By Christina Chacon
It’s that time again: time for your dose of monthly events to give you your needed updates of design craft throughout the world. Don’t miss the 2012 American Craft Council San Francisco Show for all things craft, and with over 230 top designers all at the Fort Mason Center, this is one you don’t want to miss! Get a chance to check it out and see anyone you love? Tell us about them! Also check out The Home Plate Dinnerware Exchange hosted by Heath Los Angeles for a chance to own some of their beautiful dinnerware while providing help for a good cause. And for something totally unique check out British Design 1948-2012: Innovation in the Modern Age, showcasing the very best of British Post War art.
Northern California
2012 American Craft Council San Francisco Show
August 3-5, 2012 @ Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion
Join the American Craft Council at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco for their exhibition featuring more than 230 of the top contemporary jewelry, clothing, furniture and home decor artists from across the country. The show is the largest juried craft show west of the Rockies: come see pure craft at its finest!
Badges & Buttons Waistcoats & Vests
July 11 – August 26, 2012 @ Velvet Da Vinci Gallery, San Francisco
Most of us have at one time or another worn a badge or a button. It might have been a Peace Symbol, a Girl Scout pin, or badge from your favorite sports team. These are pins with a purpose. They express your political views, belonging to a particular group or just saying “this is who I am”. Badges can indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment or a symbol of authority, such as a policeman’s badge. This exhibition is about exploring the notion of this modest form of jewelry. Curators Elizabeth Turrell and Robert Ebendorf have asked 26 artists, mostly from the United Kindgom and the US, to come up with their own kind of button with a message.
August 1 – September 1, 2012 @ Vessel Gallery, Oakland
“Creatures” is an installation by Alex Abajian and J. Lin-Hsien Kung, two artists who are recipients of People’s Choice honors and prestigious residency at The Tacoma Museum of Glass. This presentation is a culmination of this residency work, and will also include Beili Liu’s process drawings and jewelry by international designer Paola Mirai.
Beth Bernstein and Her Debut Memoir Hosted by Zaver & Mor
August 9th, 2012 @ Zaver and Mor Jewelry Gallery, Berkeley
Curious about which jewelry best suits your personality? Or how to mix your vintage jewels with modern pieces? Please join us at Zaver and Mor Jewelry Gallery for a champagne and dessert reception to celebrate jewelry industry veteran Beth Bernstein’s new memior, My Charmed Life: Rocky Romances, Precious Family Connections and Searching for a Band of Gold. Beth will share a short reading from her memoir and be available for book signing.
Heath Ceramics SF First Artist Reception: Akio Nukaga
Opening reception July 14th, 2012 from 5-9 with the show running through September 5th @ Heath, San Francisco
After his 2009 and 2011 quickly sold-out exhibitions at Heath Ceramics Los Angeles, Japanese master potter Akio Nukaga returns to Heath only this time in San Francisco. “Very New Work” makes the first show and celebration of the soon-to-be-open Heath showroom and gallery in the city’s Northeast Mission neighborhood. Heath will also host Nukaga for a throwing demonstration. In addition to more familiar forms he has been working with for many years, this show will highlight Nukaga’s investigation of new forms that are very loosely inspired by his interest in Cubism.
The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier, From Sidewalk to Catwalk
March 24 – August 29, 2012 @ De Young Museum, San Francisco
Fashion’s bad boy is a master of the provocative. He’s also a master of the craft. This dynamic, multimedia exhibition will include 140 haute couture and prêt-à-porter designs created between the mid-1970s and 2010, along with numerous sketches, archival documents, fashion photographs, and video clips that spotlight Gaultier’s collaborations with filmmakers, choreographers, and musicians, most notably Madonna.
San Francisco Center for the Book Workshops
Month of August @ San Francisco Center for the Book
SFCB workshops have a whole new line up to enjoy. From bookbinding to calligraphy, there is a workshop for every interest and every level to choose from. Check out their website for a complete list of exciting classes.
Fiber Futures, Japan’s Textile Pioneers
Phase 1: July 20-October 6, Phase 2: October 23 to December 29, 2012
Museum of Craft and Folk Art, 51 Yerba Buena Lane, San Francisco CA
We saw this fabulous exhibit in New York and are so delighted it’s coming to San Francisco. Co-organized by Japan Society (New York), Tama Art University (Tokyo), and International Textile Network Japan, Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers explores a new art emerging from a remarkable fusion of Japanese artisanal and industrial textile making. Coaxed from materials as age-old as hemp and newly developed as microfilaments, a varied array of more than 25 works by artists from multiple generations will be on view in this extraordinary two-part exhibition.
Opening Reception is July 20, 6-8 pm.
Northwest
"Reflecting on Erik Gronborg" - Image Courtesy of Museum of Contemporary Craft
August 7th, 2012 – February 16, 2013 @ Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR
Museum of Contemporary Craft is pleased to present Reflecting on Erik Gronborg, a selection of works from the 1960′s and 1970′s by this venerable ceramic artist whose work incorporates political and pop themes with ceramic forms in a way that we now view as anticipating the contemporary “sloppy craft movement”. Gronbrog makes what he considers functional ceramic works that explore contemporary culture. Combining the 1,000 year old continuum of ceramic history with silk-screening, comics, china, paint and commercial glazes, Gronborg’s provocative crafty and non precious approach is a precursor to the sloppy craft that is as challenging today as it was in the late 19060′s.
Southern California
Heath Ceramics Home Plate Dinnerware Exchange
Home Plate – Dinerware Exchange at Heath Los Angeles
August 1st -31st, 2012 @ Heath Ceramics Los Angeles
Heath Ceramics Los Angeles will continue for the third year its collaboration with The Skid Row Housing Trust, and organization that develops, manages and operates homes for the homeless of Los Angeles. The Trust’s permanent supportive housing also provides a complete range of support services necessary to move beyond poverty, illness and addiction. The exchange allows customers to swap lightly used dinnerware for 25 percent off any corresponding, first- quality piece of Heath dinnerware. Heath Ceramics will donate the collected dinnerware to Skid Row Housing Trust, who will in turn place them within one of their community kitchens.
June 30 to September 10, 2012 @ Heath LA
Starnet, one of the most respected galleries and design stores in Japan, marks its United States debut with a Summer Shop called “Starnet Works,” installed at Heath Ceramics Los Angeles. Designed by Starnet Founder Baba Koshi and made by artisans in the Starnet workshop, items in the show include hand-thrown ceramic vases and bowls, leather bags, shoes and hand woven and dyed textiles.
Starnet Works is curated and produced by Playmountain’s Shin Nakahara and Heath LA Studio Director Adam Silverman. Founded by acclaimed designer Baba Koshi in 1998, Starnet, in Mashiko, Japan, is known for its unique and constantly revolving collection of handcrafted home items, clothing and accessories.
East Coast
Woven Treasures of Japan’s Tawaraya Workshop
March 23rd – August 12, 2012 @ The Textile Museum, Washington DC
Japan’s Tawaraya Workshop has produced exquisite silks for more than 500 years for uses which include imperial garments and Noh theater costumes. A selection of these precious textiles and kimono will be featured in “Woven Treasures”. This exhibition was organized with the help of Hyoji Kitagawa, the 18th- generation head of the workshop who was recently designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government.
June 2 – October 7, 2012 @ Fuller Craft Museum, Boston MA
Iron Twenty Ten: A Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Blacksmithing offers both the casual viewer and the seasoned metalsmith a comprehensive survey of the finest contemporary blacksmithing in the United States today. The artists in the exhibition are united by a commitment to the highest levels of craft and a point of view that is both distinct and contemporary.
February 18th, 2012 – September 3, 2012 @ Fuller Craft Museum, Massachusetts
Dan Dailey, the first graduate student of Dale Chihuly, has pursued his own unique voice in glass, from his singular work in antique Vitrolite sheet class to complex constructions of blown glass and metal. This retrospective exhibition focuses on the various methods and techniques employed by the glass artist during his 40-year career.
Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design, through August 12, Museum of Arts and Design, NY
MAD has a way with unsual materials. This exhibit features works that deal with issues such as the ephemeral nature of art and life, the quality and content of memory, issues of loss and disintegration, and the detritus of human existence. Sculptures made from ash by Chinese artist Zhang Huan, life-size sculptures of unfired dirt by American artist James Croak, and works created from city smog by American artist Kim Abeles, among others, illustrate the transformative potential of humble, overlooked, and discarded materials.
United Kingdom
July 12 – September 1st, 2012 @ Contemporary Applied Arts
The summer Contemporary Applied Arts will be showcasing work by both emerging and established craft makers in all disciplines including ceramics, glass, jewelry, metal, textiles and wood. The vibrant selection of work in the gallery will provide a backdrop to our internationally inspired exhibits by Abigail Brown, Stephen Dixon, Ashley Howard, and Joanna Veevers. Further highlights of the exhibition include images of London 2012′s Olympic Medals, designed by CAA member David Watkins.
Anarchy in the UK T-shirt, by Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm McLaren, 1977-8, worn and altered by Johnny Rotten
British Design 1948-2012: Innovaton in the Modern Age, March 31-August 12, @ Victoria and Albert Museum, London
This exhibit elebrates the best of British post-war art and design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Games’ to the summer of 2012. Over 300 British design objects highlight significant moments in the history of British design and how the country continues to nurture artistic talent and be a world leader in creativity and design.
May 3-August 12, @ Barbican Art Gallery
This exhibit elebrates the best of British post-war art and design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Games’ to the summer of 2012. Over 300 British design objects highlight significant moments in the history of British design and how the country continues to nurture artistic talent and be a world leader in creativity and design.