Contact: Marilyn Henrion (917)359-4621   marilynhenrion@mac.com

The exhibition Square, presenting 82 original artworks, opens a window onto current explorations by members of the Textile Study Group of New York. With just one restriction-that each piece be mounted on a 12-inch square wooden panel-the artists reached out in many directions to bring forth a diverse array of two- and three-dimensional expressions in fabric, thread, paper, wire, and some surprising materials that stretch the definition of "fiber art." 

As with early works in the fiber art genre, which was identified as a contemporary art form in the 1960s, many pieces derive expression from formal qualities inherent in processes such as weaving, knitting, stitching, knotting, and manipulation of fabric. Other works incorporate drawing, printing, collage, and techniques not specific to textiles. Much of the work is abstract, relying on color, texture, and pattern to communicate, but figurative, architectural, and natural images offer content ranging from personal narratives to commentary on timely issues. 

 In some pieces, such as Ludmila Aristova's Sagrada Familia #14, its tight diagonal pleats describing an ambiguous flow, process and image are one. Textile construction itself is the subject in some of the works. For example, Kate Barber's handwoven strips are compressed into squares and arranged in a format suggesting the over-under structure of weaving. Benedicte Caneill's monoprinted fabric resembles a blown-up image of a textile pattern; Gail Miller's yarn stretched across the wood from every side evokes layers of unwoven warps.

Several artists' use of photographic imagery is enhanced in combination with textile processes. Examples are Katherine Crone's Japanese sunset segmented into digitally printed strips of silk and Kathy Weaver's news picture of a wounded child that emerges from a patchwork collage. Christine LoFaso transformed a photograph of two eyes into a jacquard woven pattern that is haunting in repeat. A striking contrast to that is Katherine Knauer's use of eyes as graphic motifs, dancing playfully across a printed fabric. In Linda Friedman Schmidt's hooked panel, the arrestingly enigmatic composition also contains the image of an eye. 

Robin Schwalb's reproductions of printed and handwritten text, enlarged incrementally in three separate layers, is among several pieces that incorporate words. Carol P. Kunstadt's plaited strips cut from a psalmody and Leslie Madigan's book encrusted with natural materials exemplify works that segue from textiles into other genres such as altered books. 

The Textile Study Group has a membership of around 200 artists and others with a serious interest in contemporary fiber art. Many members have shown their work widely, including at national and international exhibitions.Over the years, the group has presented numerous juried exhibitions at venues such as the American Craft Museum (now the Museum of Arts and Design), New York State Museum, the Robert Hillestad Textile Gallery at the University of Nebraska, the Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, Connecticut, and New York galleries including A.I.R., Noho, Phoenix, and the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery.

Founded in 1977 when six students of weaver Gayle Wimmer at the New School for Social Research in New York City decided to continue their study at regular meetings at each other's homes, TSGNY has evolved into a not-for-profit organization with members from throughout the New York Metropolitan area and some from as far away as California. Monthly meetings feature guest speakers who might be prominent artists, textile historians, gallery directors, or museum curators. Speakers in the past have included artist Sheila Hicks, anthropologist Junius Bird, and Museum of Modern Art curator Mildred Constantine. Among recent speakers have been Thomas Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Janet Koplos, formerly a senior editor at Art In America; and Anne Wilson, a nationally-known Chicago artist who participated in the 2002 Whitney Biennial.

A 92 page full color catalog of the exhibition  is available at amazon.com.  

A complimentary copy of the catalog is available for the press upon request, as are high resolution digital images for publication.    

Contact: Marilyn Henrion (917)359-4621   marilynhenrion@mac.com  

Narthex Gallery 
St. Peter's Church
619 Lexington Avenue at E. 54th Street
New York, 
NY 10022-4613 

Gallery hours: Daily 9AM to 7PM

Gallery Phone: 212.935.2200