Craft Alliance in the Kranzberg Arts Center: Friday, 7 February 2013

Fail-Safe: Discomforts Close to Home

Curator Marci Rae McDade explores the harsh effects of our troubling times through seemingly comfortable works of art.

February 7 – April 20, 2014 / Opening Reception: Friday, February 7, 6 – 9pm, with curator’s comments at 6pm

Craft Alliance (CA) is pleased to announce the opening reception of Fail-Safe: Discomforts Close to Home, from 6pm – 9pm on Friday, February 7, 2014 at the Kranzberg Arts Center. The exhibition opens in conjunction with First Fridays in Grand Center.

Fail-Safe features a wide range of artists creating textile and fiber-based works of contemporary art. Although the media these artists are working with are familiar (embroidery, found objects, textiles, etc.), each piece is loaded with incendiary content directly in opposition to the comfort imbued by the material itself. The pieces in this show comment on difficult aspects of life in 21st century, relating to poverty, racism, digital disconnect, and the fleeting nature of life itself.

All of the artworks included in Fail-Safe were made in the last 10 years, allowing the exhibition to thematically reference the tumultuous years following Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, and the economic crash. The sense of unease and uncertainty associated with this time period is directly reflected in the works included here, and the artists are specifically trying to draw the audience into conversations about these difficult issues. Potent in premise, much of the more subtle and formally arresting work offers new points of access for viewers to reconsider the state of our country today as we look toward the future.

Participating artists include (in alphabetical order):Kathryn Clark (San Francisco), John Coffelt (NYC), Vic De La Rosa (San Francisco), Marc Dombrosky (Seattle), Robert Fontenot (Los Angeles), Carol Jackson (Chicago), Amanda McCavour (Philadelphia), Rachel Meginnes (Seattle), Mark Newport (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan), Loren Schwerd (Baton Rouge), Mary Smull (Philadelphia), Anna Von Mertens (Connecticut), Stacia Yeapanis (Chicago)

Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Friday 11am – 6pm / Saturday 10am – 5pm / Sunday 12 – 5pm

Craft Alliance in the Kranzberg Arts Center

501 N. Grand

St. Louis, MO 63103

314.534.7528