October 7, 2023—
January 14, 2024
January 14, 2024
TRANSFORM
ANY ROOM
ANY ROOM
Curated by Laura Burkhalter
Anna K. Meredith Gallery, Des Moines Art Center
Des Moines, IA, USA
Anna K. Meredith Gallery, Des Moines Art Center
Des Moines, IA, USA
"Transform Any Room" features over a dozen works of art by 10 living artists, all of whom take their inspiration from the kinds of objects found on the shelves and walls of ordinary homes. These pieces, which include textiles, sculptures, and room-sized installations, defy easy categorization, embracing materials and techniques often associated with craft and decoration. Alternately beautiful and poignant, irreverent and exuberant, incisive and funny, the works of art in "Transform Any Room" speak to a wide range of issues, including labor, belonging, and dislocation.
Sharing some of her early concepts for the show and its evolution, Senior Curator Laura Burkhalter says, "Although I had been formulating it for some time, this exhibition was officially added to the Des Moines Art Center’s upcoming schedule in very early 2020. Shortly after, the world changed when COVID-19 related lockdowns began. My work with ideas around house and home defined in terms of objects and art making was suddenly happening in a world where house and home ad become significantly more complicated notions. Individual circumstances, experiences, and opinions vary, but the heightened emotions, proliferation of DIY craft and baking trends, and the blurring of lines between life and work changed the perspective of many of us about our homes and their contents, defining things on a spectrum from sanctuary to prison and everything in between."
Contemporary art discourse is constantly examining and moving the lines between what is considered “craft” and what is considered "art," particularly around items such as ceramics, glass, and quilts. "Artists themselves are often unconcerned with these boundaries," says Burkhalter, "but what drew my focus were artists contemplating items that fell well outside the respected traditions of fine pottery or heirloom quilting—things like tasseled throw pillows, holiday-themed knickknacks, or garishly-patterned curtains and bedclothes. These objects and their specific details or style are often the elements that help define a house as a "home," capable of triggering personal memories but are not highly regarded aesthetically."
Sharing some of her early concepts for the show and its evolution, Senior Curator Laura Burkhalter says, "Although I had been formulating it for some time, this exhibition was officially added to the Des Moines Art Center’s upcoming schedule in very early 2020. Shortly after, the world changed when COVID-19 related lockdowns began. My work with ideas around house and home defined in terms of objects and art making was suddenly happening in a world where house and home ad become significantly more complicated notions. Individual circumstances, experiences, and opinions vary, but the heightened emotions, proliferation of DIY craft and baking trends, and the blurring of lines between life and work changed the perspective of many of us about our homes and their contents, defining things on a spectrum from sanctuary to prison and everything in between."
Contemporary art discourse is constantly examining and moving the lines between what is considered “craft” and what is considered "art," particularly around items such as ceramics, glass, and quilts. "Artists themselves are often unconcerned with these boundaries," says Burkhalter, "but what drew my focus were artists contemplating items that fell well outside the respected traditions of fine pottery or heirloom quilting—things like tasseled throw pillows, holiday-themed knickknacks, or garishly-patterned curtains and bedclothes. These objects and their specific details or style are often the elements that help define a house as a "home," capable of triggering personal memories but are not highly regarded aesthetically."
Transform Any Room, 2023
Anna K. Meredith Gallery, Des Moines Art Center
Anna K. Meredith Gallery, Des Moines Art Center
Formally, Ahmed’s textiles are dynamic, existing as sculptural forms that both refuse to be anything other than carpets, but also resist the constraints of wall and floor, often traversing both and extending beyond. As a student, the artist studied sculpture, which is made evident in his manipulation of an almost-two-dimensional object—meant to function as usable flat space within a home—into art that is unabashedly textural and three-dimensional. Many audience members may not be aware of the specific traditions and cultural references Ahmed is making within his carpets, but they can perceive his formal deconstruction of a beautifully made textile. "Oriental rug" is a simplistic and dismissive term, encompassing carpets made across a vast geographic area spanning eastern Europe, the Middle East, and several parts of Asia though each have their own rich aesthetic tradition and stylistic parameters that date back thousands of years. Exported as
commercial goods for the last several centuries, these carpets are valued decorative objects that often signify wealth and good taste. Ahmed’s artwork versions of Azerbaijani carpets keep their desirable beauty intact, often making their vivid colors and patterns a starting point for the dramatic modifications he introduces to their form. Impossible Viscosity (2012) is a traditional-looking rug turned into something melting and stretchable. Because we feel we know what the object feels like and how it should move when pulled, the artist creates a disconnect between sensory familiarity and the actual object hanging before us. Invert (2014) plays with color, washing half of the carpet in psychedelic colors that drip into the more conventional hues in a manner that suggests liquid paint rather than soft fiber. Virgin (2016) lets the fibers themselves take center stage, creating a red cascade of unruly threads that break free from the tightly woven rug and erupt into the gallery space.