About the Exhibition
Preview and reception: Friday, December 11, 5:30 -
7:30 pm; igniting of Time Scroll at 6 pm
The exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: Fallen Blossoms is
the result of a close collaboration between the Philadelphia
Museum of Art and The Fabric Workshop and Museum, and it has
been conceived as both an homage to the late Anne d'Harnoncourt,
former director of the Philadelpha Museum of Art, and a reflection
on memory and the passing of time.
Internationally renowned artist Cai Guo-Qiang has engaged
with the themes of the exhibition in a profound and lyrical
manner. Besides a series of gunpowder drawings addressing
the passing of time and entitled Light Passage, the
artist has created three unique works to be presented on the
occasion of the exhibition. At the Philadelphia Museum of
Art, Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project, an explosion
event made from gunpowder fuse in the shape of a blossoming
flower, is intended as an action that liberates the beauty
and energy inside the Museum, allowing these qualities to
radiate from and transcend beyond the physical boundaries
of the Museum's iconic building.
In addition, two new works will be unveiled at The Fabric
Workshop and Museum: Time Scroll and Time Flies
like a Weaving Shuttle. Originating with a gunpowder
drawing on silk that will be ignited on site on December 11,
Time Scroll will be submerged into a river of flowing
water and will wash away over time. For Time Flies like
a Weaving Shuttle, a group of Miao tribe weavers from
the Xiangxi region of Hunan province, China, will take up
residence at The Fabric Workshop and Museum for three months,
and will weave daily a series of tapestries inspired by Founder
and Artistic Director Marion Boulton Stroud's reflections
on Anne d'Harnoncourt's life. Both works poetically address
time's passage and the important role memory plays in attending
to the past.
About the Gallery
The Fabric Workshop and Museum
is the only contemporary art museum in the United States devoted
to creating new work in fabric and other materials in collaboration
with emerging and established artists from around the world.
Founded in 1977, The Fabric Workshop and Museum has developed
from an ambitious experiment to a renowned institution with
a widely recognized residency program, an extensive collection
of work by resident artists, in-house and touring exhibitions,
and comprehensive educational programming that includes lectures,
tours, in-school presentations, and student apprenticeships.
The exhibition program of The Fabric Workshop and Museum is
supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, Pennsylvania Council
on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, LLWW Foundation,
Nimoy Foundation, AG Foundation, Arcadia Foundation, The Philadelphia
Cultural Fund, Independence Foundation, Institute of Museum
and Library Services, The Claneil Foundation, The Miller-Plummer
Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund, The Barra Foundation, and
the Board of Directors and members of The Fabric Workshop
and Museum.
|
