Ping
small works with big impact
November 17 - December 22
to purchase artwork from this exhibition contact the gallery
PING : Small Works with Big Impact
Featuring new textile pieces from Abby Langdon's Correspondence Series
November 17 - December 22, 2018
Marta Hewett Gallery is pleased to present striking textile works by Cincinnati artist Abby Langdon from her new series, Correspondence, as an integral part of the exhibit, PING: Small works with Big impact.
Much of the focus behind what I create is to elevate the premise of ‘women’s work’ to visual art. Handwork such as needlepoint and quilting have historically been viewed as a quaint pass-time or a basic utilitarian need. The female gender has held a similar place in history, continually struggling to gain equal footing with our male counterparts. But even when the feminine voice has been muted or ignored, it has always been there, however subversive. Looking closer at the handicrafts of the past this is often evident. My aim is to continue this tradition, using fiber as my medium to have my voice heard.
In order to develop works for this new series, Langdon explores the rail yards of Cincinnati taking multitudes of photographs of graffiti covered boxcars. The carefully edited photos are printed on canvas twill and embellished with stitching, tufting and intricate hand embroidery creating works that are raucously bold and delicately rendered.
Correspondence explores surfaces and the messages they carry. The side of a boxcar contains meaning: layers of rust, paint and graffiti from across the country which speak to us about identity, community, mortality and profanity. In this collection of works I dig deep into the surface and bring these messages forward while adding yet another layer of correspondence - my own.
Additional works in this exhibition were selected for their modest scale and powerful use of media including pieces by Frank Herrmann, Jon Kuhn, Mayako Nakamura, Steven Ramsey, Eric Standley, Kevin Veara and Hiroshi Yamano.
