For immediate release contact: Carol O’Sullivan

March 19, 2010 412-681-5449

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Announces New Spring Exhibits including Fiberart International 2010

(Pittsburgh, PA) – Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA) announces upcoming exhibits for 2010, including the Fiberart International 2010 – the only triennial for textile artists from around the world. It is presented by the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh and is on view April 16 – August 22, 2010. This expansive show features 84 artists and will be held at both Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (6300 Fifth Avenue) and Society for Contemporary Craft (2100 Smallman Street). An opening reception is planned for Friday evening, April 16, from 5:30 to 8:00pm at both locations. It is open to the public; a $5 donation is suggested; free to members. Opening concurrently at PCA are the first exhibits awarded from the Solo/Collaborative Call for Artists initiative.*

Fiberart International 2010 is a contemporary juried show recognized as a benchmark exhibition. It documents trends and innovations in the field of fiber art. More than 40 national and international artists will be featured at PCA, some from as far away as Norway, China, and Australia. Their work features a vast array of techniques including knotting, weaving, wet felting, stitching, batiking, coiling, quilting, beading and embroidery. Some processes involve the use of machines and computers, while others employ ancient craft methods. Several Pennsylvania artists have been accepted into the show; three are on view at PCA:

Jan Myers-Newbury (Pittsburgh, PA) – Her quilt Wildfire was created from fabrics tie-dyed in a Japanese technique known as “arashi shibori,” a method she’s used for 15 years. She is a member of Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh.

Meredith Grimsley (Bloomsburg, PA) – She has created an embroidered female form on a hanging tapestry called (Near) Death by a Thousand (Self Inflicted) Cuts. Her work often involves installation and performance.

Joh Ricci (New Oxford, PA) – She uses knotting and other textile techniques over carved and sculpted forms with yarns and artist-dyed nylon cords to create one-of-a-kind sculptural baskets. Her work in this show is called Indian Summer.

*The 2010 Solo/Collaborative Exhibits are on view at PCA April 16 – June 13.

The first group of selected artists from the Call for Artists initiative are: Thea Augustina Eck, Ben Hernstrom & Frank Ferraro, Elin Lennox, Elizabeth Mooney, and James R. Southard. The opening reception is April 16, 5:30 – 8:00pm.

Pastoral Deluxe, Elin Lennox Simultaneously familiar and disorienting, Lennox’s large abstract photographs evoke the traditions of abstract painting, the aesthetics of microscopic imaging, and Hubble space images. Shot on film, they are printed digitally after minimal color adjustment.

RECALL, Ben Hernstrom & Frank Ferraro This is a site-specific, immersive audio/video installation that explores the issue of how digital technology influences our experiences and memories. It features projected video with original audio composition, including found sound, field recordings and ambient music. Hernstrom, a filmmaker, and Ferraro, a multi-disciplinary artist have collaborated on this project.

Shifting Panoramas, Elizabeth Mooney Using a combination of painting and kinetic sculpture, the work in this exhibition addresses the accelerated state of human relationships to the world around them. Mooney’s work questions how we experience and observe nature through a conceptual visual language, by using both static and moving scenic landscapes.

Inisiaqpunga and the waking, Thea Augustina Eck This installation, which includes photography and sculpture, evokes the lonesome wandering in search of ghosts from an 1845 Arctic Expedition. In the Inuktitut language, “inisiaqpunga” describes the act of following a lone trail left by an occasional traveler. Employing the language of nautical flags, the artist examines the power of symbols to create distance or intimacy.

The Inherent Pull, James R. Southard In a nine-photograph series, Southard recreates his own understanding and memory of film noir. In those wonderful environments of post-war cinema, filled with darkness and small hints of light, sets and scenes tap into a basic understanding of human fears.

In addition, there are several educational components related to the spring exhibitions.

Fiberart Forum: Saturday, April 17, 9:00am - 3:00pm.

This daylong discussion with the artists takes place at the Garden Center at Mellon Park, PCA, and SCC. (For more details: http://fiberartinternational.org/node/2373)

Sunday Artist Talks: 

April 18: Elin Lennox

May 16: Thea Augustina Eck

May 23: Ben Hernstrom & Frank Ferraro

June 6: Elizabeth Mooney and James R Southard

The Artist Talks are free and open to the public; all begin at 1:00pm at PCA.

DIALOGUE series: Thursday, May 13, 5:00 – 7:00pm at PCA.

This is a monthly series of events to encourage discourse around contemporary art practice. The public is invited to meet with guest artists, art writers, or curators in critical discussions. Free and open to the public; cash bar opens at 5:00pm, discussion begins at 6:00pm.

The School at PCA: Work by weaving students and weaving instructors Deb Meteney (Fiberarts Guild president) and Nancy Bishop will be on view at PCA’s School through May 28 (during The School’s operating hours). Summer Camps: Fiberarts Camp for 8-11 year-olds, June 21 - 25; and Textile Printmaking and Dyeing for 11-13 year-olds, July 26 - 30.  And for adults: Wet Felting, a new four-session fiber class, June 16 - July 7. For more information about classes and camps, call 412-361-0455.

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