Dee Clements: The Future Has An Ancient Heart
Nina Johnson is pleased to present The Future has an Ancient Heart, a solo exhibition of all new works by artist Dee Clements opening June 1st in the Exhibition Library. The show centers around years of research on paleolithic weaving traditions, specifically shedding light on women鈥檚 roles in craft and their historically neglected, unseen labor through the lenses of feminism, ethnography, and patriarchy.
Interested in the connections between history, culture, and contemporary art, Clements鈥� practice visually examines the societal roles women have been relegated to, and recontextualizes crafts deemed as 鈥渨omen鈥檚 work,鈥� which historically include needle work, sewing, and weaving. The title of the exhibition, The Future has an Ancient Heart, is a line borrowed from writer, painter, and activist Carlo Levi. Similar to the quote, Clements鈥� work charges forward while reflecting on the past, tracing the lineage of craft and patriarchy to their earliest origins.
The Future has an Ancient Heart features a new body of the artist鈥檚 signature large-scale woven baskets and sculptural works, all realized within the last 3 years. A plug-in pendant light woven with hand-dyed reed is interlaced over a powder-coated steel armature; delicate woven bowls sit atop two large-scale woven sculptures with painted and dyed surfaces. Clements considers quotidian objects that are often overlooked鈥攕uch as the baskets holding fruit, a pair of keys, spare change鈥攖o create a work of art in its place. To accompany the works in the Library, Clements will also stage her first outdoor installation in the gallery鈥檚 courtyard featuring a woven floor rug with attached planter pots created from waterproof multifilament polypropylene rope.
Recommended for you
Nina Johnson is pleased to present The Future has an Ancient Heart, a solo exhibition of all new works by artist Dee Clements opening June 1st in the Exhibition Library. The show centers around years of research on paleolithic weaving traditions, specifically shedding light on women鈥檚 roles in craft and their historically neglected, unseen labor through the lenses of feminism, ethnography, and patriarchy.
Interested in the connections between history, culture, and contemporary art, Clements鈥� practice visually examines the societal roles women have been relegated to, and recontextualizes crafts deemed as 鈥渨omen鈥檚 work,鈥� which historically include needle work, sewing, and weaving. The title of the exhibition, The Future has an Ancient Heart, is a line borrowed from writer, painter, and activist Carlo Levi. Similar to the quote, Clements鈥� work charges forward while reflecting on the past, tracing the lineage of craft and patriarchy to their earliest origins.
The Future has an Ancient Heart features a new body of the artist鈥檚 signature large-scale woven baskets and sculptural works, all realized within the last 3 years. A plug-in pendant light woven with hand-dyed reed is interlaced over a powder-coated steel armature; delicate woven bowls sit atop two large-scale woven sculptures with painted and dyed surfaces. Clements considers quotidian objects that are often overlooked鈥攕uch as the baskets holding fruit, a pair of keys, spare change鈥攖o create a work of art in its place. To accompany the works in the Library, Clements will also stage her first outdoor installation in the gallery鈥檚 courtyard featuring a woven floor rug with attached planter pots created from waterproof multifilament polypropylene rope.
Artists on show
What's on nearby
