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COLOR OF CONFLICT
A new exhibit at Susan Hensel Gallery
Dec 1, 2010-Jan. 1, 2011
The object is yarn. The subject is war.
Color of Conflict, opening at Susan Hensel Gallery December 1, is a collaboration of photographer John Hensel and artist Susan Hensel.
Always a multimedia artist who seeks narrative, Ms. Hensel has brought the world of fiber art into her studio practice. Color of Conflict is a show of photographs that wrest the meaning from a series of yarns that Susan has spun. These yarns, containing army toys and the colors and forms of armed conflict, can be knitted. But their true horror is revealed in the photographic display.
In the art world, one talks about transgression. Transgression can be loosely defined as breaking expected boundaries or expectations. Yarn is expected to be soft, warm, useful, at times even life saving. It is often associated with leisure, craft and women's work. Rarely is it thought of as an object, a material or a subject of fine art. In this project, yarn paradoxically uses its traditional softness to express a hard/harsh/violent reality. It uses its allusions to its life saving properties( warmth, padding, protecting) as a field of discussion about war and death. It uses a "women's art" to discuss a "man's pursuit."
This body of work was completed during a six month sabbatical from gallery life. Ms. Hensel took the risk of closing Susan Hensel Gallery for six months in order to return to studio practice and research. During the sabbatical she has spent much time exploring the narrative capabilities of fiber. She has become part of the artyarn movement, a radical group of spinners who push the idea of what yarn can be to it’s maximum. Usually, it is a lighthearted game, spinning Christmas baubles and Halloween eyeballs into fluffy masses of wool. It’s mostly about process and fun. Susan loves process as much as the next person, but process alone does not satisfy her in the long-term. She has been adding, multiplying, accreting and inserting meaning wherever she can in handspun yarn.
There will be a reception for the artists on Friday, December 17, 7-10pm.
WHAT: COLOR OF CONFLICT
A body of work by
John Hensel & Susan Hensel
WHEN: Dec 1, 2010-Jan. 1, 2011
Reception:
WHERE: Susan Hensel Gallery
3441 Cedar Ave S
CONTACT: Susan Hensel 612 722-2324
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Susan Hensel Gallery, http://www.susanhenselgallery.com, a Minneapolis gallery devoted to art, story and activism.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
