Currier Museum honors New England artists

Artwork from acclaimed studio furniture artists and internationally known woodturners is currently on view in the “Celebrating New England Artists” exhibition which is being held in the Ed and Mary Scheier Gallery at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, N.H.

The exhibit showcases the museum’s focus on the art and craft of regional artists.

“The Currier’s regular exhibition and acquisition of contemporary wood art builds upon the historic furniture collection on view in the museum’s other American galleries,” curator Andrew Spahr said in a statement. “Visitors can explore some of the most important and accomplished examples of New Hampshire cabinetmakers from the late 17th century through the 19th century, including Samuel Dunlap and John Gaines III.”

It will also feature the museum’s collection of contemporary New England artwork, including Jere Osgood’s “Spring Desk” (1996) and Jon Brooks’ “Styx Ladder-back Chairs” (1986), and turned wood bowls by David Ellsworth and Mark Lindquist.

Early Spring Show

The Pritam & Eames gallery in East Hampton, N.Y., begins its 31st season with the opening of its traditional Early Spring Show that runs from March 23 through May 24.

“We always look forward to this show as it is a presage to spring,” says co-owner Bebe Johnson.

The show will feature the work of seven American studio furniture makers from California to Maine, including Peter Bloch, Ted Blachley, Tim Coleman, David Ebner, Judy Kensley McKie, Brian Newell and Joe Tracy.

Elsewhere

“Torqued & Twisted,” explores the work of nine furniture makers and sculptors who use the technique of bending wood in innovative, unusual and eloquent ways. The exhibition, which runs Feb. 13 to June 29 at the Center for Craft, Creativity & Design in Hendersonville, N.C., is organized by the center’s Katie Lee and Tom Loeser, an artist and professor at the University of Wisconsin.

The “Abstract Forms of Pablo Picasso and Wendell Castle” is on display through Feb. 25 at the Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia. It features prints by Picasso and new work by furniture maker Castle.

A call for entries was issued for “CraftTexas 2012,” scheduled for Sept. 29 to Dec. 30 at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. The seventh in a series of juried exhibitions will showcase the best in Texas-made contemporary craft by artists who work in clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood and found or recycled materials. The entry deadline is March 15.

Contacts

Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester, NH 03104. Tel: 603-669-6144. www.currier.org.

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main St., Houston, TX 77002. Tel: 713-529-4848. www.crafthouston.org

Pritam & Eames, 27-29 Race Lane, East Hampton, NY 11937. Tel: 631-324-7111. www.pritameames.com

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design, 1181 Broyles Road, Hendersonville, NC 28793. Tel: 828-890-2050. www.craftcreativitydesign.org

Wexler Gallery, 201 North 3rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-923-7030. www.wexlergallery.com

This article originally appeared in the March 2012 issue.