Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

by Bryanna F. Drew

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is known for many things: the beautiful Venetian palazzo-inspired architecture, the unconventional way it displays its pieces of art, the largest and still-unsolved art heist in history, and Isabella Stewart Gardner’s wide taste in art — from Italian renaissance and medieval European to Asian and Islamic art; from paintings and sculptures to rare books and textiles — to name a few. Keeping in tradition with her love of textiles, “Common Threads: Weaving Stories Across Time,” is on view through January 13. The exhibition features work from contemporary artists who are continuing the tradition of conveying stories and histories in their works while pushing the boundaries of textile art and distorting the line around what can be defined as a tapestry. Their works are housed in both the Hostetter Gallery as well as the Tapestry Room. Walking into the … [Read more...] about Common Threads: Contemporary Fiber Art at the Gardner

By John Paul Stapleton Boston, MA - In 1999, Lee Mingwei had his first solo residency at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum putting on what he calls, “the Living Room Project” where a host can bring their collection and give a presentation about it. Now, the Gardner has a room specifically designed as a Living Room for his project and he recently returned to recruit new hosts to show off their collections. The idea came about just after Mingwei graduated from his MFA program at Yale in 1997 and was featured in a show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City a year later. Jen Gross, the Gardner’s contemporary curator at the time, came to Mingwei after seeing his work in this show and asked him to be a resident artist. After proposing and deciding against his first idea, Mingwei got inspired to make the Living Room Project happen by hanging out with the staff and … [Read more...] about Lee Mingwei: The Living Room Project at the Gardner Museum

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Common Threads: Contemporary Fiber Art at the Gardner

Lee Mingwei: The Living Room Project at the Gardner Museum