Hand Crafted
BlackRock Center for the Arts
March 5 – April 15, 2022
Foreword:
Concept and craftsmanship, the latter defined as strong knowledge of the manipulation of material, have occasionally been oppositional in modern and contemporary art. The works on view show high levels of artistry and skill, while also presenting strong purpose and theory.
Artists in this exhibition use materials often associated with craft such as ceramic, glass, fiber, wool, silk, beads, paper, porcelain etc. and elevate them through both contemporary concerns as well as universal ones including loss, identity, environmentalism, spiritualism, and climate change.
This exhibition celebrates the diversity of theory, process and materiality in contemporary art and suggests that the boundary between craft and fine art is as elusive as ever. -Rula Jones Brock