In Discourse: art across generations and continents (May 4 - 12, 2024) browngrotta arts will celebrate the diversity of materials and approaches that are the hallmark of contemporary fiber arts. Despite their distinctiveness, the artists in Discourse, more than 50 from 20 different countries, share a common trait. Each possesses “material intelligence,” what author Glenn Adamson describes as “a deep understanding of the material world around us, an ability to read that material environment, and the know-how required to give it new form. The works in Discourse reflect this mastery.

Artists like John McQueen and Norma Minkowitz of the US and Norie Hatekayama and Naoko Serino of Japan engineer imaginative structures of unexpected materials — plaited paper tape, molded jute, crocheted linen, and pieced twigs and branches.

Discourse also offers viewers a chance to make intergenerational comparisons. Among the works included will be starkly graphic weavings by Warren Seelig (US) and ones by Gudrun Pagter (DK), and Blair Tate (US) made 40+ years later. Viewers will also see a wide range of technical approaches. For example, several artists make vastly different uses of paper — scrolling of encyclopedia pages by Wendy Wahl (US), kotted paper objects by Shoko Fukuda (JP), and sculptural works of rice paper by Pat Campbell (US). Other artists in Discourse, including Laura Foster Nicholson (US); Gyöngy Laky (US); and Irina Kolesnikova (RU/DE), use the medium of fiber art to make explicit statements about the modern world, specifically, about anxiety, communication, and the environment.

About browngrotta arts

Founded in 1987 in Wilton, Connecticut, browngrotta arts showcases unique sculptural and mixed media works with an emphasis on concept, supported by technique. Museum-quality artworks by more than 100 international artists are represented through art catalogs,art fairs, partnered exhibits at museums, retail spaces and an online gallery. Representing many of the artists who have helped define modern fiber art since the 1950s, browngrotta arts reflects its co-curators, husband-and-wife team, Tom Grotta and Rhonda Brown. They open their private home — a two-story barn built in1895 expanded and contemporized by architect David Ling in 2000 — twice a year for “Art in the Barn,” unique salon-style exhibitions. browngrotta arts has published 60 art catalogs and books. The firm has placed works in private and corporate collections in the US and abroad, including the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Arts and Design, Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. They regularly work with architects and interior designers offering consultation for commissioned artworks and site-specific installation for commercial and residential spaces. A selection of works is on view and available for sales inquiries at browngrotta.com.