Group Exhibition: Substrate/Structure
Event Details
- Date
- Friday, April 26
- Time
- 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Upcoming Event Dates Show Hide
Apr 26, 2024 Apr 27, 2024 Apr 28, 2024 May 02, 2024 May 03, 2024 May 04, 2024 May 05, 2024 May 09, 2024 May 10, 2024 May 11, 2024 May 12, 2024 May 16, 2024 May 17, 2024 May 18, 2024 May 19, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 24, 2024 May 25, 2024 May 26, 2024
- Location
-
The Delaware Contemporary
200 S. Madison St.,
Wilmington, DE 19801 - Event Type
- Ticket Cost
- FREE!
- IN Budget
Description
“Recrafting” is a chance for us to look closer at the literal and metaphorical structures that direct how we distinguish “art” from “craft”. Art History, a subject predominantly dictated by a western, white, patriarchal society, has established a cultural and educational structure derived from their cultural preferences – and marginalized those that did not.
Objects classified as “craft” are often made for functional purposes and constructed of inexpensive materials, rather than the academically-vetted expensive fine art materials to make objects for observation, decoration, and scholarship. This modality of defining and distinguishing art from craft is well-established yet outdated and irrelevant. It prohibits essential, diverse practices and conversation that are reflective of our society today. This exhibition aims to reconfigure our societal, systematic, and academic thought structures by bringing awareness to the visual and literal overlapping of art and craft.
The substrate of an artwork is the foundation on which an artist bases their work. That foundation can be a physical surface such as canvas, wood, or fiber. Or it can be figurative, like the ideas, concepts, and history that inspire artists. The four artists presented in Substrate/Structure question established definitions of art through the material substrate and structure of their work. They blur traditional and contemporary methods by utilizing techniques associated with craft, such as ceramics, textiles, and wood, to re-think the artwork’s meaning and message.
Each artist “recrafts” the traditional foundation of an artwork, building a unique image, narrative, and/or process. Darlene Charneco hammers nails into plywood sheets, painting and bending them to catch light in dizzying spirals. Kimberly English weaves ideas and fibers together, draping abstract fabrics and woven tapestries mid-air. Adebunmi Gbadebo uses hair, meshed together and dyed with indigo to tell an intimate story of physical and emotional history. Elise Thompson stretches and plies clear vinyl and layers grading pigments that somehow fade into the distance.
DuPont I and II Gallery