More Thoughts On Work From FiberArt International

Divide ¦ 2012

Barbara Murak

Knitted construction
7″ x 8″ x 8″
United States

I have continued to think about the work presented in FiberArt International.  The range of expressions was very impressive.

During the last few years my own personal work has moved from intense color to a very muted palette and I am thinking this may be a bit of a trend as that was the predominate palette in this show.  Work in 3-D was also a large part of this show.

Barbara Murak's Knitted construction is a little jewel.  On her website this piece is titled Divide.  I could not look at the piece without thinking of a tidy brain in all it's ruffled-bilateral glory.  It had a wonderful presence despite the small size and if it were living in my house I'm sure I'd give it a "people" name and speak to it as I passed by.

Untitled #3 ¦ 2010

Frank Connet
Copper with black patina
9″ x 7″ x 5″
United States

Frank Connet's Untitled #3 was another sculpture piece of a diminutive size with big appeal for me.  I love this artist's work and have seen various works previously but this was the first piece I've seen in person.  I can't really tell you what the material is used in this work.  While it looks like fabric and you can see the "thread" which pulls it into it's form, I think it is copper mesh and wire.  If you visit his website he refer's to similar work as being "electroformed" shibori.  I appreciate the organic appearance of this work contrasting with man-made materials.  I also was attracted by the very mysterious quality of the form and the construction.  Beautiful, yes, but somehow menacing.

Etude 36: Arabesque: Contemplation ¦ 2011

Jane Dunnewold
Mixed media, silk ground, tuxedo shirt, India Ink, black sand; hand painting, screen printing
11″ x 43″
United States

Two works which were just the opposite of sculptural were the pieces by Jane Dunnewold and Joan Schultz.  Each of these pieces had the neutral palette I spoke of but were very 2-D.  I could see each of these works in drawing, printmaking, or painting shows and no one would question their inclusion.  The use of textiles was there but not necessarily the most important element of the work.  This could be said about any number of the pieces in the show.

Etude 36: Arabesque: Contemplation by Jane was exquisite in technique.  Flat and perfect.  Jane has a very unique process/technique for construction of her work which you can read about on her website.  I was also attracted to the format of this work and of the work by Joan Schulze.  Each work was very wide in proportion to the height which invites the viewer to "read" the work in a very specific way.  Unfortunately, the proportion makes it difficult to show in a catalog.  Both works are pictured on the same page and each image crosses the center crease of the page so they aren't shown to their best advantage.

The Drawing Room ¦ 2011

Joan Schulze
Silk, paper, glue transfer, direct printing, painting, oil pastel; pieced
12″ x 50″

The Drawing Room by Joan Schulze is a multi-layered work incorporating all sorts of images, bits and pieces which she revealed were sometimes taken from her previous work.  Like many artists, she has a reservoir of older work from which she can draw.  How wonderful!  The images appear and disappear and you are left to ponder the sources.  The work has some simple, well placed stitching and while I know the work is very sturdy, it has a frail quality that old paper often has.  Very inviting.

Ahhhhhh.  Loved the show.

***

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Reviews Are Great Even When They Aren't Good

Back in July 2011 I wrote an article titled "Where Are the Writers" addressing the lack of critical reviews for artists working with textile materials. With this in mind I was very pleased last week when a friend sent me a link to a review of the Fiber: Focus 2011-2012 exhibition.

http://www.ohio.com/the330entertainment/exhibits/art-review-works-in-fiber-show-skillful-not-powerful-1.253130

Fiber: Focus 2011-2012 is sponsored by the Textile Alliance of the Cleveland Museum of Art and the show this year was held at the Canton Museum of Art in Canton, Ohio while renovations are being made at the Cleveland venue. This group has been responsible for many excellent exhibitions and their primary aim is to promote fiber art through education and the purchasing of art for the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

I immediately followed the link and read a review of the show by Dorothy Shinn, art and architecture critic for the Akron Beacon Journal.

Shinn is very clear that she was not impressed with the exhibition and establishes that starting with the headline: "Works in fiber show skillful. not powerful." She then states the idea that work is only serious art if its' inspiration is "current events" and goes on to list what she would sees as appropriate topics: wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the election of our first African-American president; flooding, droughts, major storms and massive environmental damage; the wall street scandals and the subsequent economic disaster. Just reading her list made me feel bad.

Of course all of these topics are fine.....if that is what inspires you or interest you, but serenity and celestial rhythms, playfulness and pious ideas etc. are just as valid. Maybe we are all sick to death of the endless stream of negative headlines. I found Shinn's position on what can be the foundation for art depressing and strange. More important than my personal response to this list is the fact that artists are completely free to pursue the making of art any way we please. Thankfully this has been true for some time.

Go to any "open" medium art exhibition and tell me what you see. I contend that you will see work which was inspired by a very broad spectrum of concerns from "current events" to color and design relationships.

The second issue concerns Shinn's comparison of Fiber: Focus 2011-2012 to Fiberworks 1977. I did not recognize that title and, after contacting a friend who is a longtime resident of Ohio, I learned that Fiberworks 1977 was a very high profile international invitational. The work in the current show is a juried exhibition and draws on artists from an 8 state area around Ohio. This area has many wonderful artists but there is a vast difference in the potential of these two types of shows. It is an unfair comparison in scope, financial support and ultimate potential.

The international invitational had the entire world of textile artists to choose from whereas the 8 state juried exhibition had artists who were eligible due to their location and then only those who choose to enter could be considered to actually have work in the show. While the latter format can produce an excellent show, the chances that it will meet the same level of accomplishment as an international invitational is doubtful. This in no way cast aspersions on Fiber: Focus 2011-2012. It is simply a matter of numbers.

I'm glad that the Akron Beacon Journal is still publishing and still reserves space to cover arts events. I am glad that Dorothy Shinn selected this show to review. I do however wish she had talked more about the work that was actually in the current show and not so much about what she personally would have preferred to see and about a show that isn't available to be viewed.

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