Now Read This

In my last post, I talked about the Treasure Valley Artists' Alliance's exhibition, Metamorphosis.  In the same building (the Yanke building) is the Arts & Humanities Institute Gallery, which I believe is affiliated with BSU.

The current exhibition there is Now Read This: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky.  This was my first time visiting the gallery.  It is a great space with windows looking out on the Greenbelt.

Here is a brief description of the exhibition from the brochure:

"The works are united by their use of textual elements, by their textural granularity and their inclusion of textile references and components.  Just as text, texture and textile all share a common root (the Latin texts, meaning woven) these works all invite the viewer to bring a reader's close level of examination to their encounter with the work."

As I was walking through the exhibit, I did notice quite a few textile components.  My favorite piece which I love, love, love, just happens to be in the medium I work with.  This piece by Anna von Mertens is a whole cloth piece with hand stitching.

The title is 6:01 p.m. until 7:05 p.m. April 4, 1968, from the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee (looking in the direction the shots were fired).  A long title explaining that this is tracking the star rotation pattern at this time, the hour from when Martin Luther King was shot until he died.

If you go to her website, you can see more of her work in this series and others that also have interesting research behind the pieces.

Another textile piece was this one by Hildur Bjarnadotter called Reconstructed Canvas.  The artist unraveled a linen canvas, then crocheted it back together.

I recognized this artist because the Boise Art Museum had an exhibition of her work years ago. This piece might have even been in it.

I recognized quite a few of the artist and/or pieces from over the years at the museum.  The Zirinskys have been very generous over the years donating artwork and purchasing artwork for the museum.  I imagine some of these pieces were purchased during the exhibitions at the museum.

Another artwork with the textile element of stitching is this piece by Sally Finch called Seep.  "The drawing Seep is based upon Finch's interest in hydrology and specifically the seepage of ground water through geological strata."

It was hard to photograph, but the stitching is on paper.

There were several other artworks with thread, stitching or fiber content.  In my next post, I will show you other pieces that have different elements.

One thing I noticed overall about the exhibition was the fact that there wasn't a lot of color. The pieces were mostly neutral with an occasional accent of color.  Does this reflect the collector's aesthetic or was the exhibition curated with the intent to reflect on the nature of "text" which is usually black letters on white paper?

The exhibition is very well curated and cohesive.  It is up until October, but I recommend seeing it during the BSU school year as I don't think they will have regular hours in the summer.  Currently, the hours are Mon. - Fri., noon-4 p.m.