(Photo courtesy of Genevieve Kaplan)
“FIBERS”—an exhibit featuring textile artwork, opened on February 22nd at the Alexander Hughes Community Center of Claremont, and will be on view until May 19th.
By Toti O’Brien
The show was funded by the City’s Public Art Program, which furthers the intersections between art, urban fabric and daily life. Public Art, traditionally very present in Claremont, focuses on bringing artwork into unusual, non-dedicated places, where viewers can unexpectedly enjoy it in the course of their usual activities.
The 17 pieces gathered in “FIBERS” wonderfully animate the large hall of the Alexander Hughes Community Center, managing to espouse the architecture and mingle with the signage, the displays, and the furniture. In this setting, they still jump to the eye because of their beauty and power. This applies both to the large-sized works and the miniature ones, such as Genevieve Kaplan’s delicate and whimsical “Soft Book.” The artwork doesn’t claim the space for itself, and yet it transforms it, making it celebratory and festive because of its exuberance, visually trespassing the walls, like a splendid array of bright open windows.
“FIBERS” deliberately highlights the practice of artists who utilize textile media in innovative ways. The result is an exhilarating variety of materials and styles. Still—thanks to the inspired and thoughtful installation design by Monica Fernandez, Public Art Coordinator—the diverse voices engage in meaningful conversation, and they deeply harmonize.
Textile residue contributes in large proportion to our landfills, though this data isn’t much advertised, of course, by the fashion industry. “FIBERS” strongly accentuates the value of re-using, re-furbishing and recycling. Most or all the exhibiting artists incorporate salvaged items, which would otherwise be discarded, in their work. The artists harvest those remnants, giving them a new life, a new blooming season.
Alexander Hughes Community Center 1700 Danbury Road Claremont, CA 91711 Monday-Thursday:9am - 9pm Fridays: 9am – 6pm Saturdays: 9am – 2Ppm (909) 399-5490
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