Sung Jang at Volume Gallery
Exhibiting monochromatic paintings of fragmented map-like forms and functional sculptures that mix found stones with sophisticated, handmade wooden bases, Sung Jang investigates his inherited Korean culture in response to the industry of production and consumption, process of design, fabrication and labor and individual experience related to artifacts. An award-winning Chicago-based designer and artist, he blurs the boundaries between the two ways of working—creating design objects that aim at improving the quality of life and artworks that express a personal vision. His Shape of Land paintings at the fair presented textured, black, mental maps of past places he has visited, while his Given sculptures joined specifically selected rocks with geometrically crafted bases to construct sublime combinations, which can delightfully be used as either a chair, stool, or small table. Read the full article here.
Integral to textile artist Christy Matson’s work is her process: beginning with quick sketches or watercolor paintings, she uploads her designs to a photo-imaging application that is then programmed into her Jacquard loom. The loom is computer-programmed yet manually-operated, giving her control over the warp and weft as if she were painting with fibers. Her work often draws on the history of Modernism as well as on textiles from all over the world. Because of both her rigorous process and her inventive manipulation of materials, her work has received critical acclaim and belongs to the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art as well as the Art Institute of Chicago. Among the exhibitions in progress opening this fall, Matson will have a solo exhibition of her work at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Fresh from her recent exhibition Christy Matson: Crossings at the Cranbrook Art Museum, which closed March 15, 2020, Matson walked us through her Los Angeles studio and answered a few questions about her practice. Read the full interview here.