A new exhibition, “Studio Champloo,” opens for First Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at the International Quilt Museum and will feature work from 10 artists invited to respond to quiltmaking themes in their preferred art medium.
“Artists were asked to respond, in the context of their own work and direction, to quiltmaking themes like accretion, assemblage, deliberation, domesticity, geometry, layering, perception, proportion, technology and utility,” said Byron Anway, assistant professor of practice of art and guest curator of the exhibition.
All 10 artists selected have strong personal and professional ties to Nebraska. They include Jennifer Bockelman, Ryan Crotty, Michael Larsen, McKenzie Phelps, Amanda Smith, Colin Smith, tūdūsō (Demetria Geralds and Victoria Hoyt), Michael Villarreal and Camille Hawbaker Voorhees.
Anway selected the artists in “Studio Champloo” for the ways in which they use the language of textiles and craft to subvert the norms of painting and sculpture. The featured artists all have vital studio practices and exhibition records, as well as a commitment to community involvement as teachers, mentors and curators.
“Visitors will encounter a familiar emphasis on color and pattern, and materials and process, and may be surprised by both the degree of overlap and the distance between contemporary studio practice and contemporary quiltmaking,” Anway said. “We hope quilt enthusiasts will come away with an increased appreciation for the work of these emerging regional artists, and for the expressive potential and experimental imperatives that have led them to consider the ways in which their work dovetails with quiltmaking.”
Anyway and some of the artists will be in the gallery to discuss the work on First Friday. Admission to First Friday is free. The exhibition runs through June 12.
