OBJECTS

Explore objects from Craft in America curated exhibitions. Some of these collections have been exhibited at the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles, some traveled to museums and craft centers around the country, and some are unique to this site, gathered together here for you to discover and enjoy.

JOAN TAKAYAMA-OGAWA: CERAMIC BEACON

Known for conveying her prophetic take on contemporary life through playful and witty narratives in ceramics, this exhibition celebrates the sculptural and functional work of Joan Takayama-Ogawa. Joan is featured in the SCIENCE episode.

ISLANDS IN THE LAND

Islands in the Land was an exhibition held in Pasadena, California highlighting works by craftsmen from the southern Appalachians and the Valley of the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The functional objects featured in the show included brooms, instruments, pottery, basketry, and furniture. This monumental, groundbreaking celebration of American tradition was curated by Eudorah M. Moore and featured in the DEMOCRACY episode.

QUILTS

See more quilts from the QUILTS episode made by Michael A. Cummings, Judith Content, Susan Hudson, and Victoria Findlay Wolfe.

CALIFORNIA VISIONARIES: SEMINAL STUDIO CRAFT, FEATURING WORKS FROM THE FORREST L. MERRILL COLLECTION

California has been the fertile epicenter for craft investigation in the art world. Employing various materials, techniques and concepts, visionary Californian artists have been at the forefront of the American craft movement. Spanning ceramics, metal, wood, fiber and glass, the objects in California Visionaries: Seminal Studio Craft, Featuring Works from the Forrest L. Merrill Collection reflect the ingenuity and the birth of studio craft. These artists imagined new methods of achieving their vision.

ROOTED: CRAFT ORIGINS FROM THE CALIFORNIA EPISODE

Rooted: Craft Origins from the California Episode is an exhibition tracing the deep roots of craft in California’s history and the roles of native plant life as inspiration for various art traditions. From Pomo basketry to the Arts and Crafts movement and contemporary art, craft defines California culture.

KIFF SLEMMONS: COLLECTIVE PRESENCE

Slemmons, widely-acclaimed for her metal-based jewelry practice, has transferred her decades-long experience and understanding of jewelry’s potential to paper. The results yield formal explorations into the role of abstraction, color, pattern, and structure.

BORDERS AND NEIGHBORS: CRAFT CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE U.S. AND MEXICO EXHIBITION AT EL PUEBLO DE LOS ANGELES

This exhibition focused on influences between Mexican and American craft traditions, which was on view in the Biscailuz Gallery at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument from November 16, 2017 through February 25, 2018. This exhibition of approximately thirty objects highlighted the artwork in a variety of media made by artists from both the U.S. and from Mexico who were featured in Craft in America’s BORDERS and NEIGHBORS episodes.

MANO-MADE: NEW EXPRESSION IN CRAFT BY LATINO ARTISTS, CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD

The third and final exhibition will be a site-specific wall installation by acclaimed fiber artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, who was featured in Craft in America’s THREADS episode in 2012.

MANO-MADE: NEW EXPRESSION IN CRAFT BY LATINO ARTISTS, GERARDO MONTERRUBIO

The second of three exhibitions will include a group of ceramic sculptural works by Oaxaca-born and Los Angeles-based artist Gerardo Monterrubio. The artist is a master storyteller and illustrator who gives new relevance to the ancient tradition of the decorated ceramic vessel. Melding stylistic elements of Mexican mural painting with his artistic origins as a graffiti artist, Monterrubio breathes new life to clay forms.

MANO-MADE: NEW EXPRESSION IN CRAFT BY LATINO ARTISTS, JAIME GUERRERO

The first of three exhibitions will present the powerful work of Los Angeles native artist Jaime Guerrero. Jaime is one of the few and first artists in the world to sculpt life size figures in glass. Jaime takes glass into new realms with his remarkable ability to imbue his medium with palpable emotion and spirit. He is known for manipulating glass in an unusual technique of working inside and outside hot glass to sculpt a piece.

NATURE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE

NATURE makes an important return to the Back-to-the Earth Movement of the late Sixties when a group of dedicated Americans decided to forgo many of the material aspects of our culture to celebrate and preserve the natural world. That generation made significant contributions to the arts, particularly the crafts. In these works you will find both a sense of discovery and a search for solutions to preserving the majesty of the natural world.

TEACHERS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE

Experience the artworks of artists featured in our recent episode, TEACHERS. This exhibition brings together works in fiber, glass and ceramics made by some of the leading voices in art education from across the country. These artists encourage investigation and evolution through their work as teachers and these values are translated into their personal practices.

ART AND OTHER TACTICS: CONTEMPORARY CRAFT BY ARTIST VETERANS

This exhibition, inspired by the SERVICE episode of Craft in America, is the first major exhibition to explore the powerful role that craft has played as a channel for creativity, expression and transformation in the lives of artist veterans since World War II.

ACTIVE HANDS: CRAFT BY SOLDIERS

Active Hands: Craft by Soldiers features rare treasures made by soldiers on active duty, as well as historic documentation of the Army Arts and Crafts Program, which has allowed thousands of soldiers and their families to find respite in the handmade since World War II.

ART AND OTHER TACTICS: CONTEMPORARY CRAFT BY ARTIST VETERANS (WWII–PRESENT)

CELEBRATION: FESTIVE CRAFT FROM THE EPISODE

CELEBRATION examines the role craft plays in our holiday customs, with a focus on our winter observances that are handed down through generations as well as new rituals that define the season. This exhibition accompanies the nationwide premiere of CELEBRATION.

CALIFORNIA HANDMADE: STATE OF THE ARTS

California Handmade: State of the Arts is an exhibition of innovative sculpture, furniture, textiles, jewelry and decorative arts by more than 80 visionary California artists and highlights the forward-thinking spirit of the state as embodied in recent works of art made with virtuosity, profundity and gumption.