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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260509T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260517T170000
DTSTAMP:20260428T231726
CREATED:20260328T070430Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260328T070430Z
UID:10001359-1778313600-1779037200@archup.net
SUMMARY:Transformations: Dialogues in Art and Material
DESCRIPTION:The Curatorial Frame\nThe exhibition takes materiality as its central subject. For the artists in Transformations\, materials are not neutral carriers of form but active participants in the creative process\, each with its own history\, physical constraints\, and expressive potential. The title signals a double proposition: the transformation of raw matter into art\, and the transformation that art enacts on our understanding of the material world itself. \nCo-curators Rhonda Brown and Tom Grotta position the exhibition around what curator and historian Glenn Adamson calls “material intelligence\,” which he describes as a deep understanding of the material world\, an ability to read its properties and possibilities\, and the knowledge required to give it new form. The works in Transformations are installed in combinations designed to invite comparison\, inviting viewers to reconsider what happens when different artists begin from the same substance and arrive at entirely different places. \nMaterials and Artists\nThe range of materials across the exhibition is deliberately broad: clay\, silk\, linen\, cotton\, steel\, bark\, seaweed\, bamboo\, and horsehair all appear\, alongside more unexpected choices. The diversity is not incidental. It reflects a curatorial argument that material intelligence is not a single skill but a family of knowledges\, each with its own demands and possibilities. \nIn silk\, Kiyomi Iwata works with spun silk for freestanding sculptures and with kibiso\, the waste silk from the first unravelling of the cocoon\, for luminous wall works. Polly Barton builds woven images from bound and dyed silk threads. In cotton\, Simone Pheulpin and Mercedes Vicente produce forms that appear grown rather than made\, evoking coral\, shells\, and geological structures. Kay Sekimachi employs split-ply and card-weaving techniques to fashion cotton cord loops that hold shells and stones gathered from the shore. In clay\, Toshiko Takaezu’s serene column stands in contrast to Yasuhisa Kohyama’s vessels that carry the feel of something hewn from mountainsides\, while Karen Karnes’s functional pots resist the sense of the purely handmade. John McQueen\, Polly Sutton\, Dorothy Gill Barnes\, and Hisako Sekijima work with bark. Marian Bijlenga\, Adela Akers\, Marianne Kemp\, and Birgit Birkkjaer incorporate horsehair. Jeannet Leendertse works with seaweed. \nThe full artist list includes Dail Behennah\, Nancy Moore Bess\, Marian Bijlenga\, Linda Bills\, Birgit Birkkjaer\, Sara Brennan\, Wlodzimierz Cygan\, Chris Drury\, Mary Giles\, Norie Hatakeyama\, Kiyomi Iwata\, Karen Karnes\, Merja Keskinen\, Lewis Knauss\, Yasuhisa Kohyama\, Irina Kolesnikova\, Kogetso Kosuge\, Kyoko Kumai\, Jeannet Leendertse\, Dona Look\, Aby Mackie\, Rebecca Medel\, John McQueen\, Norma Minkowitz\, Sung Rim Park\, Simone Pheulpin\, Eduardo Portillo and María Dávila\, Ed Rossbach\, Hisako Sekijima\, Kay Sekimachi\, Karyl Sisson\, Polly Sutton\, Carol Shaw-Sutton\, Toshiko Takaezu\, Gary Trentham\, Mercedes Vicente\, Jiro Yonezawa\, and Carolina Yrrarazaval. \nAbout browngrotta arts\nbrowngrotta arts has published 61 art catalogues and books and placed works in private and corporate collections across the United States and internationally\, including the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art\, the Museum of Arts and Design\, the Art Institute of Chicago\, the Philadelphia Museum of Art\, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The gallery maintains an active working relationship with architects and interior designers\, offering consultation for commissioned artworks and site-specific installations for commercial and residential spaces. The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-colour catalogue. \n✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight\nTransformations occupies a particular position in the landscape of material-focused exhibitions. Unlike shows that treat craft as a historical category or materiality as a theoretical premise\, browngrotta arts builds its argument from direct encounter with the objects themselves\, trusting that the installation of works in deliberate combination will generate the comparisons and distinctions that written curatorial frameworks only describe. The concentration of textile\, fibre\, and ceramic work from an internationally diverse list of artists\, many of them operating outside the mainstream circuits of contemporary art\, is where the exhibition’s real substance lies. The question it raises\, whether material intelligence constitutes a distinct form of artistic knowledge rather than a subset of craft or conceptual practice\, is one that gains traction precisely through the density and variety of what is on the floor rather than on the wall text. \nConclusion\nTransformations: Dialogues in Art and Material runs 9 to 17 May 2026 at browngrotta arts\, 276 Ridgefield Road\, Wilton\, Connecticut. The opening and artists’ reception is Saturday 9 May\, 11am to 6pm. For media inquiries and high-resolution images contact Rhonda@browngrotta.com. A selection of works is available for sales inquiries at browngrotta.com. \n 
URL:https://archup.net/event/transformations-dialogues-in-art-and-material/
LOCATION:browngrotta arts gallery\, 276 Ridgefield Road\, Memphis\, United States
CATEGORIES:Exhibitions
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ORGANIZER;CN="browngrotta arts":MAILTO:art@browngrotta.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260509T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260517T170000
DTSTAMP:20260428T231726
CREATED:20260416T100649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T100649Z
UID:10001401-1778313600-1779037200@archup.net
SUMMARY:Transformations: Dialogues in Art and Material 2026
DESCRIPTION:OverviewTransformations: Dialogues in Art and Material 2026 is a spring exhibition held from May 9 to 17 at browngrotta arts in Wilton\, Connecticut. It belongs to the field of contemporary art and material exploration\, with direct relevance to architecture through its focus on materiality. FocusThe event examines how artists shape\, reconfigure\, and reimagine matter. It covers a wide range of materials including clay\, silk\, linen\, cotton\, steel\, bark\, stones\, seaweed\, bamboo\, and horsehair. The exhibition highlights the diversity of choices and distinct outcomes even within the same medium. ProgramThe program consists of an immersive gallery-style exhibition featuring works by around three dozen international artists. Visitors can view the pieces displayed in the barn space\, with emphasis on the transformation processes applied to each material. AudienceThis exhibition is intended for architects\, designers\, artists\, students of material culture\, and members of the public interested in contemporary making practices. Event Details\n\n\nDates\nMay 9–17\, 2026\n\n\nVenue\nbrowngrotta arts\, Wilton\, Connecticut\, USA\n\n\nEvent Type\nExhibition\n\n\nAccess\nOpen to the public during exhibition hours\n\n\nFees\nFree entry (confirm on venue site)\n\n\n✦ ArchUp Editorial InsightFrom an architecture perspective\, exhibitions centered on material transformation often expose the gap between artistic experimentation and the constraints of building-scale application. While the displayed works demonstrate inventive engagement with matter\, they rarely address the structural\, environmental\, or regulatory realities that architects must navigate when translating similar material ideas into constructed environments. This disconnect limits the event’s potential to bridge fine art and architectural practice in a substantive way. Closing NoteThe exhibition occupies a modest yet focused position within the annual calendar of material-based shows\, reflecting the continued interest in tactile processes amid broader digital shifts in design fields.  For a deeper look at how materials influence spatial outcomes\, see our coverage of architecture trends. Related discussions appear in architectural projects that experiment with unconventional matter. Additional context can be found in recent architecture news on ArchUp.  
URL:https://archup.net/event/transformations-dialogues-in-art-and-material-2026/
LOCATION:browngrotta arts gallery\, 276 Ridgefield Road\, Memphis\, United States
CATEGORIES:Exhibitions
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ORGANIZER;CN="browngrotta arts":MAILTO:art@browngrotta.com
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