Curated by Patricia Fabricant and Jaynie Crimmins
Exhibition Dates: November. 9th – Dec. 2nd, 2023
Opening Reception: Thursday. November 9th , 6:00 – 8:00PM
The Pattern and Decoration movement was born to counter male-centric minimalistic trends.
Emerging in the 1970s, it foregrounded elaborate patterns interwoven with global influences and boldly challenged Eurocentric paradigms through its distinct voice, especially when interpreted through a feminist perspective. The Process and Delight: The New P&D; exhibit illustrates this movement’s enduring impact on contemporary art and pays homage to the tradition of the 1970s P&D movement.
The contemporary artists showcased, informed by this tradition, are more than mere revivalists. Their layered surfaces carve out immersive worlds that reflect our zeitgeist—spaces that celebrate complexity in form and content through an unabashedly maximalist ethos—artworks abundant with detail, pattern, and repetition. Highlighting the P&D continuity, one cannot miss the inclusion of Arlene Slavin and Dee Shapiro, two pivotal figures from the original movement.
Slavin and Shapiro enrich the exhibit with their signature use of luminous colors and intricate grids. Marcy Rosenblat and Oriane Stender also use bold colors and detailed motifs, specifically referencing textiles, evoking an engaging dialogue with what was traditionally perceived as women’s; Patricia Fabricant, David Ambrose, Charles Clary, and Kit Warren masterfully intertwine natural motifs with patterned details. Simultaneously, Sui Park and Jaynie Crimmins offer critiques on materialism, Park with her repurposed industrial objects, and Crimmins through her use of post-consumer remnants. The materiality in Caroline Wayne’s and Theda Sandiford’s works taps into deeply personal stories while resonating universally. Seren Morey, Amy Cheng, and Chris Arabadjis further diversify the collection, drawing intriguing lines between art and physics, abstraction, and representation.
Collectively, the voices in Process and Delight; vibrantly celebrate the fusion of artistry, craft, technique, and the intertwining of beauty with excess. – Etty Yaniv
