Found/Made

Curated by Roderick Kiracofe

San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose, CA
2015

Found/Made is an exhibition about the conversation between quiltmaking and art-making. Quiltmaking itself is investigating, gathering, “finding” materials to collage, to assemble, to “make” something entirely new. Art-making is a similar investigation and can borrow from myriad disciplines as well as the established practice of quiltmaking.

“Found” quilts from the collections of Allison Smith, Julie Silber, Marjorie Childress, and Roderick Kiracofe call back to the history of quilting as a practice long associated with American history; and yet it is a practice constantly updating and influencing contemporary art-making and popular culture. These quilts date from the 1940s to end of the 20th century. Often at first, these traditionally-minded quilts feel typical, but upon further examination they begin to question form, function, and push against their very patterns with the makers’ choices of printed fabrics, coy hues, and secretive deviations.

What is art-making apart from subversion and challenging older histories to make them new and fresh? With practices in proximity to quiltmaking, these ten contemporary artists actively take up “making” as they blend ideas of icons of everyday life, comfort, vulnerability, lurking danger, and the sinister.

Juxtaposing a variety of materials and a variety of “quilting” strategies, these objects found and objects made challenge how histories and ideologies are constructed. There is an agency in each maker, in each “find-er” to determine what they are saying with their assemblage.

Artists and makers featured Joe Cunningham, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Dana Hart-Stone, Luke Haynes, Clay Lohmann, Therese May, Sarah Nishiura, Jonathan Parker, Amy Trachtenberg, and Ben Venom

Quilts from the collections of Marjorie Childress, Julie Silber, Allison Smith, and Roderick Kiracofe

Read about the exhibition in Hi-Fructose.

Luke Haynes, [The American Context #5] Flag, 2010, made from pieces of a larger flage found discarded at Goodwill. Courtesy of the artist.

Luke Haynes, [The American Context #5] Flag, 2010, made from pieces of a larger flage found discarded at Goodwill. Courtesy of the artist.

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On plinth: Ben Venom, No More Tears, 2013, used denim jeans and fabric, hand-made quilt. Courtesy of Kevin King. Hanging left: Quilt courtesy of Marjorie Childress.

On plinth: Ben Venom, No More Tears, 2013, used denim jeans and fabric, hand-made quilt. Courtesy of Kevin King. Hanging left: Quilt courtesy of Marjorie Childress.

Detail. Unnamed maker, Original Design, reverse, c. 1930-50, cotton, flannel, rayon, tied, also quilted with red thread. Courtesy of Marjorie Childress.

Detail. Unnamed maker, Original Design, reverse, c. 1930-50, cotton, flannel, rayon, tied, also quilted with red thread. Courtesy of Marjorie Childress.

Ben Venom, In to the Night, 2013, Harley Davidson t-shirts, leather, and fabric, hand-made quilt. Courtesy of Holly Ellis.

Ben Venom, In to the Night, 2013, Harley Davidson t-shirts, leather, and fabric, hand-made quilt. Courtesy of Holly Ellis.

Detail. Clay Lohmann, Ear of the Horse, 2014, ink, pencil, embroidery, safety pins on cloth, and found and donated cloth objects, quilted with assorted batting. Courtesy of the artist.

Detail. Clay Lohmann, Ear of the Horse, 2014, ink, pencil, embroidery, safety pins on cloth, and found and donated cloth objects, quilted with assorted batting. Courtesy of the artist.

Clay Lohmann, Blue Moo, 2012-14, oil paint on panel, denim, and upholstery fabric, quilted with silk batting and linen backing. Courtesy of the artist.

Clay Lohmann, Blue Moo, 2012-14, oil paint on panel, denim, and upholstery fabric, quilted with silk batting and linen backing. Courtesy of the artist.