黑料不打烊

Salon 94 is proud to present February Light, a focused exhibition of important tapestries and textile works by innovative Catalan artist Josep Grau-Garriga. February Light is Salon 94鈥檚 second solo exhibition of works by the artist; the first鈥擳apestries 1970-2011, mounted in 2017鈥攃elebrated Grau-Garriga鈥檚 elevation of the form from craft to art and his avant-garde approach to textiles. February Light continues to reflect upon the political context of Grau-Garriga鈥檚 practice emergent from Franco-era Spain while reintroducing his impactful career to the audience of New York City. The exhibition is organized around the monumental-yet-delicate work, Llum de Febrer, 1978-81. Grau-Garriga constructed this sweeping, planar display of color and texture over four years and in its finished state the work hangs over twenty feet tall. When suspended from the ceiling, the weight of the material pulls itself taught, highlighting the verticality of the linear elements鈥攃olored string and yarn鈥攆rom which it is produced. The dimensionality of the work extends beyond the pictorial with its majestic scale approaching the courtly. The nature of Grau-Garriga鈥檚 work, and its reception, provide the material for alternative accounts of spatial practice alongside renewed attention to expectations of site-specificity, labor, and craft. By abandoning classic techniques of tapestry鈥攊ncluding those of his mentor, the influential Jean Lur莽at鈥擥rau-Garriga revolutionized the genre. What was once static becomes a dynamic, active form with embedded, imbued movement. Grau Garriga, working in Spain during Franco鈥檚 totalitarian regime, blatantly broke the rules: he freed himself from the traditions of tapestry and found his own path.