SUSAN INGLETT GALLERY is pleased to present a selection of work by Channing Hansen, Maren Hassinger, and Beverly Semmes at the 2022 Dallas Art Fair, on view from 21 – 24 April 2022 at 1807 Ross Avenue Dallas, Texas 75201.
Each of the represented artists brings a dynamic formal approach to their work, engaging color, material, and space. Artist Channing Hansen spins, dyes, and weaves wool from conservation-bred sheep into intricate abstract patterns at the direction of a specially designed AI; Maren Hassinger twists and unravels segments of her signature steel wire rope into delicate approximations of natural flora; and Beverly Semmes constructs sensuous ceramics that riff on the association between woman and vessel, vessel and body. Together, these artists represent the aesthetic range and conceptual diligence that defines contemporary art.
The work of Hansen, Hassinger, and Semmes is linked in a celebration of craft and the handmade. Emphasizing the innate characteristics of craft media and the innovative conceptual potential of mediums often overlooked in serious art discourses, these artists both challenge the distinction between fine art and craft, and question whether this distinction, tied to an antiquated Beaux-Arts discourse and pedagogy, is still relevant in contemporary art today. Layered with meaning and formed through a deep engagement with a diverse range of materials, each of these artists shatter the restrictive confines of “traditional” fine art making by pushing the boundaries and associations tied to mediums and forms defined as craft.
CHANNING HANSEN (b. 1972) explores ideas of connection through his abstract knitted forms. Elaborate computer algorithms dictate his designs, combining craft and computation. In uniting technology with manmade and environmental concerns, Hansen’s work underscores our interconnected place in the universe— whether to the earth itself, an algorithmic world, or the cosmos— and asks us to consider what mark we should leave behind. The artist’s work is found in permanent collections such as the Rachofsky Collection, Dallas; the Art Institute of Chicago; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, among others.
MAREN HASSINGER (b.1947) has built an expansive practice that articulates the relationship between nature and humanity. Wire rope has played a prominent role in Maren Hassinger’s artistic practice since the early 1970s when, as a sculptor placed in the Fiber Arts program at UCLA, Hassinger used the material to bridge the gap between thetwo disciplines. The artist often takes a biomimetic approach to her material, whether bundling it to resemble a monolithic sheaf of wheat or planting it in cement to create an industrial garden. Maren Hassinger is the recipient of numerous honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Caucus for the Arts. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas; Baltimore Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art, NYC; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, among others.
BEVERLY SEMMES (b. 1958) shines a light on the paradoxes surrounding the representation of the female body in media and culture. Her ongoing Feminist Responsibility Project (FRP) creates an intermediary space in which queries involving female sexuality can take form. Semmes has been honored with many solo exhibitions, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the ICA Philadelphia; the MCA Chicago; and The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College. Her work was most recently included in Witch Hunt at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and the 57th Carnegie International. Semmes’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the Nasher Sculpture Center; Dallas the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, among others
Thursday, April 21, VIP Preview
Friday, April 22, 11–7 PM
Saturday, April 23, 11–7 PM
Sunday, April 24, 11–5 PM
