Remembrance
An exhibition in honor of Lida Gordan
Show runs from March 3 — 26, 2023
New Opening Reception:
Saturday, March 4 from 6 to 9 pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, March 11 @ 12:30 pm
Remembrance, an exhibition honoring the late Lida Gordon, head of the fiber arts program at the University of Louisville opens on March 3 at PYRO Gallery and runs through March 26, 2023. Four of her former students, longtime PYRO Bette Levy, and guest artists: Elmer Lucille Allen, Denise Furnish, and Melinda Snyder are exhibiting their work as a means to honor Gordon and to show their deep respect and thanks to their charismatic teacher. All four artists are former master’s level students of Gordon’s. An artists’ talk will take place at 12:30 on March 11.
Professor Lida Gordon taught both at the Louisville School of Art and at University of Louisville. She distinguished herself not only through her own talent, productivity and scholarship, but also through her extraordinary ability to nurture and develop the talent of others. Gordon was known for her patient and respectful encouragement of her students challenging them to push boundaries and pursue new and different approaches. She created a sense of community that lasted long beyond the time students spent in class and played a significant role in the creation of LAFTA (Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists).
MORE ABOUT REMEMBRANCE
As a member of PYRO for 19 years, Bette Levy’s work has evolved over the course of her membership. Initially exhibiting complex hand embroidered work, she now focuses in three areas: hand crochet with rusted vintage tools, finger knitting with wire, and spun paper, an ancient Japanese technique. Levy’s work honors historic handwork techniques to create contemporary art. Stressing the importance of using these skills in an increasingly technological/virtual world, her artwork strives to maintain an ongoing relationship with the past. The diverse work displayed in Remembrance features all three of these areas.
Invited guest Elmer Lucille Allen is an African American artist who was initially a ceramics student. When asked to pursue a Master of Art in ceramics in 2000, she was told that she had to take a second studio class and chose fiber, studying under Lida Gordon. She learned multiple techniques but focused on stenciling on fiber. Later, she was introduced to shibori nui (dyeing with stitching as a resist) by a fellow student, and has continued to create fiber wall hangings using this technique. She prefers shibori because she loves the hand stitching on which it is based. Her contribution to Remembrance includes both stenciled and shibori wall hangings.
Denise Furnish started painting on quilts in Lida Gordon’s Surface Design class in 1980 as a statement about the lack of visibility of women in the arts. Because “quilt “ is such a vast depository of meaning, it continues to be a marker of her life and times. On display in Remembrance, Stepping Stones is a comment on extinguishing Evil, and has current religious and political undertones. Furnish also is exhibiting Snails Trails. It is made up of a traditional Snails Trails pattern quilt, worn and discarded, divided and applied to four hardwood panels and painted.
Melinda Snyder is exhibiting quilts created as a result of the quarantine of 2020 and which are being shown for the first time. Using material on hand in her studio, she created four quilts with hand-dyed and printed cottons and silks. She explains that her inspiration came from varied sources: a trip out West in 2019, colors and textures in her garden, and her grandson’s fanciful drawings. She says that she’s a firm believer that Lida Gordon’s spirit always was looking over her shoulder.
All four artists exhibiting in this show, as well as all of Gordon’s students, would probably claim the same sentiment.
Price upon request