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Fiberart International takes on body image, climate, guns and more
Contemporary Craft closes out its 33- year presence in the Strip District Produce Terminal with Fiberart International 2019, an exhibition that exemplifies the blend of fine art and craft championed by the nonprofit art organization.
The International, a triennial production of the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, runs through Aug. 24 and is a labor of love by member volunteers that has earned global praise.
It’s presented simultaneously at two venues and Contemporary Craft has traditionally been one of them. This year it is also showing for the first time at the Brew House Association on the South Side.
Works in the 2019 International range from Brooklyn artist Jayoung Yoon’s subtle “The Membrane,” which is woven using her own hair and evokes the body and memory, to Norwegian Kristin Saeterdal’s tapestry “Wreckage,” a scorched earth landscape that combines contemporary climate themes with traditional weaving techniques using yarn from an old Norwegian sheep breed that the artist herself dyes.
At the entry, a wall- sized hanging by Luke Haynes of Kansas City, Mo., evokes nostalgia with a figure appliqued onto a background of fabric patterns reminiscent of those one might find in a mid- 20th century home. Although the man’s image is distorted, as though reflected in a fun- house mirror, it is unmistakably President Barack Obama. Walk several feet to the right of the hanging, titled “[ Sewlebrity] Obama” and the president regains his tall lean stature.
Artists’ expressions reflect the times they live in and this exhibition speaks to an issue- charged moment. Topics include gun rights ( Jayne Bentley Gaskins’ “Unregulated”), gender ( Greg Climer’s “Men Kissing”), migration ( Margaret Jo Feldman’s “Refugee Abstract # 5”), family farms ( Patricia Kennedy Zafred’s “American Portraits: Loss in the Heartland”) the environment ( Beth Blankenship’s “Oiled Eider”) and plastic bags ( Deborah Kruger’s “Kansai.”)
Christine A. Holtz’s embroidery “SideKick” is a ray of sunshine. Two young boys look up with a pleading expression any parent would recognize against a background covered with multiple letter Es bookended by PL and ASE.
Linda Rae Coughlin’s handhooked “Our Little Secret” has darker connotations. The artist saw a young man and child walking into a store and heard him say to her, “It will be our little secret.” Seen from behind, she clutches a white bunny and holds his hand. The # Me Too is stitched on her backpack with an arrow that points to the man. Ms. Coughlin wrote in her artist statement that she hoped she had misinterpreted the relationship.
Exhibitions also reflect the interests of the jurors, who were Sonya Clark, a professor of art at Amherst College in Massachusetts, and Jane Sauer, a doyenne of the American art/ craft movement, artist and Santa Fe arts consultant.
They looked at more than 1,400 artworks submitted by artists from 28 countries and across the U. S. and selected 56 works by artists from Canada, Chile, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Serbia and 43 U. S. states.
Ms. Clark, in her juror statement, applauded the power of art to “elicit dialogue, employ metaphor, engage queries, incite empathy, spur aesthetics, and remind us of our beauty and our humanity....
“In an era in which family members often cannot find common ground to speak, where pressing political issues threaten the demise of democracy, textiles bind us together.”
The mandate to the jurors, Ms. Sauer said in her statement, was to “include innovative work rooted in traditional fiber materials, structure, processes and history, as well as art that explores unexpected relationships between fiber and other creative disciplines.”
Contemporary Craft will launch its new Upper Lawrenceville location in April 2020. The Strip
District location will be closed to the public starting Oct. 1. A late September “Farewell Party” will invite patrons to turn graffiti artist for a night using gallery walls as canvas.
Contemporary Craft, 2100 Smallman St., is open 10 a.m .-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Saturday and 10 a.m .-4 p.m. Friday. Information: 412- 261- 7003 or www. contemporary craft. org .“The Space Between” series will be held from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Aug .24 with exhibitors Jozef Bajus (Snyder, N. Y .) and Erika Diamond( Charlotte, N. C ). International co-chairs Rae Gold and Risë Nagin will moderate. Free but attendees are encouraged to register at https :// contemporary craft. org/ event.
The Brew House Association, 711 S. 21st St., South Side, is open 11 a.m .-4 p.m. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and 2-7 p.m. Thursday. Admission is free. An Artists’ Talk with exhibitors Carol Milne ( Seattle), Pati Beachley ( Pittsburgh), Patty Kennedy Zafred ( Murrysville) and Melinda Stees ( Chagrin Falls, Ohio) will be held from 2 to 4 p. m. Aug. 17 ( free). Information: 412- 412381- 5469 or http:// brewhousearts. org.