Jim Hodges, In collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, You, 1997 (detail). Silk flowers and thread. 168 x 192 inches. Collection of The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Photo: Will Brown

Opening Reception and Annual Holiday Party
Friday, 1 December 2006
5:00 – 9:00p.m.

Process and Collaboration: Celebrating Twelve Years at 1315 Cherry Street highlights a selection of works created by artists-in-residence at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) during the past twelve years at 1315 Cherry Street with a particular focus on artists who have pushed the boundaries of materials or their own working process into new materials and new media. The exhibition, curated by Lorie Mertes, features works from past projects as well as drawing from FWM's extensive permanent collection of more than 5,500 works by more than 500 internationally renowned contemporary artists.

The exhibition begins with an installation of work by Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996). In late 1993, Gonzalez-Torres agreed to inaugurate FWM's then-new space at 1315 Cherry Street with an exhibition of new and selected works, chosen by the artist and placed in both prominent and discrete locations throughout the largely unfinished offices, studios, and exhibition spaces. To mark the occasion, Gonzalez-Torres extended his series of sheer blue curtains ("Untitled" (Loverboy), first made in 1989) and created a text portrait of FWM that remains on view in the 5th floor offices and studio, which poetically chronicles significant milestones in FWM's history as well as major cultural or world events with connection to the museum. The resulting exhibition was not only a significant showing of Gonzalez-Torres' work, it was also a sensitive introduction to FWM's new home for the museum's public.

Starting with this inaugural exhibition at 1315 Cherry Street, Process and Collaboration looks back on twelve years of collaborations with emerging, nationally, and internationally recognized artists. The projects on view represent the wide range of new materials and new media artists have experimented with during their residencies at FWM including: video, leather, rubber, paper, felt, silk flowers, spider silk, and hog intestine by such artists as Marina Abromovic, Miroslaw Balka, Christine Borland, Leonardo Drew, Mona Hatoum, Jim Hodges, Glenn Ligon, Laura Owens, and Lorna Simpson.

History of FWM and the Permanent Collection
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) was founded in 1977 by Marion Boulton Stroud as a space where artists were invited to experiment—initially with fabric, and later with a wide range of innovative materials and media—in collaboration with master silk screen printers and construction technicians. FWM also served as an education center for Philadelphia's under-served youth who, as printing apprentices, learned technical and vocational skills along with approaches to creative expression. Known then as The Fabric Workshop, FWM quickly became a dynamic visual arts organization featuring a lively exhibition program and open studios that invite visitors and students to witness the evolution—from conception to completion—of contemporary works of art created collaboratively with FWM staff and a diverse group of artists, architects and designers including: Louise Bourgeois; Roy Lichtenstein; Louise Nevelson; Claes Oldenburg; Faith Ringgold; Italo Scanga; and Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, among many other leading creative talents of the late 20th century.

In 1996, the word "Museum" was added to the museum's name to reflect FWM's commitment to presentation and preservation of a growing collection of contemporary art and an extensive archive documenting each residency. FWM Archives, containing process materials, still and moving photographic images, audio recordings, and original correspondence, has grown into a unique scholarly resource and historical record documenting nearly thirty years of creative activity by some of the most significant artists of the late 20th and 21st centuries. The Archives are part of a permanent collection that currently consists of over 5,500 objects created by more than 500 residency artists.

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.

All FWM exhibitions and programs are free and open to the public.
Hours: Mon. - Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat., 12 noon to 4 p.m.

The programs of The Fabric Workshop and Museum are supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts; The Judith Rothschild Foundation; Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; National Endowment for the Arts; Miller-Plummer Foundation; LLWW Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; U. S. Institute of Museum and Library Services; Nimoy Foundation; The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro; Independence Foundation; PNC Foundation; The Philadelphia Cultural Fund; E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; Claneil Foundation; Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation; Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation; The Henry Luce Foundation matching gifts program; The Barra Foundation; LEF Foundation; Louis N. Cassett Foundation; Quaker Chemical Foundation; and the Board of Directors and members of The Fabric Workshop and Museum.

For more information, please contact Alex Sadvari, Communications Coordinator, at 215-568-1111 ext. 15, alex@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org. For general information, call 215-568-1111.

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Past Exhibitions

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