Hildur Bjarnadóttir, Frippery, 2004
You probably know that every Bonnie Heart Clyde piece is machine embroidered by an artisan under Emily Katz’ design direction. What you may not know is that Emily Katz is also a fine artist, employing embroidery in her work. So it is that she’ll be showing alongside heavyhitters like Louise Bourgeois (Elizabeth Leach has shown her work locally) and the incredible Hildur Bjarnadóttir (read this review of her January show at Pulliam Deffenbaugh) in New Embroidery: not your grandma’s doily at the Contemporary Craft Museum and Gallery (3934 SW Corbett Avenue)
Much of textile-based (or fiber-based) work in contemporary art (embroidery, weaving, etc.) now has moved beyond heavy-handed or monodimensional critique of women’s work. So now we find the stitch employed as tiny brushstroke, as in Megan Whitmarsh’s October 05 show, “Crystal Logic,” at motel gallery or a Bean Gilsdorf quilt with a relief print of an object like a Plymouth Valiant (full-size). Cumulatively, it amounts to a refusal to sideline traditional craft in the pursuit of art. And it can produce work that ranges from witty to muscular to sublime (see Bjarnadóttir).
New Embroidery: not your grandma’s doily at the Contemporary Craft Museum and Gallery opens this Thursday, September 21 with a reception from 5:30-8 PM.
Tags: art