NEWS

Dirigo is the fourth of four exhibitions honoring 50 living Maine Women Pioneers at the University of New England Art Gallery.  Dirigo (May 22 - July 21, 2013) will present artists embodying Maine’s motto ("I Lead") whose works exhibit iconoclastic individualism and breaks with preconceived norms and traditions, expanding their mediums into pioneering terrains.

The 2012 CMCA Biennial Exhibition includes work by seventeen artists curated by CMCA director Suzette McAvoy and Daphne Anderson Deeds, an independent curator from Connecticut.

The Ballinglen Arts Foundation was formed in 1992 to bring professional, established artists and younger artists of recognized ability, from Ireland and from abroad, to live and work in North County Mayo, Ireland so as to benefit both the artists and the community. Its programmes, a series of interrelated projects in the visual arts, provide a direct socioeconomic and educational benefit to the community whilst contributing substantively to the development of each individual artist's work.

While there is a strong emphasis on materiality in contemporary art, we have seen an increasing number of artists who share a specific interest in textile-related materials and processes. We coined the word “textility” to describe these qualities and organized this exhibition to explore art that has a material or conceptual relationship to textiles. 

Some artists in the exhibition appropriate materials and techniques associated with fiber arts, using cloth or thread in place of paint or pencil to convey formal elements like color and line. Others employ traditional art-making materials to produce paintings, sculptures and drawings that resemble textiles. And some artists create works that suggest fabric or textiles by referencing some element of weaving, knotting or stitching. The works on view in three galleries and additional spaces throughout the Art Center showcase the diverse approaches of twenty-eight artists, incorporating a broad range of media and ideas. “Textility” is the common thread that connects them. 

Read more about Textility.

Mary Birmingham and Joanne Mattera
Co-curators