Artdish
Dec. 8, 2006
Forum: DECEMBER
I made my way over to Francine Seders Gallery today for a long-delayed rendezvous with Bitter Love, and exhibit of new work by Gail Grinnell. For some years now, Grinnell has been producing works of art which are as layered with meaning as they are with fabric, paint, and gauzy translucence.
Throughout her career, Grinnell has incorporated the traditions of women's domestic craft into a richly suggestive body of contemporary work. Her uses of both the materials and techniques of sewing have highlighted a history of house-bound personal expression, manifesting itself as a powerful yet subtle brand of figurative abstraction.
Given this history, Bitter Love is something of a departure. The soft, billowing forms that have long been contained within rectangular shapes have swelled and broken free, floating before us, spectre-like, upon the walls.
In the P-I on thursday, Regina hackett declared this the best show of Grinnell's career. I couldn't agree more. The exhibit runs through December 24th at Francine Seders Gallery.
—Jim Demetre