Pathmakers

"In the 1950s and ’60s, an era when painting, sculpture, and architecture were dominated by men, women had considerable impact in alternative materials such as textiles, ceramics, and metals. Pioneers in these fields—including Ruth Asawa, Edith Heath, Sheila Hicks, Karen Karnes, Dorothy Liebes, Alice Kagawa Parrott, Lenore Tawney, and Eva Zeisel—had tremendous influence as designers, artists, and teachers." Presenting female designers and artists from the mid-20th century who have shaped the way we see fine art and design, this exhibition inevitably includes a wide variety of skills and aesthetics and yet the curatorial narrative speaks for them all. From New Mexico to Norway, the exhibition tries to illustrate the parallels between women working on different sides of the world - namely through their use of craft as a pathway to Modernist innovation. Contemporary female artists working in a similar vein are also considered.   Polly Apfelbaum and Michelle Grabner are represented by installations centered on woven and knitted patterns, while Anne Wilson’s work focuses on the processes of textile manufacture. Magdalene Odundo and Christine Nofchissey McHorse adapt traditional techniques and absorb influences from global sources. Furniture and fixture designers Vivian Beer, Front Design, and Hella Jongerius have also expanded the repertoire of making, while Gabriel A. Maher looks at the ways gender is constructed by the clothes we wear. Pathmakers: Women in Art, Craft, and Design, Midcentury and Today Until February 28, 2016