With every new month comes a new TAC Fiber Picks article, and this April there are some exciting exhibitions to see! Let’s get right into it.
First, at Carter Burden Gallery, there is a group show titled Common Threads. The show features works by Ann Winston Brown, Ann Kronenberg, Sue Dean, Sue Koch, Adrianne Lobel, Alan Neider, Quimetta Perle, and Laurie Russell. “From intricate hand-beaded figurative works, totem sculptures, abstract tapestries, to crocheted, embroidered, braided, and knitted wall installations, Common Threads promises a sensory feast. Each artist brings their unique vision and mastery of textiles to the forefront, offering viewers a kaleidoscope of textures, colors, and narratives. This exhibition is a celebration of the fellowship that connects us all – the threads of creativity, culture, and human experience. Through the medium of textiles, these artists have woven together stories, memories, and emotions, inviting viewers to explore the beauty and complexity of the world around us.” (artsy.net) The exhibition is showing until April 10, so get over there sooner rather than later.
Next, at Carvalho Park, Warsaw-based artist, Magdalena Karpińska, has a solo exhibition titled How to Make a Bow. Open until May 4th, these artworks incorporate painting and fabric in a captivating way. “Her imagery taps into a rich history of women artists interested in the divine, occult, and esoteric, from the Victorian medium Georgiana Houghton (1814-1884) to Swedish artist Hilma Af Klimt (1862-1944) and American visionary Agnes Pelton (1881-1961). Karpińska’s paintings move between the world of observable phenomena and that of a mystical nonsite at the edge of consciousness, which defies straightforward representation. This realm is evoked through the transparency of her forms, which invite us to float between worlds, suggesting an underside to the solid, given appearance of things. Occasionally she takes this transcendental perception further, as in Anomaly. An enormous plant crouches over a ravine that splits the composition in two, each side presided over by its own celestial dot, one white as a daylight moon and the other a menacing orange. The effect is surreal, gently hallucinatory.” (carvalhopark.com)
Third, at R & Company, there is an exhibition showing the designs of Evelyn Ackerman. “This exhibition focuses on Evelyn’s designs for tapestries and mosaic panels (produced between 1957 and 1982 in a workshop of artisans near Mexico City) and hand-hooked tapestry rugs (made in Osaka, Japan, during the same period). Inspired by folk and modern art, Evelyn made the design drawings with detailed instructions colorkeyed to yarn and glass samples. The goal was to produce the works on a large scale so that they could be retailed through interior design showrooms and department stores, and to replicate Evelyn’s designs in multiple color schemes (frequently referred to as “warm” and “cool”) to give decorators and homeowners more options.” (r-and-company.com) This work is showing through April 19th, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Next, AIR alum, Jasmine Murrell, is part of a show titled Underfoot/Overhead at Wasserman Projects. Open April 5th to June 8th, this multimedia show is absolutely worth seeing. “The collaborative generative video works of Zurkow + Schmitz is supported by near real-time data sourced from global meteorological and pollution monitoring systems. Murrell’s immersive installations incorporate organic material and found objects in her process of searching for truths – under the skin, on the ground we walk on, within the stories we tell and the lies we believe.”
Lastly, I wanted to notify readers that New York Textile Month (NYTM) is accepting event proposals for the NYTM IX festival going on this September. This opportunity is open until May 31st, but to be included in the press release, please submit by April 30th.
