Spring 2011: Fiberart International Collection Connections

In the Concourse Gallery, don’t miss two works from the permanent collection which were installed in conjunction with the exhibition Fiberart International.

Nofreelunch Basket (2000), woven from willow and waxed string, is by American artist John McQueen, who has been credited with the contemporary revival of basketry. Stop and pick out the text that he has incorporated into the work, which director Grant Holcomb includes in his cell phone tour of the collection. Listen and learn

Not far away hangs Umbra 18 (1932) by distinguished Colombian fiber artist Olga de Amaral. In this work (pictured at right) she has pieced together thousands of tiny gessoed cloth tiles covered in gold leaf. Writes the artist, “Fiber is just fiber. Gold can show blood, pain, patriotism, mysticism, things that fiber alone cannot express.”