Process and Collaboration: Celebrating Twelve Years at 1315 Cherry Street
highlights a selection of works created by artists-in-residence at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) during the past twelve years at 1315 Cherry Street with a particular focus on artists who have pushed the boundaries of materials or their own working process into new materials and new media. The exhibition draws from FWM's extensive permanent collection of more than 5,500 works by more than 500 internationally renowned contemporary artists and is curated by new FWM director Lorie Mertes.
The exhibition begins with an installation of work by Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996). In late 1993, Gonzalez-Torres agreed to inaugurate FWM's then-new space at 1315 Cherry Street with an exhibition of new and selected works, chosen by the artist and placed in bolh prominent and discrete locations throughout the largely unfinished offices, studios, and exhibition spaces. To mark the occasion, Gonzalez-Torres extended his series of sheer blue curtains ("Untitled" (Loverboy), first made in 1989) and created a text portrait of FWM that remains on view in the 5th floor offices and studio, which poetically chronicles significant milestones in FWM's history as well as major cultural or world events with connection to the museum. The resulting exhibition was not only a significant showing of Gonzalez-Torres' work, it was also a sensitive introduction to FWM' s new home for the museum's public. On view are two works from the original 1994 exhibition, "Untitled" (Loverboy) 1994 and "Untitled" (Perfect Lovers) 1987-1990. Starting with this inaugural exhibition at 1315 Cherry Street, Process and Collaboration looks back on twelve years of collaborations with emerging, nationally, and internationally recognized artists. The projects on view represent the wide range of new materials and new media artists have experimented with during their residencies at FWM including: video, leather, rubber, paper, felt, silk flowers, spider silk, and hog intestine by such artists as Marina Abromovic, Miroslaw Balka, Christine Borland, Leonardo Drew, Mona Hatoum, Jim Hodges, Glenn Ligon, Laura Owens, Matthew Ritchie, and Loma Simpson.