Hauser & Wirth is pleased to mark the sixth anniversary of its UK-based contemporary craft gallery Make Hauser & Wirth with ‘Implicit Explicit,’ its first Los Angeles presentation, on view at the gallery’s Downtown Arts District complex from 27 February through 7 April 2024.
This exhibition will showcase works by four American artists whose practices encourage thoughtful consideration of our perceptions of and assumptions about craft. The participating artists—Joe Feddersen, Keiko Fukazawa, Sabrina Gschwandtner and Shari Mendelson—share a predilection for combining materials and imagery in ways that overtly challenge some of the established hierarchies of materials and processes most often associated with the handmade. For example, in ‘Untitled (Arts and Crafts Hands at Work)’ (2017), Sabrina Gschwandtner physically stitches together archival film footage using traditional quilt patterns. The result is an exquisite—and quite literal—tapestry of Gschwandtner’s exploratory approach to filmmaking. In Joe Feddersen’s work, the artist intricately weaves contemporary symbols of urban life, such as traffic signs and high voltage towers, into waxed linen baskets or uses them as motifs on his blown glass vessels. This seamless integration of techniques and imagery from both the past and the present adds depth to his work, introducing an unexpected dynamism to traditional practice.
As the title alludes, the territory between implied notions and explicit expressions of craft is rich for investigation. Each of the four artists in ‘Implicit Explicit’ cleaves to the inherent characteristics of craft by engaging with a traditionally craft-associated technique or material. Equally, each artist uses his or her work to focus upon both the historical application of a craft practice or medium, and the wider context of contemporary artmaking, culture and imagery. The resulting dialogues that exist within and among the works on view will underscore Make Hauser & Wirth’s commitment to showcasing the achievements of exceptional makers and activating critical thinking about how craft is defined and how it impacts our world.
‘Implicit Explicit’ was conceived and curated by Meaghan Roddy, in collaboration with Make Hauser & Wirth.