Layers of Meaning
commentary on design, fiber art, & modern embroidery from Serena Fenton
Summer 2004 appears to be a good year for the art quilt - three major shows around the globe!
South African National Quilt Festival 2004 Quilt Competition Results. This exhibition features lots of categories ( scroll acroll the top of the page or down the left side) and small quilt images, which are clickable to get larger images of the quilts. Juried show
Art & Soul of Quilting Four pages of images with larger images available. Anderson Art Center, Kenosha, WI. Juried show
Art Quilts on the Ridge - A Summer Show of the Contemporary QuiltArt Association (Seattle, Washington) - Members Show
"Rather than stating a "theme" for this juried show up front, members were encouraged to enter their regular current style of work. Sometimes working to a requested theme for a show causes an artist to lose sight of their personal artistic vision. Here we see work by members of CQA that showcases the wide variety of styles and techniques in textile art that individuals have developed."
Roberto Gil de Montes is a painter, sculptor and a photographer. Often his work deals with the illusion of textiles. In particular, he uses the painted illusion of lace curtains to make a statement about artifice in life. A 1996 review in Arts Scene California describes Gil de Montes work: "A series of male portraits are simultaneously a celebration of the male figure--an homage to the male--which in Gil de Montes' work is as much an acknowledgement of a time-honored theme in the history of painting as it is a personal statement. They are as well a reflection on the process of growth, maturation and transition, mainly through fantastic interplays between a decorative and figurative language, specifically through the psychological and illusionistic device of the screen and the veil.
In two of these, Screen and Boy Behind Screen, Gil de Montes utilizes a characteristic variation of a thick and thin painting surface to play with the image of the personage. In the first of these, a matinee-idol-like figure looks at us through a veil, a decorative surface that obscures and tantalizingly reveals him to the viewer. In the second, Boy Behind Screen, the same approach reveals a younger man and, as with the veil, serves as a screen eliciting references to bridal veils, curtains, Chinese screens, and shutters--all allusions to a coquetry that demands our attention while hiding and shielding the object of our desire. And yet the screen creates an intentional barrier distancing the viewer even as it attracts him or her to the painted image. It is also a painterly reference to Gil de Montes' constant fascination with the cinema."
Gil De Montes painting, Screen was featured in a 1996 Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition entitles Arte Latino. The catalog describes the work: "In Screen a man stands in front of a green wall gazing out at the viewer, his features and expression veiled by a floral lace curtain. Originally from Mexico, Gil de Montes lived with his family in various U.S. cities before moving to East Los Angeles. Conflicted about his own cultural identity, he went back to Mexico. When he returned two years later, he began addressing identity and place in universal rather than personal terms and here invites questions about the veils we use to shield ourselves from the world."
Fabric as an illusion....
Eirian Short is a British embroidery legend whose pinaccle seems to have occurred prior to the advent of the internet. One of the few pages that I could find of her work features an embroidered landscape with crows and a short biography - given first in Gaellic then in English:
"Eirian Short was born in Fishguard in 1924. She studied sculpture and embroidery at Goldsmiths College, London. From 1953 to 1985 she lectured at various London art colleges, while developing her own work and exhibiting widely."
A student newsletter from 2001 provides a bit more depth as to the significance of Short's work: "Admitting to a vulgar side of her nature, she works with subjects and imagery, which arise from a sense of necessity and a commitment to an inner integrity in terms of idea and concept. Eirian avoids any danger of good taste, working from a cycle of subjects, which have recurred over the years. Her subjects focus over a wide span of ideas, although most are based on the creatures and landscape of her home in Wales.
The great Black Crows of the early '80's were depicted as a crucifixion, and exhibited in a 62 Group exhibition at the RIBA galleries in Central London. Other, equally controversial subjects followed over the years, the snakes series shown in the On the Edge exhibition of 1998 at the Knitting and Stitching Show, ranged from a series of exquisite, detailed drawings to a huge, padded and sculpted snake which encircled a mirror....
A committed hand embroiderer, Eirian uses thread and stitch as a painter would use paint and brushes, each stitch a mark of colour, and in turn multiplying and building until it has filled the canvas. Her stitch language is simple and straightforward, straight stitches, detached chain stitch and French knots. Working with crewel wool means that she is able to vary the number of threads in the needle and mix colours - much as a painter would mix colours in a palette. Every scrap of the ground fabric is filled with stitch, which creates a smooth even surface of coloured wool, the surface values and qualities created not with texture, but in the way that she is able to modulate the light/dark contrasts of tonal values." (pages 20-22)
One of the great drawbacks to the Internet is the lack of information on older, not-so-fashionable people/issues/art. Short's books are still available through libraries and used book stores, but sadly not much can be found online.
To see more images: The Open Window; Flying into the Sun and The Moon (both on p. 2 of a catalog in.pdf format))
Daniel Smith, makers of superb, high quality artists materials, has a new online tutorial on The Harmony of Light - Capturing the Magical Hour. "Some call it the magical hour, when the sun sinks in the sky, casting long rays through our planet's thick atmosphere. Soft, golden light transforms the landscape."
As one might expect, the tutorial is promoting use of their materials - pastels in this case. But the information, particularly the accompanying photos are great for understanding the use of light in any medium. The beginning point is a photo (far left); the ending is a pastel drawing (near left). The artist, Diana Randolph traces her technique for capturing the pool of light and building up layers of values to create the final, radiant artwork.
Although the article is written for pastels, it seems that the artistic direction is applicable to fiber. Begin by shooting lots of shots of nature until you find one that captures the mood, not just one detail. The tunnel of light in Randolph's image draws us back into the art; we are no longer looking at a flat plane, but moving through an atmospheric space.
Randolph uses color to further emphasize the misty depth. For example, in the photo, there is little detail in the foreground path; the entire lower right corner is sold black. In the pastel drawing, we are given small trails of colors to follow with our eyes. The sky is bluer and the trees touch limbs at the top. on color, Randolph writes, "After the underpainting dries, begin applying pale, hazy colors to the background and brighter, bolder colors to the foreground using linear and side strokes." That would be the advice that your high school art teacher probably told you too: "bright colors advance; pale/dull colors recede".
You can see more of Diana Randolph's drawings and paintings at Portal Wisconsin
Swoon, a New York graffiti artist talks to the New York Times about what she loves about creating street art. This is a short Flash slideshow that demonstrates how street art can be a dynamic influence on the community.
Street art is an outgrowth of the graffiti movement of the 1980s. While graffitists wer using spray paint to create huge abstract images and lettering, the contemporary street art is more delibrate, controlled, considered. The accompanying NY Times article focuses on the street art movement. The techniques run the gamut: "At one end of the spectrum are doodles, icons and designs, often drawn or printed on stickers, a medium that allows for pre-strike preparation at home and quick, furtive execution in public.
Others are using more complicated art techniques, such as the meticulous printing and paperwork preferred by Swoon, ceramics, lithography, silk screening, painting , leathersmithing and woodworking. Some have even used welding torches, notably the once-ubiquitous New York graffiti writer known as Revs, who has installed three-dimensional versions of his stylized name, or "tag," around the city. Darius (also known by his graffiti tag, Verbs) and Downey, a Brooklyn tandem now living in London, turn old street signs into sculptures or small billboards for provocative messages and reinstall them, often in the plain light of day. "We're using the city against itself," Downey, 23, said in a recent interview."
Why do they do it? For the best of all reasons in creating art: "to reawaken a sense of wonder about one's environment."
Gammablablog features an interview with Swoon and lots of photos of her work.
Images by Swoon - originally photographed by Michael Natale of Gammablablog.
I am finding myself wandering the edges of iconography again. This began with the kimono quilt and has been growing since then. Actually it probably began in my youth. I have two 19th century Mexican icons on my dining room walls that have been with me most of my life (they skipped my college years). I just stumbled onto a site on the web that talks about making contemporary icons or retablos. First, let me explain - what is a retablo:
Traditional retablos: "Mexican devotional paintings of saints on tin are commonly referred to as retablos, or retablos santos. The paintings were used in household altars in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The practice of maintaining an altar in the home, often with multiple images, became an important part of religious worship in the Americas. People would appeal to different saints for different purposes, and belief held that a saint should be seen to be venerated."
Cynthia Korzekwa has created a series of contemporary retablos, milagros and ex-votos. "Generally, retablos have an inscription stating the reason why it's being offered. From retablo themes, we learn what were the main preoccupations of those who had them painted (there were folk artists specialized in retablos). Themes such as health, social life, crime and emotional relationships. The word ex-voto is derived from the Latin 'the promise of,' or 'the miracle of .' It is the recognition of "grazie ricevute" (graces granted) and is offered as payment for a promise made. An ex-voto is an offering to those who have interceeded in our behalf."
Korzekwa's work is all about giving thanks on a daily basis for the simple joys. Don't miss her tryptichs either. These are tiny computer manipulated images taken from her sketchbooks. What gives all of these works a particular charm is the ease with which they are created and released. These are daily devotions; little homages; no big deal.
Tom Lundberg creates small scale fiber works with a keen sense of craftsmanship and humor. Many of his works are "pockets", small embroideries measuring about 5 1/4" X 4 3/8", created in the shape of a shirt pocket. Each pocket describes its own world of events and dynamics.
Lundberg describes these worlds: "On the fronts and backs of their court robes, officials in imperial China wore panels called Mandarin squares. Embroidered with birds, animals, waves and clouds, these insignia diagrammed how each individual fit within an ordered and layered universe.In my embroidered pictures, glimpses of everyday life merge with fragments of memory. The steady process of stitching attempts to bind and compress the fleeting moments that trigger each piece. Like threads pulled from intertwining networks, small details reflect the bigger picture."
"Red Pruning Shears" brings to mind the pop art sensibilities of Jim Dine. It's a understated composition in red and white with a precise drawing of the implements and the consequences. Other works, such as Evening Pocket, are more painterly narratives creating a silent world of mystery, reminiscent of painters like Hollis Sigler or Edward Hopper.
In a statement at the Hibberd McGrath Gallery, Lundberg reveals the importance of memory to his creations: "In my embroidered pictures, glimpses of everyday life merge with fragments of memory. Needle and thread offer a way of working that is simple and direct. This process is slow and deliberate, in contrast to the fleeting moments that trigger each piece."
More from the National Gallery of Art (it's seeming like a DC vacation is in order): a retrospective of Jim Dine's drawings. Drawing is definitely back in style. After the lean minimalist years, the Whitney Biennial featured several drawings and now the National Gallery focuses on drawing. A review in ArtNet by Tyler Green (who appears to dislike Dine and not be too fond of drawing in general) sums the situation up clearly: "No doubt drawing is ubiquitous these days. Many artists are embracing making work with their hands and not with their Duchampian cortex. " Yes!!! A return to craft. I, for one, am ready to celebrate!
From the exhibition overview:
"Dine's regard for the work of earlier artists--Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, among others--deepened when he lived abroad between 1967 and 1971. At the same time, he distanced himself from emerging movements such as minimalism, with its emphasis on simple geometric forms. When Dine returned to the United States in 1971 he began to draw regularly, and by 1974 he had embarked on a self-styled course in life drawing. For an artist so steeped in the avant-garde, it was a dramatic, if not defiant, shift."
"Drawing is not an exercise.
Exercise is sitting on a stationary bicycle and going nowhere.
Drawing is being on a bicycle and taking a journey.
For me to succeed in drawing, I must go fast and arrive somewhere.
The quest is to keep the thing alive..."
--Jim Dine, 2003
image: Tree (The Kimono), 1980 by Jim Dine
Currently at the National Gallery in Washington DC: " The Cubist Paintings of Diego Rivera: Memory, Politics, Place.
Who knew that Rivera was a cubist. When I consider his work, I think of politicized narrative murals. This overview of his early cubist-influenced work gives insight into the development of his stylized mural designs. The volume and density of the cubist compositions seems to have changed his portrayal of the human figure from the exaggerated slenderness of the foppish Adolfo Best Maugard (1913) to the dense, fractured Portrait of Martín Luis Guzmán, painted in 1915, after the beginning of World War I.
The press release reads "Rivera's work has been studied and shown in depth, yet his cubist period remains a less understood aspect of his career. The Cubist Paintings of Diego Rivera will include some 20 works that demonstrate his distinctive approach to synthetic cubism--his use of complex structures of transparent planes, with a particular emphasis on sensory and memory association." I just think it is interesting to look at the early experiments and to observe the growth and change of the artist.
image: No. 9, Nature Morte Espagnole, 1915 by Diego Rivera