Press Release: Exhibition and Workshop with The Community

Where do you go to when the world is turned upside down?
A haven, a cocoon of peace and tranquility.
RUN’s world is familiar, but not quite: it’s your grandmother’s quilt, the old gypsy lady’s skirt, your arts and crafts lesson, but twisted.
Look closer.
It’s not the little house on the prairie, maybe it’s a Japanese farmer, a curious antiquarian, a child’s fever dream.
It’s the space you don’t want to leave, because it’s soothing like a walk in the forest, an afternoon tea in a beam of sunlight.
Stay right here.

The exhibition ‘RUN Home III’ shows the new collection RUN and Thompson Street Studio by Susan Cianciolo and Kiva Motnyk. RUN has created a vision of a modern shelter: A comforting world of colours, textures, threads and fabrics, patched together to create symphony in what could be cacophony. Contributing artists and designers create the pieces by exploring and experimenting, and offer a kaleidoscopic view of clothing and textiles. RUN Home celebrates the fruits of the artistic collaboration by a timeless practice of a sewing circle that is used to produce the works and infuse ideas with each others’, with a contemporary interpretation of weaving, knitting, patchwork, embroidery and printmaking.

For this collection that was recently presented at the Hammer Museum in partnership with IKO IKO Space in Los Angeles, RUN has invited a select group of artists and artisans to collaborate on the pieces. The process of creation is at the heart of every collection: each piece results from an encounter with an artist or a designer, who adds on something of their own. The pieces and the collection are always bound to evolve: they are part of an ongoing process that carries within it the personal touch of each collaborator. Similarly, the presentation of the collection evolves through time and space, and interacts with the environment in which it is presented.

Contributions from a growing group include Samantha Verrone who explores handmade rust dyed fabrics, Jasiu Krajewski as a painter and ceramicist, Jessica Ogden who designs for APC, Zoe Latta from Eckhaus Latta, Mississippi-based quilter Coulter Fussell, and jewelry designer Robin Mollicone. Pieces also include repurposing fabric remnants from the fashion collection Ace and Jig. The Community will present the collection “RUN Home III” for the first time in Europe, and the collection’s unique and exclusive pieces will be exclusively available at the gallery.

To experience the creation process of RUN, Cianciolo and Motnyk will be hosting a workshop on May 21st from 12pm to 2pm at The Community, open to participants for 75€. They will be working directly in person with the participants; a unique opportunity to interact directly and to learn through dialogue with the artists about their working techniques, centered around naturally dyed and repurposed textiles in flower pressing and experimental quilting. Each participant will learn how to create textile patterns and textures based on the ancient technique of pressed fresh flowers, and create a small quilted tapestry. Materials will be provided, although participants are encouraged to bring textiles they would like to incorporate.

Susan Cianciolo is a multimedia artist and associate professor at Pratt Institute. Her diverse body of work has been exhibited at MoMA and the Whitney Museum, as well as solo exhibitions at the Bridget Donahue Gallery in New York. Susan is one of the Whitney Biennial 2017 artists and received the Frame Prize at Frieze NYC 2017.

Kiva Motnyk is an artist and designer who founded Thompson Street Studio in 2014 to explore textile techniques and traditions in a modern process and interpretation. She has worked as creative director and creative consultant for companies including Isaac Mizrahi Collection, Apiece Apart, and Calvin Klein. Thompson Street Studio collections have been presented at the Ralph Pucci Gallery in New York, the Apartment gallery and IKO IKO Space in Los Angeles.