of more than 70 works, Right-Sized seeks to engage viewers’ impulses to classify, organize, and collect.

See what we have assembled, in person, or in the Ways of Seeing catalog: 

Exhibition Details:
Ways of Seeing
exploring ways individuals envision and curate art collections
browngrotta arts
276 Ridgefield Road
Wilton, CT 06897

Gallery Dates/Hours:
Saturday, September 21st: 11am to 6pm [Opening & Artist Reception]
Sunday, September 22nd: 11am to 6pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Monday, September 23rd through Saturday,September 28th: 10am to 5pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Sunday, September 29th: 11am to 6pm [Final Day] (40 visitors/ hour)

browngrotta.com

Schedule your visit at POSH. 
Safety protocols: Reservations strongly encouraged; No narrow heels please (barn floors)

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Ways of Seeing Part One: The Art Aquatic

August 21, 2024 0 Comment

Ways of Seeing, browngrotta arts’ Fall 2024 exhibition (September 20 – 29) explores various ways that individuals envision and organize art collections. One of the three types of collections we will exhibit in Ways of Seeing is an arrangement based on a specific theme. Having a fondness for water and a location between the Norwalk River and Long Island Sound, we chose water-related art, specifically, The Art Aquatic, as our sample organizing principle.

Karyl Sisson Octopus
Flight III, Karyl Sisson, deconstructed vintage zippers, thread, 5″ x 32″ x 22″, 2013. Photo by Tom Grotta

The changeable, fluid nature of water has often been an inspiration for artists. Artists use water to convey a variety of meanings. Some are moved by water as a natural force, for others there is a more spiritual connection, and still others are interested in how humans are impacting our oceans and rivers — in each case the results are thought provoking and intriguing. 

Marian Bijlenga Fish Scales
40mb Scale Flowers, Marian Bijlenga, dyed Nile Perch fish scales, 22.375″ x 18.875″ x 2.5″, 2019

Artists in The Art Aquatic exhibition reflect that diversity of approaches. Some have made imaginative uses of water-related materials. There are patchworks of fish skins by Annette Bellamy, who spends part of each year fishing commercially and compositions of fish scales by Marian Bijlenga. Keiji Nio photographs sea scenes, uses the images in ribbons that he plaits and edges with beach sand. Jeannet Leenderste creates baskets of seaweed she forages in Maine and works with the Rockweed Coalition. “Seaweed not only creates a habitat for countless species, it sequesters carbon,” she says, “and protects our shoreline as our sea levels are rising.”

Ulla-Maija Vikman painted threads
Ulla-Maija Vikman, Biagga (Sea Wind), painted viscose and linen, 67 x 71 in, 2010. Photo by Tom Grotta

Other works in The Art Aquatic offer more abstract references to life in the deep, including Ulla-Maija Vikman’s “painting,” Biagga (Sea Wind), made of viscose threads in marine colors.  Mariette Rousseau-Vermette’s Blue Water II, made of woven tubes of beachy blue, grey, white, and yellow, evokes a sunny day at the water’s edge. Masakazu Kobayashi’s assemblage of silk-wrapped bows reflects an ocean horizon.

Ed Rossbach Fish basket
Fish Trap, Ed Rossbach, 14″ x 11″ x 11″, 1988. Photo by Tom Grotta

A third series of works offer watery imagery, like Judy Mulford’s Aging by the Sea which incorporates a conch shell and a tiny boat covered in knotless netting, Ed Rossbach’s Fish Trap Basket, with a whimsical fish motif, the mermaid in Norma Minkowitz’s sculpture, My Cup Runneth Over, and Karyl Sisson’s Flight III, a sea-creature-like sculpture of vintage zippers.

Floating paper boats by Jane Balsgaard and Merja Winqvist. Tubular textile by Mariette-Rousseau-Vermette
Paper boats by Jane Balsgaard and Merja Winqvist, Tubular textile by Mariette-Rousseau-Vermette. Photo by Tom Grotta

More literal still, there are the nautical object interpretations included in the exhibition, like Mercedes Vicente‘s shell of cotton canvas. Jane Balsgaard’s Relief floats alongside Merja Winqvist’s gridded boat – both are made of paper. Text from Moby Dick is etched on Call Me Ishmael, Lawrence LaBianca’s ivory-colored boat sculpture. La Bianca has created a body of work that engages aquatic environments. “The tools we apply to nature—to contain it, shape it, understand it and categorize it also have a profound impact upon it,” he says. LaBianca references the impetus to measure, understand, contain, and manipulate nature that animates his art – that impetus is one that can animate collectors of art as well.

Wax linen cover shell by Judy Mulford
Judy Mulford, Aging-By the Sea , shell, waxed linen, waxed linen, silver, beads, pearls, silver spoon, sand, plexiglas, 11″ x 11″ x 10″, 2004. Photo by Tom Grotta

Join us at Ways of Seeing and learn more.

Exhibition Details:
Ways of Seeing
exploring ways individuals envision and curate art collections
browngrotta arts
276 Ridgefield Road
Wilton, CT 06897

Gallery Dates/Hours:
Saturday, September 21st: 11am to 6pm [Opening & Artist Reception]
Sunday, September 22nd: 11am to 6pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Monday, September 23rd through Saturday,September 28th: 10am to 5pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Sunday, September 29th: 11am to 6pm [Final Day] (40 visitors/ hour)
browngrotta.com

Schedule your visit at POSH. 
Safety protocols: Reservations strongly encouraged; No narrow heels please (barn floors)

Save the Date: Ways of Seeing, browngrotta arts’ Fall Art in the Barn exhibition Opens September 21st 

July 17, 2024 0 Comment
622mr Blue Water II, Mariette Rousseau-Vermette, wool and aluminum tube tapestries, 3’ x 5’, 1998. Photo by Tom Grotta

This Fall, browngrotta arts at 276 Ridgefield Road, Wilton, Connecticut, will explore the many ways individuals envision and curate their contemporary art collections. From September 21st to the 29th the gallery’s Fall 2024 “Art in the Barn” exhibition, Ways of Seeing, will sample different types of art selection criteria — by theme, by artist, by size.

Marian Bijlenga Fish Scale Detail
40mb Scale Flowers, Marian Bijlenga, dyed Nile Perch fish scales, 22.375″ x 18.875″ x 2.5″, 2019. Photo by Tom Grotta

Each work in The Art Aquatic, a theme-related collection, exists at the intersection of the artist’s fascination with a variety of nautical themes and the artmaking process. In The Art Aquatic, viewers will find imaginative uses of water-related materials: baskets incorporating shells by Birgit Birkkjaer, kayak and paddle sculptures by Chris Drury wrapped in salmon skin, Marian Bijlenga’s composition of fish scales, and Jeannet Leenderste’s baskets made of seaweed. Other works in The Art Aquatic offer more abstract references to life in the deep, including Ulla-Maija Vikman’s “painting,” Biagga (Sea Wind), made of viscose threads painted in marine colors and Mariette Rousseau-Vermette’s Blue Water II, made of woven tubes of beachy blue, grey, white, and yellow. A third series of works in The Art Aquatic offer watery imagery, like Judy Mulford’s  Aging by the Sea, that features a conch shell and tiny boat, Ed Rossbach’s Fish Trap Basket, with a whimsical fish motif, and the mermaid in Norma Minkowitz’s sculpture, My Cup Runneth Over. 

Sue Lawty Stone Drawing , Baskets by Hisako Sekijima
15sl Calculus, Sue Lawty, natural stones on gesso, 78.75″ x 118″, 2010. Photo by Tom Grotta

Impact: 20 Women Artists to Collect, another of the exhibitions within Ways of Seeing, will examine collecting by specific artist. Impact will present sculptures, tapestries, and mixed media works made from 1976 to 2024 by artists of significance and renown, including Kay Sekimachi, Yeonsoon Chang, Simone Pheulpin, and Carolina Yrarrázaval. Each of these artists demonstrates a knowledge of traditional and experimental techniques, while redefining the perception of textiles as fine art.

Detail of Mia Olsson
11mo Together, Mia Olsson, relief, sisal fibers, acrylic, 2021 . Photo by Tom Grotta

A third exhibition within Ways of Seeing will be Right-Sized, which considers collecting within specified parameters. Diversity is the hallmark — in materials, techniques, and approaches. In Right-Sized, viewers will find embroidery by Diane Itter, sculpture in sisal, paper, and willow by Mia Olsson, Noriko Takamiya, and Lizzie Farey, ceramics by Claude Vermette, and spheres, boxes, and baskets by Hideho Tanaka, Polly Sutton, Naoko Serino, and others, worthy of collecting in multiples.

“Ways of Seeing will celebrate the passion and individuality that spark and shape collections,” says co-curator Tom Grotta, “while offering collectors at all levels a wide selection of works to appreciate and possibly acquire.”

A full-color catalog will accompany the exhibition.

Details:
Ways of Seeing
exploring ways individuals envision and curate art collections
browngrotta arts
276 Ridgefield Road
Wilton, CT 06897

Gallery Dates/Hours:
Saturday, September 21st: 11am to 6pm [Opening & Artist Reception]
Sunday, September 22nd: 11am to 6pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Monday, September 23rd through Saturday,September 28th: 10am to 5pm (40 visitors/ hour)
Sunday, September 29th: 11am to 6pm [Final Day] (40 visitors/ hour)

Schedule your visit on POSH.

browngrotta.com