Wall to wall

Wall to Wall: Carpets by Artists features work from a wide cross-section of contemporary artists and their weaving partners, taking as its point of departure a history of art rather than a history of medium. The carpet will be used as a pedagogical device to show how artists can integrate deep philosophical and formal resolutions into the very nature of an object and its material. Wall to Wall reflects a history of art in which the achievements of significant artists motivate paradigm shifts. Artists like Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, and Heimo Zobernig will be considered with respect to their abilities to work in a medium that is often at odds with the ethos of movements to which they have been ascribed. The exhibition holds that this contradiction is the space in which creative revolution happens. Technique and production will also be considered; the interchange between artist, producer, and artisan is of utmost importance. Wall to Wall considers the waning of artisanal traditions, presenting the artist’s carpet as a compelling example of delegation in a post-Duchampian mode, indexing hand-made approaches for which even the most hardline conceptual artists have a deep and undying respect.