Making Time brings together ten Los Angeles-based artists who have been instrumental in Craft Contemporary’s recent history. Ten years ago, the museum shifted focus, exhibiting contemporary craft which challenges traditional, often restrictive, notions of craft held by the larger art world and public. These ten artists’ work have served as touchstones for the museum to continue refining its view of contemporary craft over the past decade.

Each artist has contributed as an individual, but together their works have significantly expanded the museum’s thinking about materials and their use in contemporary craft. Traditionally, discussions of craft in the United States have been centered around the skillful manipulation of five specific materials – clay, glass, wood, metal, fiber – into functional objects for daily use. Many artists in Making Time still work with these elements, but they intentionally choose to use specific materials because of the meaning embedded within them. Several artists use found materials to enrich their work with layers of memory. Many artists use material to examine history, whether it is craft’s own long relationship to particular substances and processes or to shine light on the global histories erased from discussions of craft, art, and politics in the Western world. Other artists use material to transform and create spaces for people to come together.   

Exhibition artists: Tanya Aguiñiga, Uzumaki Cepeda, Beatriz Cortez, Keiko Fukazawa, Katherine Gray, Gronk, Sherin Guirguis, Betye Saar, Timothy Washington, and Ann Weber.

Curator: Holly Jerger

This exhibition is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Photo credit: Betye Saar, Red Clock Tower, 2011. Mixed media assemblage, 27.75 x 13.25 x 7 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California; Photo. Robert Wedemeyer. © Betye Saar

Resources:

Explore our study guides and participating artists’ past exhibitions here.