The Fabric Workshop and Museum opens 'Hard/Cover'
Installation view.
PHILADELPHIA, PA
.-The Fabric Workshop and Museum is presenting Hard/Cover, on view from April 9 to September 26, 2021. A collaboration with Philadelphias Clay Studio, the exhibition consists of works marking turning points in the respective creative processes of past and current FWM Artists-in-Residence: Louise Bourgeois (19112010), Viola Frey (19332004), Toshiko Takaezu (19222011), Venturi, Scott Brown, & Associates (founded 1980), Betty Woodman (19302018), Woody De Othello (Oakland, CA), Jane Irish (Philadelphia, PA), Barrow Parke (Queens, NY), and Shino Takeda (Brooklyn, NY).
Hard/Cover looks closely at the relationship between time, process, and space in developing an interdisciplinary practice. Framed by celebrated works from past Artists-in-Residence working at FWM in the late 1980s and early 90s, as well as tableaus and scenes created by contemporary artists, the exhibition considers how changes in ones creative practice can open up new pathways of conveying integral ideas. For Frey, Takaezu, and Woodman, their collective shift away from utilitarian function toward aesthetic and emotive properties illustrated tension in a world that did not easily make room for female artists with a material-focused practice. Now, more than three decades later, artists such as De Othello, Irish, Barrow Parke, and Takeda can employ interdisciplinary practices that move between function, pleasure, and critical discourse.