Woven Stories....

Go Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh, NY!! You may remember that I had some work in a recent exhibit here and the reason that I had some work was another stitching friend of mine had exhibited there before and recommended me and now they have an entire exhibit of woven works.


I am not sure if it is simply that they are on my radar now or if they have opened more to exhibiting all the fab fiber work out there but either way this is something I like to see. Galleries that recognize the exciting and relevant work being made by artists working in textiles. I prefer shows that are more conceptually curated or that combine textile works with more traditionally accepted fine art mediums and Ann Street has done both. So for all of us textile loving and working artist this is one gallery to keep on the radar.


Their current show Woven Stories: Contemporary Tapestries, features hand-woven works.

The artistry of tapestry weaving in a long and continuous one, ancient tapestry specimens can be found in the works of ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Peruvians, early European, and Native Americans. Even in our age of a twenty first century world dominated by technology, this ancient art form is thriving and just as relevant today as in past millenniums.

In Woven Stories, contemporary artist-weavers approaches to the medium are highlighted, and we see a broad range of works, each rich in imagery. Viewers will see weavings that convey challenging messages, explorations of space and form, painterly abstractions, landscapes, and portraits. These diverse tapestries also range in size, from large scale hangings to smaller sized works, three dimensional and mixed media pieces. As a group, the work is thought-provoking with each artist using their own unique visual language to address modern day issues such as gender, politics, and the environment. While the exhibition Woven Stories is only a snapshot view of current tapestry weavings, our aim in showcasing these works is to promote public awareness of the art of tapestry. We hope this exhibition encourages further interest in the medium, while raising the profile of tapestry as a mainstream art form.

Artist featured in the exhibition are: Kate Anderson, Janet Austin. George-Ann Bowers, Barbara Burns, Betty Ferguson, Louise Halsey, Susan Iverson, Tari Kerss, Mary Kester, Lialia KuchmaSusan McGehee, Margo MacDonald, Pavlos Mayakis, John Paul Morabito, Sue Pretty, Erin M. Riley, Sarah Salin, Cameron Taylor-Brown, Betty Vera, Linda Wallace, Sherri Woodard Coffey, and Marzena Ziejka.

The exhibition is on view through Saturday, January 28, 2012. The exhibition was curated by Virginia Walsh, Director of the Ann Street Gallery.

I was delighted to see so many names that I know and love and have chosen to exhibit as a curator myself. Sadly the website made the images of the works difficult to identify to I cannot confidently credit the works to the individual artists. See more of the show here.