Here is our roundup of the hottest textile exhibitions on view at the end of the year. If you share our love for fibers, you won't want to miss this list.
IN A STATE OF LATENCY
by Ana Teresa Barboza
at Nunu Fine Art NY
On view: November 10, 2023 - January 6, 2024
Peruvian textile artist Ana Teresa Barboza presents her solo show at Nunu Fine Art. Barboza's textile pieces exhibit traditional techniques done with meticulous attention to detail, illustrating the care and labor that goes into making them. Her sculptural tapestries transport the viewer to Peru's northern landscape.
“In a State of Latency investigates the relationship between the native plants and the artist’s experience in the dry forest of northern Peru with the region’s cyclical climatic oscillations; all life there depends on short regenerative rainy periods punctuating long dry seasons. Barboza remarks on the tenacity of Piura plant life, which “can survive in adverse conditions . . . always waiting for favorable conditions to emerge from the earth.” Likewise, Barboza’s utilization of traditional weaving still in practice reflects the resilience of the region’s inhabitants.” (Nunu Fine Art)
BOOMERANG: RETURNING TO AFRICAN ABSTRACTION
by Yinka Shonibare CBE
at James Cohan Gallery
On view: October 26, 2023 - December 22, 2023
The first room of the gallery is filled with brightly colored quilts with almost imperceptible drawings created by sewing stitches. Radiant threads illustrate the characters staring at us in the quilts, calling us to stare back, to look up close the fiber details. Also on display is the artist's first tapestry.
“Stretched and framed like paintings, Shonibare’s new series of pictorial quilts, Abstract Spiritual, appropriates African artworks owned or referenced by European modernist artists including Pablo Picasso, Andre Derain, Tristan Tzara, Constantin Brancusi, and Francis Picabia, among others. The African works hover amidst abstract backgrounds that interweave the artist’s signature Dutch wax textiles with a diamond motif recalling both the quilts of Gee’s Bend and Picasso’s Harlequin paintings. In this way, they point to the foundational influence of African and African Diasporic art in the development of abstraction within the Western-European art historical canon.” (James Cohan Gallery)
AMBROSIA SALAD, BAD PANACEA AND OTHER WORKS
by Craig Calderwood
at George Adams Gallery
On view: November 3, 2023 - December 22, 2023
With humor and queer references, colorful beings are shown performing absurd acts that allude to themes of mortality, fears, and uncertainties. The tapestries are held and carried by creatures that invite the observer to contemplate in detail and get captured by their wackiness.
“The exhibition includes a series of intricate tapestry paintings and drawings that explore themes of queer identity and life. These works bring together elements drawn from fantasy, video games, and Calderwood’s own personal history, providing a reflection on their experience of processing grief over the past several years.” (George Adams Gallery)
We’re excited to see our Artist In Residence program alumni have been really active. Here is a list of where they are exhibiting locally.
PICTURING THE CONSTITUTION
curated by Katherine Gressel
at the Old Stone House in Brooklyn
On view: October 20, 2023 - January 14, 2024
Picturing the Constitution shows the work of AIR alumna cycle 10, Winnie van der Rijn, “‘as my rights are washed away/ my body is a sovereign nation- uterine armor 10’, a piece in response to the current threat to our reproductive rights. In the words of the artist: “My bodily autonomy is not up for debate”.
The group show “features artists’ responses to the United States Constitution, including its origins, contents, and interpretations throughout history. Installations, workshops and performances in diverse media by 17 artists and art teams ask: to what extent do these founding documents still serve us (equitably)? What could we add or amend? As we approach the 2024 presidential election, it is an important time to reflect on the history and current state of democracy in America, our rights and responsibilities to our communities today, and the role of artists in depicting and facilitating these ideals.
Participating Artists were selected via an open call to both past OSH exhibiting artists and the general public, and selected by a committee that included artists, historians and constitutional scholars.” (The Old Stone House)
This coming Sunday, December 3, 1-3pm, the exhibition will host Penumbra Kit: a workshop on reproductive rights and the Constitution, presented by artist Maureen Connor (of How to Perform an Abortion) and legal scholar and educator Jason M. Leggett.
NEVER ODD OR EVEN
by Cory Siegler
at R&D Goods
On view: November 17, 2023 - December 31, 2023
Cycle 9 AIR alumna, Cory Siegler, presents a series of drawings and a colorful quilted piece at the R&D Goods store. The shapes characteristic of her work, resembling color modules or a sort of symmetric typography, invite a moment of contemplation in this charming little boutique.
And if you fancy a trip upstate, one of our AIR alums is currently showing their work.
AIR Cycle 13 alum: Linda Sok is participating in the group show Crossing Borders
At Artswestchester, White Plains, NY
On view: until January 14, 2024