A blast through the past 15 Gestures exhibitions

As our artists are feverishly working away down at 1414 Monterey, we hope you are all getting excited for the opening celebration of our sixteenth Gestures exhibition on March 30th, 2012! Join us on Friday, March 30th, from 6-8pm to check out Gestures: Intimate Friction.

Each year, several artists come to our satellite galleries at 1414 Monterey to create site-specific works for our Gestures exhibitions. To help prepare you for the excitement that is about to ensue, we have provided you with a smattering of past Gestures works from throughout the years. Enjoy!

Tom Bedger

Fall, 2001

Gestures 1

Harry Schwalb

Workplace, 2002

Gestures 2

Nathan Nissim

Heliogabalous, 2002

Gestures 3

Robin Stanaway

Collective Corrected Vision, 2003

Gestures 4

Todd Swan

Lamplight, 2003

Gestures 5

Nami Ogawa

, 2005

Gestures 6

Peter Lambert

Sketches in Steel, 2005

Gestures 7

David Sleasman

Hybrids: Pittsburgh: Prairie, 2005

Gestures 8

Jen Lucchino & Freddie Croce

Untitled, 2006

Gestures 9

Jairan Sadeghi

The Current State of Things at Point A, 2008

Gestures 10

Derk Wolmuth

Space Vacuum, 2008

Gestures 11

Amber Coppings

Echoes of Objects, 2009

Gestures 12

Patricia Villalobos Echeverria

Parasite (40°27'25"N 80°00'48"W), 2009

Gestures 13

Ryder Henry

Periphery, 2010

Gestures 14

Jerstin Crosby

On the Inside, 2011

Gestures 15

Gestures 16 "Gestures: Intimate Friction" is guest-curated by Mary-Lou Arscott, of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture. Participants include Nina Marie Barbuto, Dee Briggs, Nick Durrant, Jeremy Ficca, Pablo Garcia, Jenn Gooch, Ling He, Matt Huber, Nick Liadis, Transformazium, Gill Wildman, and Spike Wolff. Again, the opening reception is Friday, March 30, 2012, 6-8pm, and runs through September 16, 2012.

Artist Spotlight :: Kate Joranson

The following is a guest blog post by artist Kate Joranson. Kate is currently exhibiting three pieces in Gestures: An Exhibition of Small Site-Specific Works, which runs through June 21, 2009. Over the course of several days, she felt her way through Winifred Lutz’s Garden Installation here at the Mattress Factory.



While wearing work gloves, I ran my hands over the brick, stone, and concrete walls, rusted metal, boulders, crevices, plants, etc. The gloves got more and more worn each day, thinning and softening. Holes appeared in the fingertips and several seams ripped.

    

While working, I:

- scaled the garden wall
- dunked my hands in the water
- felt the ponytail-like grasses
- avoided disturbing the moss
- avoided disturbing spider and insect homes
- kept thinking about what it might have been like to actually make the walls
- wished I could get down below the grate, in the cistern

    

The gloves (and the paper rubbings) both connect me and remove me from the stones, plants, etc. My paper and leather surfaces take on the contours of what they come into contact with and absorb the space. I've also been thinking about pressure, and how the paper and the gloves become marked by the Garden. I'm captivated by how Winifred Lutz put the Garden in motion and then let go, allowing natural and human-made forces to take over. I wanted to find a way to attend to all these ongoing changes.

Its interesting to have done this in the spring, since so much changes each day, and the birds are so active. It would be interesting to do this in each of the 4 seasons.

Photo Album | Gestures 12 Opening Reception

Last Friday evening, the twelfth installment in the Gestures Exhibition Series opened with a public reception at the MF annex gallery located at 1414 Monterey Street. Openings are always a great time as artists and MF staff get a chance to chat with visitors and members over fabulous food + drink and amazing artwork. Friday's event was no different, with several hundred art lovers turning out to celebrate the beginning of the show's run. Gestures: An Exhibition of Small Site-Specific Works runs through June 21, 2009

A big THANKS to Haley Harned for shooting the awesome photos of the opening below.

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey

GESTURES 12: Embeddable E-Flyers

We're ten days out from nearing the opening reception for Gestures: An Exhibition of Small Site-Specific Works, guest-curated by Katherine Talcott. Artists are installing in their space and the exhibition is coming along. Hands-down, my favorite time here at the museum is the ~ 2 weeks before an opening; artists are working, the galleries are buzzing with activity, everyone's creative juices are flowing, and the energy is infectious! Don't take my word for it, just check out Josh Tonies' video below. He's documenting his install via time-lapse. Great stuff.



If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know we rely heavily on the good word of our supporters to help get MF news out to the people. If you'd like to help support the cause, you can RSVP to the FaceBook event for the opening. Also, below are two different sizes of embeddable GESTURES e-flyers. Feel free to copy and paste the corresponding HTML code onto your blog or other social networking site. Or download one of the images and email it to your contact list. Anything you do is greatly appreciated!

EMBED THIS 500 x 790 E-FLYER:
Copy and paste this HTML code:

<a href="http://artyoucangetinto.blogspot.com/2009/04/gestures-12-exhibition-of-small-site.html"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3543/3480276495_d92c2e5dcc_o.jpg" BORDER="0"></a>

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EMBED THIS 316 x 500 E-FLYER:
Copy and paste this HTML code:

<a href="http://artyoucangetinto.blogspot.com/2009/04/gestures-12-exhibition-of-small-site.html"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3543/3480276495_996fc93b0d.jpg" BORDER="0"></a>

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey

Gestures 12: An Exhibition of Small Site-Specific Works

On May 8, 2009, the twelfth installment of the Mattress Factory’s Gestures: An Exhibition of Small Site-Specific Works series will open with a reception (FaceBook Event) at the MF's annex gallery located at 1414 Monterey Street. Independent curator and newly-appointed Administrator for the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Percent for Art Program, Katherine Talcott, will guest-curate the exhibition. Prior to her current consultant position with the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission, Talcott was the Curator for the Three Rivers Arts Festival visual arts program from 2002 - 2007, as well as the curated exhibitions at the 937 Liberty Avenue Gallery.

“What has always intrigued me about the Mattress Factory’s Gestures exhibitions is the willingness to present an opportunity to bring together guest curators, regional artists and other community citizens to create new site-specific works that relate to our everyday experiences,” says Talcott. “What other visual arts organization in Pittsburgh supports taking risks, explores the processes of everyday life and community, and supports this dialogue on an ongoing basis?”

In 2001, we initiated the Gestures exhibition series to present new works by regional artists. In each exhibition, participants include individuals from a wide range of creative practices. Past participants in Gestures shows have included florists, architects, graphic designers and a wig maker.

The upcoming installment continues to bring together a diverse cross-section of talents and practices. Exhibiting artists include Atticus Adams, Amber Coppings, Claire Hoch & Dawn Weleski, Stephanie Flom & Peter Oresick, Kate Joranson, Keny Marshall, Than Htay Maung, Carin Mincemoyer, Risë Nagin, Ian Page, Vanessa Sica & Chris Kasabach, Josh Tonies, Ray Werner, R. Weis, Greg Witt and Brett Yasko.

An opening reception will take place on Friday, May 8, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Admission is $10.00. MF Members, PITT and CMU students are FREE with I.D. Light refreshments will be served. We hope to see you there. Gestures: An Exhibition of Small Site Specific-Works runs through June 21, 2009.

POSTED BY JEFFREY Read All Posts by Jeffrey