deSaussure in FY2009 Visual Arts Applicants Showcase

The work of recent AU graduate Lily deSaussure will be featured in this show:

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities would like to invite you to join us for the FY2009 Visual Arts Applicants' Showcase.



Opening Reception: July 16, 2008, 6:30 PM

Exhibition Hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Monday - Saturday

July 17 - August 1, 2008



Katzen Arts Center

American University

4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20016

(Take Metro Red-Line to Tenleytown/AU Station)



For more information call (202) 724-5613


Be sure to check out our sister site regularly for more AU graduate news!!

Childs and DeSaussure in "Here & Now"

Transformer is thrilled to present:



May 10 – 24; May 31 – June 14

Focusing on issues of place, time, fragility, security and fantasy, this two-site exhibition features 17 artists creating large scale, site-specific installations and environments within Transformer's project space, and in three floors of the former Church of the Rapture building space up the street from Transformer at 1840 14th Street, NW.


Artists Participating in Here & Now include:

May 10 – 24
At Transformer (1404 P Street, NW): Jennifer Burkley Vasher (Placitas, NM)

At 1840 14th Street, NW (entrance on T Street, NW):

Kyan Bishop & Kate Hardy (Washington, DC)
Sonya Blesofsky (Brooklyn, NY)
Mandy Burrow (Arlington, VA)
Graham Childs & Lily deSaussure (Washington,DC)
Derek Cote (Richmond, VA)
Mia Feuer (Richmond, VA)
Lisa Kellner (Hanover, VA)
Jong Sun (Jay) Lee (Baltimore, MD)
Chris Moukarbel (New York, NY)
Amy Rubin (British Columbia, Canada)
Paul Shoemaker (Richmond, VA)
Jiny Ung (Washington, DC)

From Transformer's press release:

DC artists Graham Childs and Lily deSaussure's installations celebrate the
domestic relationship, its hardships and its rewards. By building structures that
designate place, the artists create a theatrical platform on which these concepts perform. They state about their work: “In this collaborative work, we explore the many facets of our domestic relationship. The structures we build are simulations of our “dream” sunroom in our apartment as well as a portrait of domestic bliss. The space renders our own vulnerability as it yields a dissection and investigation into the adversities of shared lives. The environment, devoid of walls,remains framed by architectural elements and relays limitations of boundaries. The household objects painted white raise questions of intended specificity. Amidst the furniture, windows, molding, plants and other objects,hang hand-embroidered pieces depicting moments from our lives preceding our current relationship. These images of personal memories stem from different places and times specific to each of us and are connected only
by thread and color. The color is representative of the integrity of our environment as a whole – it suspends the architecture and stands for evidence of us.”

See Transformer's website for special programming, more details, and exhibition hours.

Images from Proximity: MFA Thesis Show

These are a few selections of work by AU's graduating MFA class. "Proximity" will be on display at the Katzen until May 18th.


Geoffrey Aldridge

(video)



(detail from drawing)



Brian Barr








Andrew S. Blair








Tim Campbell









Bradley Chriss








Lily Desaussure




(detail)





Katherine Knight











Amy Misurelli Sorensen










Max Perry




(video)




Cory Oberndorfer





(photos by Alex Ebstein)




Lauren Rice









Sharon Servilio





(image from art book)


Come check it out!

Proximity: MFA Thesis Opening, this Friday!!!

Proximity

An exhibition of this year's graduating MFA candidates

Opening Reception Friday, April 18th, 6-9 pm

Featuring the work of:

Geoffrey Aldridge
Brian Barr
Andrew S. Blair
Tim Campbell
Bradley Chriss
Lily Desaussure
Katherine Knight
Amy Misurelli Sorensen
Max Perry
Cory Oberndorfer
Lauren Rice
Sharon Servilio

Work will be exhibited from April 19- May 18 at the Katzen.
Click here for museum information.

“Chromophobia” at Meat Market Gallery

A Review of “Live to Tell” an exhibition featuring Lily DeSaussure and Graham Childs



By Lana Stephens

The Meat Markey gallery in Washington’s Dupont circle was busting at the seams on Friday night. The opening featured two exhibitions: “Live to Tell” by Lily DeSaussure and Graham Childs and “Naturing” by Sangbin Im and April Behnke. People navigated like rats through corridors and simulated rooms that seemed to both welcome and expel visitors.

I’m referring to an installation by DeSaussure and Childs. The white-washed interior within the gallery’s front room greets you as you enter the space. One must enter through a hanging door frame that places you in what appears to be a living room. The room is complete with crown molding and seven hanging windows, stripped bare of any curtains or blinds. The windows act as a barrier in place of actual walls from the rest of the gallery. An armature encloses the room forming a frame around invisible “open” walls. The room is decorated with household items and furniture. Dolphin figurines and frames adorn the shelves of a bookcase while a round dining room table inhabits the corner of the room. A deer head holds his perch high above, regally watching over the visitors that come and go, their skin tones and colorful jackets and scarves interrupting the stark whiteness of the room.

This is starting to sound a bit like a chapter I read from “Chromophobia,” where the author David Batchelor describes his experience of entering an entirely white home. He feels subordinate to the “aggressive” whiteness that seems insulted by his mere presence. I suppose there was a sort of aura to the installation room in the gallery, though I wish it were stronger. I felt odd being in the room, a bit out of place amongst the stark tranquility. I sucked in my breath when a gallery-goer spilled his beer on the floor of the room. His clumsiness was rendered obscene in the “pure” space.

I began coming up with stories in my head of how or why a room could end up like this. Perhaps the tenants fled, abandoning the now post-apocalyptic scene, smothered in white ash. The tea cups left on the table give it an eerie feeling, a feeling I wish was carried throughout the rest of the room. I wish there was white milk in the cups and white food on the table. I wish there were a blank newspaper folded on a chair. The white-washed plants are a nice touch however. The dolphin figurines bothered me though. There was something too generic about them. Maybe it’s because I hail from a tourist “beach” town where tacky sea life seems to invade every once respectable home. I suppose I wanted the white objects to be more personal so that the feeling of my intrusion was heightened to an uncomfortable state.



The room is not only an “environment,” it serves as an exhibition space from DeSaussure’s stitched drawings that hang, suspended in air on one side of the room. The pieces on display play a dual role; 1) decorating the domestic interior and 2) functioning as works of art that are for sale. Her work consists of multi-figural stitched compositions on paper. Lily uses embroidery floss in a painstaking process that it not only laborious, but requires quite a bit of skill, or craft. She stitches each mark, sometimes overlapping to create a more “worked,” layered surface. The compositions consist of what seems to be amiable past times between old friends and lovers. My only criticism of the three large stitched compositions is that they are not white on white. I realize white thread on white paper would be difficult to see, but the experience of being in a totally white room is also quite difficult. Call me biased, but I too, like the homeowners in Batchelor’s novel, am coming down with Chromophobia.


"Live to Tell" is on view at Meat Market Gallery until March 2nd.

C'mon c'mon

Come support our friends, writers and above all, talented artists. Geoffrey Aldridge, Cory Oberndorfer, Lily deSassure, and Graham Childs work available at Meat Markets Auction.

This Friday, 6-9 at Meat Market

Simply Red at the Fabric Workshop

Lily deSaussure

Until April 28th the FWM is featuring a slice of modernist, sculptural, yet functional objects focused on the potent color red. They are displaying everything from tea services to radiators, radios, fans and phones to giant gushy chairs that look like they’ll swallow you whole (notably the Up 5 Chair and Up 6 Ottoman by renowned Italian designer, Gaetano Pesce).

Clean lines, elegant and slick forms, and also functional objects that behave like sculpture are highlights of Modernism’s effect on furniture, common household appliances and fixtures. Fortunately, you don’t always have to meander endlessly through a museum or dare to enter a high-end furniture gallery (where they watch you like a hawk) to find amazing modern, functional art. This is because wonderful places like the Fabric Workshop Museum exist.

The surge of Modernism was certainly not exclusive to painting as one will witness in most modern and contemporary art museums. Although, the furniture/functional art is usually neatly tucked away in some remote wing, jam-packed with stuff. Or you have to risk the wrath of the salesperson in a high-end furniture gallery if you so much as look at a piece the wrong way.

I am a red enthusiast and I have a bit of a thing for functional design objects, but how great is a coiled tubular radiator, painted in glossy red-orange that sits at painting height on the wall and takes up a third of the space of a regular radiator? The piece owns “damn cool”.

I highly recommend seeing Simply Red at the FWM – there is plenty of room to breathe in their exhibition and the theme is both innovative and, let’s face it, good to look at. If you cannot make it before the 28th of April, consider stopping by to browse their bookstore or their second gallery on the 6th floor that is currently housing a Will Stokes J.R. exhibition. Please note that they will be relocating in the near future.

For further information: www.fabricworkshopandmuseum.org

The Quilts of Gee's Bend at the De Young Museum

Lily deSaussure

Gee’s Bend, Alabama has been geographically, socially and economically isolated for decades until recently. The craft of quilting particular to this area has caught the attention of the country and beyond, resulting in a traveling exhibition now on view at the De Young museum.

An interesting point about shows of craft work is that they draw a greater audience, most likely because the methods and materials are more common and therefore, people are able to relate in terms of process and function. Craft has the ability to break down barriers between viewers who claim they don’t understand or know anything about art and the work itself. Craft is potentially a means for reaching a larger number of viewers with a message – it can function as a political act and it sometimes does quite successfully. In the case of the Gee’s Bend quilts, craft plays a central role in exposing a not-so-pretty aspect of our country’s history.

Gee’s Bend has existed in extreme poverty since slavery was abolished and wealthy plantation owners moved elsewhere. Freed slaves took over the land and took up residence in abandoned homes… only they were not exactly free as they were without and economy and cut off from the rest of Alabama’s.

This seclusion also contributed to the development of a unique genre of quilting. Techniques had been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Quilting, as a craft, was a skill that these women learned, spent incredible amounts of time doing and eventually mastered. They produced quilts out of necessity in order to keep their families warm at night. Old work cloths were transformed into pattern, line and composition when stitched together. Quilting provided an outlet for these women’s expression, wherein they were allowed to push and challenge their creativity. More recent quilts have elaborate use of material and color, and stitching has become decorative in addition to functional.

The discovery of the Gee’s Bend quilts by the outside world has certainly had a positive effect on their community (especially in terms of economy). However, I can’t help but question the motivation behind the sudden rush of fame these women have experienced. The quilts have been dragged into a completely different world (the art world) than their own, having been placed in a museum with Diebenkorns and Joan Mitchells in the next room and Claus Oldenburg right outside the window. I mean, the motivations for making the quilts were so simple, human and honorable. They are so far removed from privilege and elitism that has been perpetuated in the western art world forever. Then when plopped into a museum setting, the exposure of this country’s ugly past of slavery (also economic and class related issues that still exist) are brushed gently to the side. Can this be avoided when displaying work like these quilts? I’m not sure. Don’t get me wrong, the De Young does an amazing job of showcasing craft on the level of fine art, which is important. It’s just that I question these issues because the original context of the work calls for it no matter what.

Ruth Asawa at the De Young Museum

Lily deSaussure

San Francisco report

The De Young Museum held an exhibition of Ruth Asawa’s work providing an expansive breadth of her career. The well-known Bay Area artist is mostly recognized for her wire sculptures of undulating round organic shapes within round organic shapes that are suspended from the ceiling.

My first experience with Asawa’s work was with a group of these sculptures in the foyer of the San Jose Art Museum, which boasts its own impressive collection of work by California artists. I did not come to appreciate these sculptures as much as I do until viewing Asawa’s show at the De Young. The daylight flooded entryway of the San Jose Art Museum did the pieces little justice, as they appeared as black gestural suggestions of something more then what they were against a blinding white backdrop. Although I personally have an affinity for repetitive pattern and craft, I nevertheless looked briefly and passed on by, having not found anything to hold my interest longer.

At first, I though I found the “something more” at the De Young. The installation was superb on a formal level but also in the way it placed craft on a high pedestal. The galleries were practically dark apart from the carefully lit pieces – up close every bend, knot and color variation in the wire was accentuated. And from afar, the pieces were perfectly composed within the dark grayish rectilinear framework of the gallery architecture. The lighting and display elevated the craft to a high art status by bringing out every detail and intricacy of the work – the labor involved was revealed and spotlighted so that each levitating piece glowed with a heavenly ora. Such a scene evoked awe and did the pieces the most justice possible.

Although having felt the initial awe, I found myself getting restless and walking faster toward the end of the exhibition. Sure, I admired the work for its masterful craftsmanship – not to mention the fact that Ruth Asawa was a student and close friend of R. Buckminster Fuller, whose own work no doubt greatly influenced her’s. As mentioned, I was drawn to the repetitive patterns and shapes, woven together and resembling basketry – but I can only look at so many baskets (I can only look at so many of the same painting as well). If this work had been representative of a decade of Asawa’s career mid-way through that would have been fine… but she is an established, late in her career artist and I wonder why she hasn’t gone farther. Yes, the work is time consuming and requires tremendous dedication, which is in and of itself remarkable – plus she has made a great example of the use of craft in fine art. The work at the De Young still left me feeling very much the same – although slightly more enlightened – as it did in San Jose. I just wanted something more that was not there.

Graffiti on the Red Line

Lily deSassure

The red line goes above ground between Union Station and New York Avenue in Northeast Washington, D.C. Admist the train tracks, garbage and chainlink fences, homeless camps are the facades of brick buildings with colorful writing for the passengers to enjoy- or not. The writing changes every month or sometimes as often as every week, depending on when the building owners decide to buff the walls. Sometimes there are indecipherable scribbles, multi-colored angular letters, full murals containing text and image or simply mint green paint that concelas any or all of the above. Such is the scene in almost all urban (and now sometimes suburban) areas since the rise of grafitti in New York City in the 1970's.

Having grown up in New York City and New Jersey, I am particularly fond of words or "names" written on buildings, highway overpasses, or over anything that is otherwise bleak and gray. I do, however, maintain certain criteria for what is there. When the red line emerges from underground and daylight pours into the cars, I immediately notice black and dark blue spray paint on the first building that come into view. Two weeks ago the building had been bombarded with ridiculous, sloppy babble, but yesterday the surface had been replenished with well-balanced, neat and creative penmenship. Like any successful painting, piece of art or graphic design, a "tag" must be executed with diligent precision. The same goes for larger pieces and murals alike.

Further down the line, there is a large brick building with pieces painted on the side. This is the building with mint green paint covering old graffiti... in one spot someone who wrote 'ease' has drawn large bubble letters outlined in black and white that gently fade out into the green background.

In another place, "Mint" and "Best" have their names wiritten high on the rooftop of a building. Sections of the roof jut out just enough to provide accurate framework for their block letters that happen to fit in perfectly with the architecture.

When traveling through any city, I always enjoy a piece of graffiti that is strategically placed in temrs of composition with the surroundings. It has to be executed with the utmost consideration concerning draftsmanship, balance and color. Pieces that are witty in their statement to the viewer also make my train ride more interesting, especially considering the risk involved in getting a piece where and how the artist wants it.

Now, grafitti has made its way from the streets to galleries, shirts and company logos. As far as careers are concerned, for these artists, there are plenty of options but little compare to the risk, thrill and originality of creating something aesthetically satisying on the fly.