Continental Drift: Encounters, North and South, on view at browngrotta arts in Wilton from Oct. 17-25, uses the tectonic separation and reshaping of landmasses as a metaphor for how artistic traditions migrate, collide and transform across the Americas. The survey brings together museum-quality art textiles, three-dimensional sculptures and fiber works by leading artists from the U.S., Canada, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. It also includes works by artists from outside the Americas whose encounters with North and South American land, art and culture have shaped their practice. In all, there are 46 artists with works shown in this exhibition.
“Art doesn’t stay put any more than land does,” browngrotta arts co-curator Tom Grotta said. “The artists in this exhibition carry more than one place with them — a training, a teacher, a landscape, a material tradition — and you can see it in the work itself. Continental Drift is really about tracing those influences.”
Materiality is a central concern for many of the artists. Rosana Escobar of Colombia explores the qualities of raw fique fiber and its affinity with horsehair. Trine Ellitsgaard, a Danish artist who has lived in Mexico since 1990, regularly incorporates agave and espadín in her work. Mezcal production in Mexico generates significant agave waste, but the material has other uses. Ellitsgaard has worked with artisans in Oaxaca and the U.S. to turn agave into fiber, spinning it into rugs, bags, and artworks. Eva Soban of Brazil combines traditional and unexpected fibers to give textile surfaces greater plasticity, texture, and volume.
Technical exchange is another way art practice moves among continents and artists. Andean weaving traditions influenced the iconic style of American artist Sheila Hicks. During a Fulbright scholarship in Chile in the 1950s, Hicks studied and photographed indigenous weavers and archaeological sites in the Andes, learning native techniques such as the four-selvage panel and discontinuous warp. American James Bassler lived full-time in Oaxaca, Mexico, in the 1970s, an experience that gave him direct exposure to indigenous weaving traditions and profoundly shaped his work. In Chile, Carolina Yrarrázaval has studied textiles across diverse cultures, with particular attention to pre-Columbian techniques.
A third form of influence is a kind of mentorship. Gyöngy Laky, Dorothy Gill Barnes and Lia Cook are among the many artists working across mediums who point to the teachings, writings and work of American artist Ed Rossbach as revelatory. Rossbach’s research in the 1960s into historical textiles and baskets, including pre-Columbian examples, opened new areas of innovation and experimentation. It influenced the work and teaching of UK artist Tim Johnson, whose current basketwork pursues similar interests, drawing on ancient techniques and artifacts for contemporary making. For Federica Luzzi of Italy, the inspiration came from Lenore Tawney. Leon Niehues admired the sculptural work of Dorothy Gill Barnes and John McQueen, who used natural materials from their own environments, in Ohio and New York respectively, to sculpt objects with basket techniques. That approach left its mark on Niehues’s own work.
The geography and culture of the Americas offer yet another source of influence. After the destruction of his kiln in Japan, Yasuhisa Kohyama found a guidepost in the vistas of the American Southwest, leading him to create nontraditional, asymmetric forms that suggest windswept canyons and rock towers. Eduardo Portillo and María Dávila have traveled throughout Venezuela, encountering materials and a diversity of people, customs and ways of life. Back in the studio, they translate that richness into textiles that merge traditional processes with contemporary perspectives. Polly Sutton and Mary Giles sought basketmaking knowledge from Native American communities. Joe Feddersen, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and Dawn Walden, an Ojibwe descendant and member of the Mackinac Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, continue Native American traditions while bringing a contemporary and distinctly personal perspective to their work.
Whether the influence is material, cultural, geographical, or a combination of all three, the artists in Continental Drift have brushed against something from North or South America, and their work has been transformed as a result. The exhibition reveals these transformations in intriguing ways, and they are well worth seeing and comparing in person, online or in print in the Continental Drift catalog.
The exhibition will be on view: Oct. 17-25.
Gallery hours:
- Saturday, Oct. 17, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. — Opening Reception
- Sunday, Oct. 18, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Monday to Saturday, Oct. 19-24, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.;
- Sunday, Oct. 25, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Schedule your visit on the browngrotta website.
Safety Protocols: No narrow heels, please — the gallery has barn floors.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Private viewings for collectors, consultants and design professionals are available by appointment from Oct. 17-25. Reservations are recommended.
