Contemporary Handweaving IV

Authors

Norman A. Geske, Director at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska- Lincoln

Date of this Version

1961

Citation

University of Nebraska Art Galleries October 8-November 5, 1961

Comments

All images are copyright by the original artists.

Abstract

A note of introduction

CONTEMPORARY HAND WEAVING IV departs from the pattern established in its predecessors in being invitational rather than competitive in format. It concentrates on the work of ten of the nation's best artists in the medium and shows each in a group of examples,

This change was dictated in part by local circumstances but it was also motivated by the wish to assume a somewhat different point of view with regard to the present status of the craft of hand weaving in the United States. Our previous exhibitions have demonstrated that the art o[ hand weaving has its skilled practitioners everywhere and that there arc many unknown craftsmen who are achieving work of a notably high order. However, in these exhibitions we have had little or no contact with the ranking professionals in the art, for, as is usually the case, these artists have so many demises on their production that competitions such as ours cannot claim their attention. In the present exhibition we have chosen to combine the work of several of the weavers who have distinguished themselves in the earlier shows with the work of a number of the outstanding weavers who have not previously exhibited here. The result, we hope, will be gratifying to all who see it.

As in most areas of contemporary American art there is a considerable range o[ style in this exhibition from the traditional to the avowedly experimental. It is in this last category that the visitor will find the challenge which may make his visit memorable. Here he will find a parallel to the attempts of the potter to attain the independent plasticity of sculpture, the attempts of the print maker to attain the textural atmosphere of painting, the attempts of the painter to be three-dimensional, or no-dimensional, the attempts oi the sculptor to encompass a total environment. In these instances of experiment the concepts of materials, technique, and use are pushed toward new definitions, possibly incompatible with previous understanding but certainly full of the excitement of fresh thinking.