The Golden Thread 2: A Fiber Arts Exhibition

The Golden Thread 2: A Fiber Arts Exhibition, BravinLee Programs, will be up until May 16. See this show if you are interested in textile art or any kind of art. Not to mention that this gallery in itself is worth the visit. Located in the South Street Seaport at 207 Front Street, it is a giant warehouse, an eighteenth century red-brick building with multiple floors, multiple scattered staircases—some are open curving metal staircases, which allow you to look over and see down and up and that each floor had more rooms to the right and the left. It is a treasure hunt. And full of treasures everywhere.

Last year, while wandering in our new neighborhood near South Street Seaport, I found the BravinLee Programs, “The Golden Thread: A Fiber Art Exhibition.” Since I had once been a weaver, I was intrigued. Both shows were organized by Karin Bravin and JohnPost Lee who did a terrific job of combining all the various types of formats that come under the heading Fiber Arts. There’s crocheting, weaving, quilting, dripping tendrils of fabric or unspooled balls of yarn. This show has over sixty works by over a hundred artists. Check it out.

 Unfortunately, I was so overwhelmed seeing the show I didn’t get that many pix, but you can see more on their website or go to the show! https://theseaport.nyc/events/the-golden-thread-a-fiber-art-exhibition/

In the 1970s, I worked on huge stand-up looms as well as floor looms and made large woven art works. My loft space in Berkely on Adeline Street was big enough to accommodate them. I got MA at San Francisco State University in 1981 and promptly gave it all up for life in small apartment in Manhattan. https://contactprod.com/janschmidt/1970s-weavings/

Hilma af Klint

Went to see Hilma af Klint exhibit at the Guggenheim this week. Went with Arthur Rivers and visiting British friends, Sian Murray, Fliss and Helen. Walking past these paintings lining the walkway from first to fifth floor of the Guggenheim, I was struck by their warmth and sense of serenity. Passing by, I enjoyed their colors, their seeming calmness and symmetry, their scale, from small drawings to enormous canvases. But when we stopped to look, suddenly, while remaining serene and calming, they exploded into vital, alive, shimmering emotional experiences. The symmetry was not symmetry at all, but unusual breaks within that, while maintaining the equilibrium, upset its conformity and delivered a feeling ones gets looking at the creativity in nature. And it did this over and over as we stopped. Loved it!!

Also we saw the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit, which flowed from his portraits, his flowers, and his more controversial sexual images in a stunning sequence of forms and shapes, electrified by his framing and the way he uses light and shadow. However, we were a bit disappointed by its small size, an adjective not usually equated with Mapplethorpe. Sill wonderful to see.

https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/hilma-af-klint