By Danielle Sabalvaro.
Editor’s Note: We’re deep enough into the winter freeze that there’s plenty of rough weather going around to keep us cooped up inside offices, apartments, houses for days on end with little venturing outside beyond the grocery store or movie theater. Craving a change of scenery with some new inspiration to shake things up and shake off the stir craziness, we sought out the best goings on near and far to bring a little brightness to these gray winter days.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
28th Annual Tribal & Textile Arts Show February 6–9, 2014, at the Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center. Nearly 100 international dealers and galleries gather to display and sell thousands of artifacts, sculptures, textiles, masks, beadwork, carvings, carpets, baskets, ceramics, jewelry, and clothing from the Americas, Africa, Oceania, the Himalayas, South East Asia, Philippines, Indonesia, and more. $15–$150.
A Sense of Balance: The Sculpture January 18, 2014–March 23, 2014, at the Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco. This exhibition of the artist William Stoney Lamar’s work includes new and experimental pieces. Crafted primarily through a unique approach to multi-axial lathe work, Lamar’s wood sculptures embody a distinct sense of line and movement. A Sense of Balance: The Sculpture of Stoney Lamar debuted at the Asheville Art Museum and will travel to museums across the country in 2014. Guest curated by Andrew Glasgow, Asheville Art Museum, North Carolina. Museum of Craft and Design, Exhibition designer: Ted Cohen.
Feature January 16–March 2, 2014, Berkeley Art Center. Curated by Weston Teruya, part II of the Artist Annual, Feature will exhibit the work of 8 exceptional artists chosen from the 200+ participants in Array. Selected participants: Marcela Florez, Toni Gentili, Joanna Kao, Jane Norling, Ann Schnake, Pallavi Sharma, Leigh Wells and Ealish Wilson.
Kimono Detail by Ealish Wilson
Obsessive Reductive February 1–March 30, 2014, at the Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco. This innovative group exhibition features 18 artists working in a variety of media including paper, wood, and metal. Participating artists share the common process of intricately, precisely, and “obsessively” removing material to create extraordinary imagery and sculpture. Many of these works have reticulating patterns, and in some cases the use of material absence is employed as a significant design element positioning negative space as a dominant element. The visual similarity of all featured works in Obsessive Reductive will be the concentrated detail and complexity of the work, despite the various approaches and media. Exhibition curated by Marc D’ Estout. Exhibition design by Ted Cohen.
Opulence and Optimism at Shibumi Gallery February 8–30, 2014, Shibumi Gallery. Shibumi Gallery is pleased to announce the openings of two concurrently running shows, Opulence and Optimism. Opulence pairs the work of British jeweler Jo Hayes Ward, in her first Bay Area show, alongside internationally renowned jeweler Polly Wales. Optimism features the collaborative photographs of Maren Caruso, best known for her conceptual food and product still-life photography, and Sherry Olson, an artist who works in a multitude of medias with a sophisticated naïveté.
4th Annual Union Street Has a Crush On You Valentine Wine Walk February 13, 4–8pm, Union Street (Gough to Steiner), and Fillmore Street (Union to Lombard). This evening stroll features wine samples, finger foods, and special treats offered by our local merchants, so don’t forget to thank them with your support!
The Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita & Beyond 1950–1990 Ending February 17,2014, The deYoung Museum, San Francisco. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are pleased to announce The Art of Bulgari: La Dolce Vita & Beyond 1950–1990, an exhibition of approximately 150 pieces created by the renowned Italian jeweler over four decades. This exclusive exhibition will highlight jewelry that defined a pivotal period in Italian design, and will include many pieces from the personal collection of Elizabeth Taylor.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Journey of a Dress January 11–April 1, 2014, Wilshire May Company Building, Los Angeles. Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap-dress army is a force to be reckoned with in the 20,000-square-foot gallery of the historic May Co. department store building in Los Angeles. The show, which was put together for the 40th anniversary of Von Furstenberg’s brand, celebrates her singular contribution to fashion history: the wrap dress, which is on par with the t-shirt and blue jeans when it comes to its cultural impact. In addition to the dresses, the exhibition features a photo timeline chronicling its greatest moments, from the first sample to the 1976 Newsweek cover to DVF’s first sketch for Women’s Wear Daily. It also features plenty of DVF herself: The mannequins are molded after her own face and her famous cheekbones. Then there’s the gallery of portraits of her by Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger, Chuck Close, Francesco Clemente, Helmut Newton, and Annie Leibovitz, to name a few. Also hanging are works from her personal collection by Anh Duong, Zhang Huan, Li Songsong, and other contemporary artists.
Photo courtesy of Journey of a Dress Exhibition
Artifacts of A Life Lived By the Living (To Live) September 29, 2013–January 5, 2014, at Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles. Curated by artist Chris Johanson, this exhibition celebrates the meditative ritual and necessity of the creative process. The interdisciplinary exhibition brings together a group of artists who feel that they must create in service of bringing order to their lives. Johanson has assembled a group of artists he has admired whose work includes drawing, painting, installation, sound, performance, and movement.
Nathalie Miebach: Changing Waters September 29, 2013–January 5, 2014, at Craft & Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles. The first solo museum exhibition in Los Angeles of TED Global Fellow Nathalie Miebach, who translates scientific data related to weather patterns and climate change into musical scores and complex woven sculptures. Her large-scale sculptures and wall pieces draw upon traditional basket weaving techniques and weather pattern data collected from the Gulf of Maine.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
The Makery Spring Seconds Sale February 15, 2014 11am–4pm, Ace Hotel Cleaners, Portland. Throughout the year, makers amass irregular, out-dated, or slightly defective pieces in need a good home. The Spring Seconds Sale features finely crafted ceramics, paper goods, clothing, accessories, textiles and lighting from Caravan Pacific, Studio Olivine, Pigeon Toe Ceramics, Nell & Mary, Make it Good, Sara Barner, Bridge & Burn, Mazama, Mag-Big, & JuJu Papers all at greatly reduced prices.
Quality is Contagious, John Economaki and Bridge City Tool Works August 16, 2013–February 8 2014, at the MoCC, Portland. Drawing on his background in industrial design and knowledge of construction needs, John Economaki established Bridge City Tool Works in 1983. Using the most contemporary digital technology, Economaki designs tools to stand the test of time. The company’s products, sketches, and tools from the past thirty years will be on view for the first time.
EAST COAST
6th Annual New York City Beer Week February 21–March 2, 2014, New York, NY. The New York City Brewers Guild pulls out all the stops for the 6th Annual New York City Beer Week 2014 beginning with the Opening Bash at the historic Vanderbilt Hall (Grand Central Terminal) on Friday, February 21, 2014! A spectacular setting for New York City’s premier craft beer spectacle of the year, Vanderbilt Hall’s magnificent 48-foot ceiling with five gold chandeliers shines against the original pink marble surfaces offering NYC beer enthusiasts a rare drinking experience amidst its Beaux Arts grandeur. The 6th Annual New York City Beer Week brings together 16 NYC craft breweries, standout nationally and internationally renowned breweries, over 250 NYC beer destinations, celebrity chefs, and acclaimed restaurants for 10 days of craft beer madness.
Metropolitan Vanities: The History of the Dressing Table December 17, 2013–April 13, 2014, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Few pieces of furniture have revealed more about leisure pursuits, popular taste, and changing social customs than the dressing table, or vanity. Metropolitan Vanities: The History of the Dressing Table explores the evolution of the modern dressing table. The age-old impulse to be attractive or fashionable informs and animates much of the dressing table’s lengthy design history, as it does many of the objects associated with the toilette, the ritual in which the dressing table reached new heights of elegance and sophistication. Reviewed by Curated Object here.
Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade September 16, 2013–January 5, 2014, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This exhibition that will look at fabric design from a global perspective and attempt to tell a story of international global trade through three centuries of fabric.
Venetian Glass by Carlo Scarpa November 5, 2013–March 2, 2014, Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibit is a 300-piece inclusive display of the work that was created during the 15-year period of Scarpa’s collaborations at Venini. It originated in Venice at Le Stanze del Vetro, the new gallery on San Giorgio Maggiore devoted to glass exhibitions. In addition to offering more space for visitors to circumnavigate the vitrines (designed by the architect Annabelle Selldorf who created them for the original exhibit), the Met’s curators also pulled from their museum’s formidable collection and included Asian porcelain, 19th century Italian glass and ancient Roman murrine to help visitors better understand Scarpa’s design inspirations and historic precedents. Reviewed by Curated Object here.
Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk October 25, 2013–February 23, 2013, Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum is the only East Coast venue for The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, the first international exhibition dedicated to the groundbreaking French couturier. Playful, poetic, and transformative, Gaultier’s superbly crafted and detailed garments are inspired by the beauty and diversity of global cultures.
Photo courtesy of New York City Brewers Guild
American Craft Council Baltimore Wholesale Show February 19–20, 2014, Baltimore, MD. ACC shows feature original work by more than 1,500 of the country’s top contemporary craft artists and attract more than 50,000 collectors and craft enthusiasts. Purchase tickets and find specific show information by clicking here.
CANADA
This Is Not A Toy February 7–May 19, 2014, 10am–5pm, Canada Design Exchange. This is Not a Toy, curated by John Wee Tom and DX Associate Curator Sara Nickelson with Guest Curator Pharrell Williams, is the world’s first exhibition featuring a collection of contemporary sculptures, figurines, and artworks created by artists including Takashi Murakami, KAWS, FriendsWithYou, Coarse, Huck Gee, and Frank Kozik. The exhibition explores the conceptual toy – a form made solely as an expression of an aesthetic, concept or idea–as an art and design object as well as a contemporary cultural signifier. On display until May 19, visitors dive headfirst into the realm of designer toys as the Exhibition Hall is transformed into a vibrant and whimsical environment, filled with forms ranging from tiny trinkets to enormous free-standing pieces.
Photo courtesy of Canada Design Exchange
EUROPE
Stockholm Design Week February 3–9, 2014, Stockholm, Sweden. The same week as Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, Stockholmsmässan also organizes Stockholm Design Week, presenting more than sixty high-profile design events at various venues around the city. The first design week was launched in 2002, and today this theme week has supported Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair in making Stockholm a must-place to be for purchasers, architects, designers and journalists during week 6 each year. “The design week serves as a meeting place for promoting the furniture and lighting design industry in Scandinavia that extends well beyond Stockholmsmässan’s walls.”
In the Making January 22–May 4, 2014, The Design Museum, London. The secret life of cricket bats, felt hats, shoes, boots, marbles, light bulbs, marbles, whistles, pencils, coins, horns, lenses and Olympic torches. In The Making, curated for the Design Museum by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, captures over twenty objects mid-manufacture, putting the aesthetic of the unfinished centre stage. Varying from the £2 coin to a cricket bat, a surprising range of objects have been chosen by founders of design studio BarberOsgerby, to be exhibited in an incomplete state, celebrating the intriguing beauty of the production process. Reviewed by Curated Object here.
Whiteout Seasonal Exhibition November 21–May 1, 2014, Contemporary Applied Arts, London. The inaugural Christmas exhibition in our new home will focus on all things white, a dazzling display capturing the spirit of winter – the snow, ice, reflections, candlelight, moonlight and starlight which make the season so festive. CAA makers have created work in white gold, platinum, silver, white glass, porcelain, ash, linen, wool and more to enchant the eye and ignite the imagination. Whether looking for an original gift for a friend or a loved one or perhaps a treat for yourself, Whiteout will offer unique pieces, at a range of prices, from some of the foremost applied artists of our time.
Hello, My Name Is Paul Smith November 15–March 9, 2014, The Design Museum, London. The Design Museum takes you into the world of fashion designer Paul Smith, a world of creation, inspiration, collaboration, wit and beauty. Celebrating his career to date and exploring future developments, the exhibition references Paul Smith’s influences and fashion designs, charting the rise of this quintessentially English label which has become one of the leading fashion brands in the world.
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