A List
2/27/06

SLU GALLERY EXHIBIT LOOKS AT HANDCRAFTS IN POST-MODERN ART

CANTON - An exhibition called "The Workmanship of Risk" will be in the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery at St. Lawrence University from Wednesday, March 1, through Thursday, April 6. A lecture by exhibition curators Sabrina Gschwandtner and Cat Mazza will take place in the gallery on Wednesday, March 1, at 7 p.m.; it is open to the public, free of charge.

During the run of the exhibition, the gallery will be the site for a collaborative knitting project, called "ShizzKnit Happens!" on Fridays at noon, March 3, 10, 24 and 31. The project was conceived by students in the Fine Arts 247 course All Your Art Are Belong To Us.

The exhibition takes its title from critic Polly Ullrich's 1998 New Art Examiner essay entitled "The Workmanship of Risk: The Re-emergence of Handcraft in Postmodern Art," which describes some of the "unruly and radical uses of handcraft in contemporary art." "The Workmanship of Risk" presents works that are handmade for conceptual, not utilitarian, purposes, juxtaposing knitting with mechanically reproduced media, needlepoint with politics and sewing with social critique.

Gschwandtner is a New York City-based artist who works with film, video and textiles. She is the founder of KnitKnit, an artist's publication that focuses on the intersections between fine art and handcraft in all media, and she is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at Bard College. Her artwork has been exhibited at the 2001 Venice Biennale, SculptureCenter, Socrates Sculpture Park, Anthology Film Archives, Artists Space and the Austrian Film Museum, among other venues.

Mazza is a New York-based artist who founded microRevolt, which creates art projects that combine knitting, machines and digital social networks to initiate discussion about the international sweatshop crisis. Her recent exhibitions include Prix Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria; SESI Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil; Fuzzy Logic at the Futuresonic Festival in Manchester, UK; and The Upgrade! International at Eyebeam, New York.

For more information or to arrange individual or group tours, contact the gallery at 315-229-5174.

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