Queer Threads - Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art

Contact: Jerry Kajpust
Deputy Director for External Relations
Jerry@LeslieLohman.org
212-431-2609
LeslieLohman.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Artists using thread-based crafts to explore contemporary LGBTQ culture
Nathan Vincent, Locker Room (installation view), 2011, Lion Brand Yarn,
144 x 228 in. Courtesy of the artist. Photo credit: Stephen Miller.
James Gobel, The Fitting No. 1, 2007, Felt, yarn
and acrylic on canvas, 84 x 72 in. Collection of
Costello & Tagliapietra.
Photo credit: courtesy of Kravits/Wehby.
Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community
Exhibition dates: January 17 to March 16, 2014
Public Opening: January 17, 2014 6-8 pm
[New York – November 2013] Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community will be on view January
17 through March 16, 2014 at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. Queer Threads, a group
show curated by John Chaich, explores notions of aspiration, socialization, and representation within the
LGBTQ community through artists employing thread-based craft materials, techniques, and processes.
While many of these artists are internationally recognized in the craft and art communities, this exhibition
marks the first time these works have been shown together to specifically highlight their queerness.
Comprised from a mix of well-established and emerging talent from across the United States, as well as
Argentina, Canada, and South Africa, this exhibition will feature artists Chris Bogia (New York), Melanie
Braverman (Massachusetts), Jai Andrew Carrillo (California), Chiachio & Giannone (Argentina), Liz Collins
(New York), Ben Cuevas (California), Pierre Fouché (South Africa), James Gobel (California), Jesse Harrod
(Virginia), Larry Krone (New York), Rebecca Levi (New York), Audrey Longley-Cook (Georgia), Aaron
McIntosch (Maryland), Allyson Mitchell (Canada), John Thomas Paradiso (Maryland), Sheila Pepe (New York),
Maria Pineres (California), Allen Porter (deceased), L. J. Roberts (New York), Sonny Schneider (Denmark), Buzz
Slutzky (New York), Nathan Vincent (New York), and Jessica Whitbread (Canada).
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Queer Threads will fully activate the Museum’s gallery through
felt paintings, yarn drawings, embroidered portraits, knit
sculpture, quilted tapestries, and crocheted installations, as well
as video. From Nathan Vincent’s life-sized crocheted men’s locker
room, to Liz Collin’s oversized knit pride flag based on Gilbert
Baker’s 1978 original design, works range from intimate to
expansive in scale. From Allyson Mitchell’s found afghans
emblazoned with phrases such as “Pride is a Pyramid Scheme,” to
James Gobel’s use of felt, acrylic, and yarn to create a portrait of
fashion design team Costello Tagliapietra, many of Queer
Threads’ artists mix craft technique or materials with traditional
mediums, while others fully employ craft processes.
Allyson Mitchell, Queer Un-Nation, 2012, Yarn
and felt, 36 x 48 in. Work and image courtesy of
the artist.
Flowing off the wall to the floor, L.J. Roberts’ The Queer Houses of
Brooklyn in the Three Towns of Bruekelen, Boswyck and Midwout
during the 41 st Year of the Stonewall Era, particularly exemplifies the
use of craft techniques to explore contemporary queer culture as it
incorporates knitting, embroidery, and quilting to create a colorful,
multi-textured sculpture mapping queer, cohabitating collectives.
With references to the AIDS quilt and ACT UP iconography, the piece
honors punk DIY aesthetics and traditional craft, as well as the
families we create. This work is on loan from the Smithsonian
American Art Museum who purchased the piece after it was shown in
its 2013 40 Under 40: Craft Futures exhibition.
L.J. Roberts, The Queer Houses of Brooklyn in the
Three Towns of Breukelen, Boswyck,and Midwout
during the 41 st Year of the Stonewall Era, (based
on a 2010 drawing by Daniel Rosza Lang/Levitsky
with 24 illustrations by Buzz Slutzky on printed
pin-back buttons), 2011, Poly-fill, acrylic, rayon,
Lurex, wool, polyester, cotton lame, sequins, and
blended fabrics, 138 x 114 x 108 in. Courtesy of
the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of
Elaine Reuben. Photo credit: The Smithsonian
American Art Museum.
“The new visions and voices in Queer Threads, uniquely expressed
through craft traditions, expand on Leslie-Lohman’s commitment to
examining the diversity of the LGBTQ experience through art,” says
Hunter O’Hanian, Executive Director. In doing so, Chaich notes, “Using
craft to celebrate and critique identity and community is very queer in
all senses of the word—unusual, political, and personal.”
A range of guest docents will lead tours of the exhibition, including
fashion design team Costello Tagliapietra; Debbie Stoller, author of
the Stitch n’ Bitch Nation series of knitting books and editor-in-chief of
BUST magazine, and designer Todd Oldham, creator of the Kid Made
Modern series of books and supplies.
Note: Due to the nature of the artwork, no food or beverages will be allowed in the Museum during this
exhibition.
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John Chaich (curator)
John Chaich is a designer, writer, and curator living in New York City. His recent exhibition, Mixed Messages:
A(I)DS, Art & Words, for Visual AIDS debuted to critical acclaim in The New York Times and Artforum before
traveling to DC to coincide with the International AIDS Conference. He has written on art and pop culture for
BUST and Art & Understanding magazines and has contributed catalogue essays for PPOW Gallery. On the
Web and on Twitter: ChaichCreative.
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About the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art
“…invaluable museum.” Holland Cotter, New York Times, June 2013
Best place for gay culture, Time Out New York: New York's Best 2012
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art is the first and only dedicated gay and lesbian art
museum in the world with a mission to exhibit and preserve gay and lesbian art, and foster the artists who
create it. The Museum has a permanent collection of over 22,000 objects, 6-8 major exhibitions annually,
artist talks, film screenings, readings, THE ARCHIVE - a quarterly art newsletter, a membership program, and
a research library. The Leslie-Lohman Museum is operated by the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation, Inc., a
non-profit founded in 1987 by Charles W. Leslie and Fritz Lohman, who have supported gay and lesbian
artists for over 30 years. The Leslie-Lohman Museum embraces the rich creative history of the gay and
lesbian art community by informing, inspiring, entertaining, and challenging all who enter its doors.
The Museum is located at 26 Wooster Street in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Admission is free,
and hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 12-6 pm, and Thursday, 12-8 pm. The Museum is closed Monday
and all major holidays. The Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization and is
exempt from taxation under section 501(c)3 of the IRS Code. The Museum can be reached at 212-431-2609.
For more information, go to LeslieLohman.org.
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