The Curated Object

Exhibitions Rochester. Michael James: Reinventing Quilts in a Digital Age. The Memorial Art Gallery. The Curated Object

Michael James
Abstraction No. 5: Crevasse, 2003
Textiles
Digitally-printed cotton, reactive dyes, machine-pieced and machine-quilted
42 1/4 in. x 65 1/4 in. (107.32 cm x 165.74 cm)
Collection of the artist,  EX2008.GG1b.1

Michael James
Alcove, 2005
Textiles
Digitally-printed cotton, reactive dyes, machine-pieced and machine-quilted
51 in. x 123 in. (129.54 cm x 312.42 cm)
Collection of the artist,  EX2008.GG1b.2

Michael James:  Reinventing Quilts in a Digital Age
January 20–March 16, 2008

Author, artist and professor Michael James is one of the pre-eminent contemporary quiltmakers in this country.  In recent years, he has been experimenting with the challenging process of designing and printing fabric patterns digitally before piecing and quilting in the traditional manner.  Highly original and labor-intensive, James’s quilts explore the double meaning of “digital” by combining the computer and the artist’s hand.

For more information please visit: The Memorial Art Gallery, The University of Rochester
-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Rochester. Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovation and Artistry in American Quilts. The Memorial Art Gallery. The Curated Object

Wool Crazy Quilt, Feb 17, 1891
American Textiles
82 1/2 in. x 64 in. (209.55 cm x 162.56 cm)
International Quilt Study Center, Ardis and Robert James Collection, 1997.007.0107,  EX2008.GG1a.1

Postage Stamp Star, about 1880-1900
American Textiles
79 in. x 78 in. (200.66 cm x 198.12 cm)
International Quilt Study Center, Ardis and Robert James Collection, 1997.007.0133,  EX2008.GG1a.2

Princess Feather Sampler, about 1860-80
Textiles
80 1/2 in. x 78 in. (204.47 cm x 198.12 cm)
International Quilt Study Center, Ardis and Robert James Collection, 1997.007.0211,  EX2008.GG1a.4

Schoolhouse, about 1925-45
American Textiles
84 1/2 in. x 73 in. (214.63 cm x 185.42 cm)
International Quilt Study Center, Ardis and Robert James Collection, 1997.007.0156,  EX2008.GG1a.3

Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovation and Artistry in American Quilts
January 20–March 16, 2008

Far from simple exercises in geometric patterning, the 25 quilts in this exhibition represent a free-wheeling tradition in which improvisation, asymmetry, and experimentation are the norm.  Selected by Janet Berlo, University of Rochester professor of art history, from the collection of the International Quilt Study Center, these quilts explore the once-radical proposition that some 19th-century American women were “painting with fabric.”  Ranging in date from about 1825 to 1989, the quilts were made by artists both known and unknown, all of whom share an essential quality:  the desire to push the boundaries of their medium in their own time.

For more information please visit: The Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester

-Joanne Molina

Exhibitions Rochester. The Dutch Connection 2008: George Eastman's Conservatory in Bloom. The George Eastman House. The Curated Object

The Dutch Connection 2008: George Eastman's Conservatory in Bloom
February 8-23, 2008

The Dutch Collection 2008 features more than 2,000 tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, freesias, and amaryllis in vivid tomato-red, scarlet, orange, rosy pink, canary and soft yellows, dark blue, purple, and elegant whites. Tropical orchids will be on display throughout the public rooms of the historic house, courtesy of the Genesee Region Orchid Society.

Curator Coffee Talks
Amy Kinsey, Landscape Curator
Wednesday and Saturday, February 13 and 16, 9 a.m., Museum Café. Members only
An informal coffee hour for members about the exhibition. Reservations a must: 585·271·3361 ext. 434.

“Behind the Scenes of The Dutch Connection”
Amy Kinsey, Landscape Curator
Sunday, February 17, 1:15 p.m., Curtis Theatre
An illustrated lecture followed by a guided tour of the exhibition. Included with admission.

The Dutch Connection has been possible in part for the past fourteen years due to generous support by Gerald P. and Karen S. Kral.

For more information please visit: The George Eastman House
-Joanne Molina