Currently on view at James Cohan Gallery in New York City is the exhibition Demons, Yarns & Tales: Tapestries by Contemporary Artists, which runs through February 13, 2010. The show features hand-woven tapestries created by thirteen international artists, most of whom are widely known for their work in other media. Included among the artists whose work is on view are: Kara Walker, Grayson Perry, Shahzia Sikander, Jaime Gili and Peter Blake. The artists were commissioned by the London-based art organization, Banners of Persuasion, to create the tapestries specifically because the medium is so far removed from their usual practices. In the catalog that accompanies the exhibition–which includes an essay written by Sarah Kent–each artist discusses their unique approach to the unfamiliar medium in an interview.

The subjects explored in the tapestries on view range from American race relations, such as is seen in Kara Walker’s A Warm Summer Evening in 1863, to an investigation into the tradition of so-called “craft” or “decorative arts,” as seen in the imagery in Shahzia Sikander’s Pathology of Suspension. Demons, Yarns & Tales: Tapestries by Contemporary Artists at James Cohan marks the exhibition’s first showing in New York; it was previously on view at The Dairy in London and at Design Miami.

The Fifth Dimension – Art of Fiber and Space (October 18 – December 4, 2009) at MOCA Shanghai presented the works of 24 teachers and students of the Fiber and Space Art Studio from the Fifth Studio of the Sculpture Department of China Academy of Arts.

Titled to convey the interests of the Fiber and Space Art Studio in examining the world from a fifth dimension, the exhibition presents reconstructured realities from a virtual dimension imagined by the artists. Tracing the sensibilities and evolution of contemporary art practice by Chinese artists working with fibrous materials since the 1980s, the exhibition unveils the shifts in uses of and perspectives on aesthetic expression which integrates fiber with painting, sculpture and installation.

During the 1980s, members of the Fiber and Space Art Studio, such as Shi Hui, participating artist and one of the exhibition’s three curators, experimented with structures and space through materials such as bamboo and paper, in addition to the traditional materials of wool, linen and cotton.

Today’s experimentation takes the form of incorporating materials such as plastic, polyurethane and other industrial materials to create soft sculptures which reflect also, on the fast-changing Chinese society and the impact of consumerism on people’s daily lives. In his work, Nightmare, Zhan Jun uses iron and aluminium wires to fabricate an exhaust pipe forming the trunk of a bare and forlorn tree with extended roots of metal, to express his reflections on the relationship between industrialization and the environment.

The exhibition pays tribute to the vision and work of Professor Maryn Varbanov (1932-1989), a Bulgarian artist who started the Varbanov Tapestry Research Center in the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1986, the first contemporary fiber art research center in China, which later led to the founding of the Fiber and Space Art Studio.

Participating artists: Shi Hui, Shan Zeng, Huang Yan, Liang Shaoji, Chen Wei, Fu Yan, He Shanshan, Huang Zhe, Li Dian, Li Wei, Lin Changwen, Lin Jia, Song Chunyang, Wang Hei, Wang Jinglei, Wang Zhenghong, Wang Zhijian, Wu Jiazhen, Xu  Jia, Ying Nihui, Ying Xinxun, Zhan Jun, Zhang Hui, and Zhou Hui.

Currently exhibiting at the N2 Gallery in Barcelona, Spain are the works of Spanish artist Aurelia Munoz. The works on display are delicate, yet formidable, sculptures made of materials ranging from handmade paper to textile fibers. The piece Entre Social, 1976, is a large-scale macrame sculpture that serves as testimony to Munoz’s ability to beautifully marry geometry and abstraction with natural textiles, creating an entirely new three-dimensional artistic vocabulary. Mandala con flores, 1988, gives new meaning to the term “work on paper”. Made from tiny pieces of handmade paper, suspended on tiny strips of flax linen, Munoz successfully straddles the two and three-dimensional planes, capturing the ever-elusive medium of shadow. This exhibition, which will be on view through November, marks the first gallery exhibition for the 83 year-old in nearly thirty years, as her work primarily is shown in museums.

Aurelia Munoz was born in 1926 in Barcelona, Spain. Her works are included in many museum collections worldwide such as the Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Stedelijk van Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, Scotland; Museum of Contemporary Art Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain and theMuseum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain just to name a few.

Jung Eun Park’s work is a combination of drawing and sewing on Korean paper that is often dyed with coffee or tea. While sitting or laying on the paper, Park creates symbolic images, mesmerizing in both their detail and overall simplicity. This physical connection to the work during production is important to the artist who states “I can feel the touch and the smell of paper with all of my body and senses.”

The artist uses materials such as thread, plastic, fabric, buttons, and pills, creating a tactility and texture beyond that of the paper.

Jung Eun Park works in projects, with their titles lending clues to their meaning. Recent works include The Womb, Cell Story, Red Thread, The Room of Obsession, and Silence is Waiting. The artist shares definite formal and psychological similarities with acclaimed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Park’s interest in repetition, accumulation, and exhausting detail recall Kusama’s “infinity nets.”

The artist received a B.F.A. from Kookmin University in Seoul in 2003 and a M.F.A. from Pratt Institute in 2007 and was included in Lana Santorelli Gallery’s Young Emerging Artists show in New York earlier this year.

Artist Andrea Zittel held a holiday smock sale in Los Angeles last weekend. Her handmade, double wrap-around garments were available at Regen Projects on December 15th and at Young Art on December 16th. The smocks, meant to be attractive, utilitarian, and economical, are designed by Zittel but hand-sewn by collaborating artists. Zittel, who enterprises the A-Z Institute for Daily Living, has spent the last decade blurring the boundaries between daily life and artmaking. Most of her sculptures and works with fabric have both utilitarian and conceptual purposes. The A-Z Institute produces furniture and clothing, like the 8×5x7 ft living units meant to provide for a person’s every physical need and the seasonal uniforms that can be worn every day for months at a time. These functional works ideally make life more manageable and aesthetically pleasing for individuals while also ensuring that people have adequate personal space. Zittel, who is primarily represented by Andrea Rosen Gallery in New York and Regen Projects in LA, plans to open a smockshop in LA’s Chinatown sometime next year.

Breaking all the rules in fashion and design, Bernhard Willhelm, a German native residing in Belgium, uses colors, volumes and themes that challenge labeling. In 1999, Willhelm started with womenswear, an assemblage that premiered at fashion shows in Paris. The designer fashioned his first collection of menswear in 2000, which he didn’t allow the public to view until 2003’s Menswear Fashion Week. Other accomplishments include a showing of his work organized in 2003 by the Ursula Blickle Art Foundation in Germany, coupled with the publishing of his book in 2004 by Lukas & Sternberg. In 2005, the orphans’ aid association Misericordia asked him to design the school’s uniforms. In addition, he has launched his first shoe line and created the “White Wild Bunch,” a clothing line only available online at YOOX. Willhelm attended Royal Academy of Antwerp in Belgium and worked alongside Walter Van Beirendonck, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Dirk Bikkembergs.

Japanese artist and fashion designer Mihara Yasuhiro challenges the boundaries of fashion and sports in both design and execution. Yasuhiro, who is also known as Miharayasuhiro, recently released a collector’s book in conjunction with PUMA that showcases four Japanese artists who have all been influenced by the PUMA Mihara footwear collection. PUMA by Mihara Yasuhiro began in 2000 with the launch of a sneaker collection, bringing together a wealth of culture and original design from Japanese influences. This new and promising partnership has resulted in a fresh and vibrant collection of sneakers. PUMA by Mihara Yasuhiro was one of the first PUMA designer collaborations and became an integral part in establishing PUMA’s sport and fashion revolution. In 1998, Yasuhiro opened his first store, SOSU (“prime number”) in Aoyama, Japan, followed by his second store in Fukuoka, Japan in 2000, and his third store in Osaka, Japan in 2002. After becoming successful in the footwear industry, Yasuhiro expanded his creativity in design apparel for men and women and made his worldwide debut with Pitti Uomo in Florence, Italy. He has also worked with Aprica, was featured in Sneaker Freaker Magazine. Yasuhiro graduated from Tama Art University in 1997.