VIGNETTES: AN EXHIBITION TRIPTYCH

Three views are better than one is the thought that animates Vignettes; one venue, three exhibitions at browngrotta arts this Fall in Wilton, Connecticut, US. From 7 October - October 15, 2023, the gallery will offer two rooms celebrating the work of renowned weaver, surface designer, and educator, Glen Kaufman, two rooms devoted to noted basketmaker and sculptor Dorothy Gill Barnes, and two additional rooms featuring objects — baskets, sculptures, ceramics — by three dozen international artists.


Image:  2ki Aperture 1, Kiyomi Iwata, silk organza, 59” x 14” x 13.5”, 2005. Image above: detail of 6pd Venus, Eduardo and Mariá Eugenia Dávila Portillo, bronze, 39” x 6.75” x 5”, 2014.

Glen Kaufman’s art experience and influences were extensive — studying, then teaching, at Cranbrook Academy of Art, a Fulbright Scholarship in Denmark, a year as a designer in Dorothy Liebes' New York studio, and study visits to the UK.  He landed at the University of Georgia where he headed the fibre program for 20+ years, spending one-half of each year in Japan for much of that time. The work in browngrotta arts’ Glen Kaufman: Elegant Eloquence, dates from1960 through 2010. It includes double weaves, macramé and a freestanding cylindrical form from the 60s, silk-screened and gold-leafed damask works from his years in Asia, collages, works of indigo on shibori, and gold leaf on paper. 


Image: An Abundance of Objects installation. Objects by: Mary Merkel-Hess, Gary Trentham and Gertrud Hals.

The works in Dorothy Gill Barnes: A Way With Wood, illustrate the full range of her engaging and innovative approach to natural material. "The unique properties I find in bark, branches, roots, seaweed, and stone suggest a work process to me. I want this problem solving to be evident in the finished piece,” Barnes observed. A Way With Wood contains several dozen works from the artists’ personal collection including early experiments in weaving bark and other materials. There are also “dendroglyphs" made from bark that Barnes had marked on living trees and later harvested after scars had formed, and later works in which wood and glass were combined. 


Image: An Abundance of Objects installation. Objects by: Lizzie Farey, Polly Sutton, Mary Giles.

An Abundance of Objects, filling another two rooms, presents an eclectic collection of items of varied materials and techniques. Citing the authors of How to Live with Objects, Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer, An Abundance of Objects encourages viewers to think about their connection to the objects that surround them — how they were discovered and made and the associations they arouse, meanings they radiate and feelings they trigger. Included are silk squares by Kiyomi Iwata, a mechanical, segmented “tree" that collapses and then stands with the turn of a crank by Lawrence LaBianca, a sculpture made of a textile cast in bronze by Eduardo Portillo and Mariá Davilá.  


Image:  6pd Venus, Eduardo and Mariá Eugenia Dávila Portillo, bronze, 39” x 6.75” x 5”, 2014.

Catalogs will be published for each of the three exhibitions and can be ordered from browngrotta arts in October. Reservations for Vignettes: one venue; three exhibitions can be made on Eventbrite.

Find out more:
browngrotta.com