Schedule of Events

Fall 2002

"Hobby Lobby"

November 8 - December 21, 2002

 

Opening Reception: Friday, November 8th, 5 - 8pm

 

Organized by Andrea DeMers,

a member of Gallery 312's Programming Committee

 

The appropriation of hobby-craft materials and practices is a common thread linking these 11 artists of varying concerns. Distinguished from crafts traditionally associated with fine art such as ceramics or weaving, the term "hobby" establishes a social reference point firmly rooted in pop culture. In their cheap, frivolous splendor, hobby-craft materials lobby for celebration of the vernacular. They are conceptually loaded, the stuff of grade school craft projects, holiday decoration, rec-room tinkering, and needlecraft. In the hands of these artists, they raise complex cultural issues of gender, social class, domesticity, and aesthetic taste.

Ideas of "hobby" and "craft" have a history of having been disparaged by the art world and relegated to status strictly outside of its boundaries. In recent decades artists have approached them in a way that has evolved from the cool cynicism of early post-modernism to an embracing of craft related materials and processes. Clearly, the artists enjoy working with these materials, as evidenced by the obsessive, labor intensive processes prevalent in the show. The lush physical qualities many possess are alluring, while conversely, their synthetic trashiness conveys a tone of humor and irreverence. In light of the diverse and compelling approaches of these artists, "Hobby Lobby" invites a re-examination of these provocative materials and processes.

 

 

Aaron Baker (Chicago)

"I am interested in hybridized objects - paintings that look like sculpture, sculptures that look like painting, and strange things in between....objects with rowdy enthusiasm." Baker notes further that these works are influenced by medical illustrations, the decorative arts, commercial product design, biology, and science fiction.

Courtesy of the Artist and Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago

Brave New World, 2001, 24"x18"x20",

plastic, foam, Sculpy, wire, beads, gel medium, acrylic, and enamel

  

 

 

Betsy Brandt (Queensbury, NY)

Betsy Brandt's gigantic, doily-like floor and wall sculptures comment humorously on notions of domesticity and femininity, and the obsessive urge to make things. Interested in the transformation of materials from commonplace to extraordinary, she expresses her concern with exploring "the poetics of the physical world where the ideal and the real collide."

Whirl, 2001, 14' diameter, hot glue

  

 

 

Susie Brandt (Baltimore)

Susie Brandt imbues traditional quilting and craft techniques and found materials with her own conceptual concerns. Culturally ingrained notions of gender, and relationships between domestic craft and modernist doctrine are dominant subjects addressed in her work.

Darned Blanket, 1993-95, 75"x 86",

found embroideries, thread, machine stitched

  

 

 

 

Kim Collmer (Berlin, Germany)

The fanciful, science fiction-influenced cityscapes in Kim Collmer's stop motion animated films are made of craft store materials and small, generic objects she terms "post industrial leftovers." Rhythm and repetition are used to create a "Metropolis"-like mechanized world opposed by forces of nature.

stills from Mercury Moon and Warm Jets, 2000-01,

16mm stop motion animation

  

 

 

Pete Goldlust (Providence, RI)

In Goldlust's mural and relief sculpture installations, other-worldly creatures find themselves mired in all-to-human psychodramas. In Dung Beetle Dinner Bingo, his wall installation created on site for this exhibition, a colony of feral housewares are embattled in a family meal gone awry.

 

Courtesy of the Artist and Carl Hammer Gallery

Dung Beetle Dinner Bingo (Sisyphean Thanksgiving), 2002, 8' x 10',

polymer, clay, contact paper, latex, enamel and mixed media

  

 

 

Diana Guerrero-Maciá (Chicago)

Diana Guerrero-Maciá recontextualizes found language, imagery, and materials in her sewn fabric collages. Drawing from pop sources such as junk food wrappers, road signs, and album covers, she manipulates formal and conceptual relationships to create shifts in meaning.

When You Suddenly Appear, 2002,

sewn wool, vinyl, nylon, felt, cotton and leather

  

 

 

D'nell Larson (Chicago)

"Love and the dynamics of romantic relationships are at the core of my work. I am interested in exploring the moments in love that are so blissful, time and space seem to disappear." To this end, Larson engages in the labor-intensive creation of lush, often boldly colorful objects; transforming common materials from their everyday usage into playful artworks.

Courtesy of the Artist and Bodybuilder and Sportsman, Chicago

The Weight of My Heart (In Pieces), 2002, (detail)

feathers, glue, wood base

  


 

 

Chris Kerr (Chicago)

Chris Kerr's sculptures and paintings depict model-like versions of outdoor life. Using makeshift and conventional hobby materials and humorous distortions of scale, he delves into themes of popular recreation and the attempt by contemporary culture to contain nature.

 Campsite, 1999, 36"x 36", felt, cardboard, acrylic

  

 

 

Darrel Morris (Chicago)

Known for the dark humor in his embroidered narratives, Darrel Morris grew up in rural Kentucky and is influenced by Appalachian storytelling and crafts. Gender roles (e.g. sewing and handicrafts' feminine associations), poverty, and misuses of power are recurrent themes in his work.

Courtesy of the Artist and Gescheidle, Chicago

Doormat, 1992, 16" x 22", braided found fabric

  

 

 

Christina A. Papola (Philadelphia)

The meticulously crafted pipe cleaner sculptures by Christina A.Papola parody the Martha Stewartesque homemaker and the need for "making pretty." As "drag for women" these pieces dwell on super glamour ideals that are impossible to reach or maintain, except only by intense meditation.

Because I'm Worth It, 1999, 21" x 11" x 13", tinsel pipe cleaners

  

 

 

Brian Taylor (Chicago)

Brian Taylor is interested in forcing "the shift in contemplation between how you relate to these objects vs. how you relate to their counterparts out in the world." His recent works are conceived with wry shifts in scale, color and material when viewers compare the hand-crafted objects to their mass-produced models.

Twin Awnings, 2002, 20" x 15" x 17", balsa wood, oil enamel

  

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