Minimalism

 Cite by Ellsworth Kelly 1951  oil on wood, 20 joined panels, 56.5 x 70.5 inches

There is a SAQA global exhibition of quilts premiering this weekend at the Carrefour in Alsace France.  It is entitled Minimalism and it was juried/curated by Dorothy Caldwell.  

Dorothy wrote a juror's essay at the beginning of the catalog that reminisced about her visit to Jonathan Holstein's exhibition of American Quilts at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1971 when she was an art student and the dominant Abstract Art Movement of the time was Minimalism.  

In her essay,  Dorothy named key artists of the Minimalist movement such as Ellsworth Kelly (top image), Agnes Martin (see the two images below) and Donald Judd (see his wall sculpture in the next photo).  I apologize for the quality of these images, I got them from the web.

Summer by Agnes Martin 1964  watercolour, ink, on board and paper, 72 x 72 inches

 

Buds by Agnes Martin 1959  oil on canvas, 50 inches square

Minimalism emphasized geometric shapes, stripes, grids, solid colours and truth to materials.

When Dorothy Caldwell attended the Whitney show in New York, she writes in her essay that she had an epiphany.  She realized that quilts are minimalistic and that the quilts in the exhibition, (made by anonymous women) were stunning, sophisticated art.  She could see that quilts embodied Minimalism's essence.  

"This was a turning point, and I moved on from painting to textiles.  The Minimalist tradition inspired making art where the material carries the message."  Dorothy Caldwell

Untitled by Donald Judd 1967   lacquer on galvanized iron, 12 units each 9 x 40 x 31 inches

The Minimalist Movement of the 60's and 70's acknowledged material in its original form.

"Jurying SAQA's Minimalism exhibition was an invitation to revisit the Minimalist Movement.  The experience allowed me to consider Minimalism's relevance today, as manifest in contemporary art quilts.  It is refreshing to experience honest qualities of cloth.  Multiple interpretations of Minimalism, in the dynamic world of the art quilt, will challenge viewers to experience a movement rooted in the 1960s in a thoroughly modern context."  Dorothy Caldwell

Although there are 43 artists included in this exhibition there is space enough for only six in this post.  Please visit this link to view all of them.  (A printed catalogue is available from SAQA)

 Solitude by Margaret Black, USA, cotton and dye,
straight line machine quilted, 69.5 x 40.5 inches 2021

Seeking Simplicity: Threads 3 by Lynne Seaman, UK,  cotton, dye, fusible web, 
machine embroidery/quilted with coloured threads 25.5 x 25.5 inches 2022

Quilt Drawing #25 - String of Breaths  silk, hand embroidered and hand quilted
59 x 34 inches 2021

Polder Horizon by Petra Fallaux, USA   cotton, dyes, mono printed, overdyed, 
machine pieced and machine quilted  67 x 43 inches  2021

Total Solar Eclipse by Jeri Auty, USA  cotton, layered and pieced
machine quilted 47 x 31.5 inches 2022

Ode to Jan by Marjolein van der Eijk, Netherlands, cotton sateen
machine stitched and quilted, 36 x 36 inches 2022

I have a piece in this show.  Please see my update blog. There is also a photo of my quilt in the sidebar of this blog.   

A Red Hill A Green Hill by Dorothy Caldwell,  cotton with ink wash and earth ochre,
hand applique and hand stitched, 9'4" x 9' 8"  2012

The Minimalism exhibition will travel for three years.  It's in France right now, next stop Italy, so I hope that many of you will have an opportunity to view it as it travels to a gallery or festival near you.  

Evelyn's questions

Not To Know But To Go On 2013  13" x 220' installed in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts in St. Bonaventure, New York as part of the SAQA Global Exhibition  ..  3-D Expressions

Q  Where do you find inspiration to work from?

A  Inspiration is not really 'found'.  It arrives.  Agnes Martin says that inspiration falls like rain when we are asleep.   The key, I think, is stay open.  I keep a journal beside me all the time and use it to catch those ideas that hover close to me when I'm reading or looking or listening.  Making note of what resonates with me is noted and then when I re-read the journal,  I find inspiration.

one entire skein of cotton embroidery floss was used up each day for over a thousand days

 Q  Thinking of the piece that you have in the exhibition, why did you decide to make this piece 3-dimensional?

A  Not To Know But To Go On is basically a time-line for three years of my life from 2010 to 2013, full of ups and downs, loops and circles, repeats and unknowns.  Each day that whirled past is a cycle of sunrise and sunset, each month is a cycle of moon, and each year a cycle of seasons.

the fabrics are from Judy's collection of favourite cloth from her life, torn into strips and couched to artist's canvas

The meaning of the piece is expressed by its form: a line.

like a star in my sky 2020 three layers of wool with wool thread, hand stitch, second side

Q  Once you have conceived an idea, how do you start?  Do you make sketches, do research, look at other works before you begin?

A  My work always begins with a rough ball point pen sketch in my journal. 

like a star in my sky in progress (first side) plus wrapping cloth 2014 second side showing

Q  How do you decide when you have the idea?

A  I think the idea develops as I sketch.  Drawing is a way to think.

My design wall is important.  As the piece progresses, I keep pinning my work up to gaze at and draw what I see and make new sketches of possible changes.

Judy Martin with Not To Know But To Go On as installed with 3-D Expressions at the Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids Michigan in 2019.

Also, and this is very important.  I don't necessarily know what the end product will look like when I make that first sketch or catch the first idea with word or two.

Cloud of Time 2014  13" x 88 feet rescued domestic linen and variety of blue fabrics couched to artist canvas with 365 skeins of cotton embroidery floss in order to represent one year of time.

 I don't work three-dimensionally unless it is the best way to express the meaning of the piece.

Evelyn Penman is the Assistant curator and Director of the gallery that is hosting the 3-D Expressions exhibition.  Because the gallery is closed by the quarantine, the exhibition can be viewed online on April 29 along with a zoom interview of four of the artists.  More information is at this link. 

crazy busy September

3-D Expression
a SAQA global exhibition at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
Grand Rapids Michigan, September 23 until November 3 2019
These two photos were sent to me to show Not To Know But To Go On being installed
in the museum's lobby

There is a gorgeous printed catalogue with all the artists represented with photos and statements.
In the above photo, my work is in the background,
in the foreground is Saint Anastasia by Susan Lenz.

All Stitched Up
an exhibition of books that use stitch
My book Power of Red - is included.  It quotes William Wordsworth's text.
Collins Memorial Library, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma Washington
There is a printed catalogue available for purchase.
September 3 - Decemember 11 2019

Hard Twist 14: Entwined
My red catalogne is included, a safety blanket for the interior world.
notes, lists, thoughts, dreams and phone call doodles on paper, red thread, rescued linen tablecloth
A complete online catalogue is available with all artists and statements

Every year, curators Helena Frei and Chris Mitchell organize this exhibition
of conceptual textile art and mount it in the hallways of the 3rd and 4th floor of
the Gladstone Hotel.   September 5 2019 - January 7 2020

Craft Ontario 19
Ontario Craft Gallery 1106 Queen St West Toronto
My stitched 9-patch made from sketches I made with found cloth and acdrylic paint is included
title:  How Much I Tried Not To Worry (Best of North award)
September 5 - October 12, 2019

There is a beautiful online catalogue for this exhibition also, click here.  

Colour With a U

2006

 In Canada, we spell colour with a u.  We also spell labour, favour, honour and neighbour with a u.

flesh and blood 2007

 That 'u' could stand for unique, unforgettable, universal, unity, understanding, utopia.

2008

 It could include the unusual, unexpected, unbound, unabashed, unaccounted, uncanny.

light of the moon 2009

 We care about the 'u', it makes us unique.  We care about the 'you', it brings us together..

2010

What do the Canadian values of diversity and inclusion mean to you?
How does your labour in your favourite medium honour your neighbourhood, your community?

energy cloth 2011

How do you colour yourself into our Canadian culture?

niagra falls 2012

We are looking for artworks that visualize these ideas and that together will give an insightful
perspective on our Canadian cultural identity.

2013

All types of work are encouraged, including representational, abstract, and social commentary,
in 2 or 3 dimensions.

lake 2014

Opening location:  Homer Watson House and Gallery, Kitchener Ontario Canada
March 15 - April 19, 2020

2015  providence

The exhibition will travel across Canada until March 2023.

This is a Studio Art Quitls Association exhibition for Canadian members of SAQA only.
Read the full Call for Entry at this SAQA link

Entries must be received by January 3, 2020.
For further questions, please contact Tracey Lawko, chairperson of the exhibition committee.

2016

 All text in this post is from the Call for Entry for Colour For A U for Canadian readers of this blog.

the cloud in me 2017  

 The images are a celebration of my years of blogging.
I chose one from each year:   2006 until 2019.

2018

See the sidebar for further details about this call and information about
the SAQA conference in Toronto 2020.

my awakened heart 2019

retreat

I drove south on Monday
an early morning departure

early spring earth and air
to take part in the Ontario SAQA retreat.
(Studio Art Quilt Association)

Twenty five women are here
We brought our own projects to work on
I brought the 100 year old irish fine linen tablecloth

handed down through Ned's side,
hand embroidered long ago with clover and ribbons.
I am considering adding some red thread love marks, but am not sure how
or if.

We were asked to bring a show and tell item
and I brought earth and air - one of the pieces I made
last year for my exhibition at David Kaye gallery

I loved seeing it on the narrow bed.

I came because I want to connect with others
yet also have some time alone

Time to feel

mid west america

 

 

Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska
Beautiful names
Astounding views of emptiness and fertility

 

two days on the interstate
traveling to Lincoln Nebraska with Bethany Garner, who drove all the way
we told each other our life stories

 and I stitched in car!

love is too dynamic to be tied to a person's destiny
it is an emotion