The Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) champions cultural understanding by presenting exhibitions and programs that bridge local and global cultures and inspire a sense of inquiry and creativity within all people. Located on Los Angeles' historic Miracle Mile, it is the city's only institution exclusively dedicated to celebrating craft and folk art. CAFAM works to recognize emerging artists and make art accessible to all audiences, serving as a forum in which art can be presented and described by the artists and communities who create it. All exhibitions and public programs are developed in close collaboration with community cultural groups to ensure authentic expression.
CAFAM's view of FOLK ART:
"We view the term 'folk art' in a contemporary and dynamic light that is not limited to one frame. We consider all art made in a cultural and social context as part of our domain. Our stance encompasses a wide breadth of art and ideas ranging from Polynesian body tattoos that mark a tribe, whether traditional or urban, to the modern interpretation of ancient cave paintings from India that offer political commentary about a post-9/11 world, to a photojournalist’s observations of the complexity of contemporary Iranian society.
"Folk art offers cultural insights not readily seen in other art forms since it is created with an awareness of, and a connection to tradition and community. The process of creating folk art is a varied and dynamic one that builds on traditional methods or ideas, but also includes individual creativity and contemporary influences. This artistic merger of social order and individual creativity offers incredible insight into global and local values and beliefs. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of folk art is how sublimely it reveals human similarities amongst diverse cultures." At CAFAM for July's Free Day
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| The Wedding Party [Photo: M Lee Fatherlee] |
Love And Other Audacities
San Francisco-based artist Ann Weber's elegant, sculptural works grace CAFAM's third floor gallery in Love and Other Audacities. These massive scultural works echo the silhouettes of pods, gourds and other biomorphic forms. Despite the sculptures' oversized, undulating contours, what will surprise most people is the humble material she uses—cardboard.
Armed with a stapler, a box cutter and shellac, Weber constructs towering artworks out of cardboard that she often fishes out of dumpsters. When asked about the physical stature of her work, Weber says, "I'm interested in how big you can make something before it collapses."
Weber to a cue from architecture icon Frank Gehry's cardboard furniture and decided to experiment with the boxes she had in her living room after recently moving. Merging her ceramics background with an ongoing examination of architectural structures enabled Weber to build beautiful, gravity-defying works that often eschew symmetry. Love And Other Audacities runs through 11 September 2011.
All Creatures Great And Small
What appears to be gorgeous wallpaper is, in reality, 3,500 brightly colored insects pinned directly to the wall in kaleidoscopic patterns.
"We don't have very many 'Wow!' moments anymore in this age of internet. We've become a bit jaded," says Wisconsin-based installation artist and educator Jennifer Angus, "I am trying to capture in my work the magic we experience as children. I would like people to discover it once again and for a moment just stand there and say 'Wow!"
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| Craft And Folk Art Museum |
Inspired by the tribal dress of the Karen tribe in Thailand’s Golden Triangle—a region bordered by China, Laos and Myanmar—Angus combined her passion for pattern and textiles with a newfound fascination for the often overlooked (even maligned) insect. Using no endangered species, Angus creates her distinctive patterns without utilizing dyes or destroying natural resources.
Naturally electric blue, emerald green, pink, purple and red insects coalesce on the walls to create an immersive Victorian-era room that recalls an age of excitement, exploration and scientific discovery. Complementary small-scale Insecta Fantasia, Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, 2008. Courtesy of the Newark Museumdollhouses covered in beeswax are home to anthropomorphized insects that provoke viewers to revisit their own relationship with the eco-system.
For Angus, pattern is associated more with meaning than decoration. Her works call to mind themes of death, cultural association and ideas about collection. “ Although insects are common all over the world, insect collectors share the same passion, rigor and attention to display as many art collectors,” says director Suzanne Isken, “You will find that Angus’ work reflects the world’s infinite cache of unexpected beauty and diversity, a view that we at the Craft and Folk Art Museum hope to share with Los Angeles. All Creatures Great And Small runs through 11 September 2011.
Craft And Folk Art Museum
5814 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles 90036 [MAP]
(323) 937-4230 • http://cafam.org/
| Admission | Hours | |||
| General | $7 | Tuesday–Friday | 11am – 5pm | |
| Seniors & students | $5 | Saturday & Sunday | Noon – 6pm | |
| Children under 10 | FREE | Monday | CLOSED | |
| Members | FREE | |||
| First Wednesday of month | FREE |
