Craft Gets Groovy

January 11th, 2012 at 08:00am abbey

Wes Wilson
Bill Graham Presents: Jefferson Airplane, February 3-5, 1967
Offset lithograph poster
The Globus Collection

An emerging American youth culture electrified the craft movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Through music, drugs, and dress this generation expressed alternatives to the status quo. Many overwhelmingly rejected the corporate ladder of their parents’ generation to find satisfaction in the craftsmen lifestyle.  A section of the Crafting Modernism exhibition pays homage to these artisans by highlighting the curvaceous, psychedelic designs that were suddenly everywhere. Many works featured rough-hewn aesthetics, rounded edges, melt-y colors, and sexual allusions.  The Wes Wilson poster above, made to promote a Jefferson Airplane concert, illustrates the melting colors and distorted typefaces that came to represent youth counter-culture. The American flag received extended attention, out of patriotism and disgust with the Vietnam debacle.  One particularly provocative piece is Richard Marquis’ American Acid Capsule (below) which combined the flag with allusions to the phallus and drug use.

Richard Marquis
American Acid Capsule with Cloth Container, 1969-70
(Container by Nirmal Kauer [Barbara Brittell])
Glass and cloth
Collection of Pam Biallas

Garry Knox Bennett
Little Flower Pipe, 1968
Copper, 24-karat gold leaf, lacquer and glass bead
Collection of the artist

This exotic-looking, handmade hash pipe shows how the craft movement touched the most utilitarian corners of the counter culture. Garry Knox Bennett supported himself by creating and selling roach clips and hash pipes before becoming a respected furniture maker.

Mary Ann Schildknecht
Blouse and Skirt, 1969
Bed sheet and silk embroidery thread
The artist, photographed c. 1970
Collection of the artist

The artist embroidered this ensemble in Milan while in jail on drug charges and made the clothing out of her prison-issued bed sheets.

Rick Turner
Pretzel Guitar, 1969
Mahogany, walnut, brass, ebony, abalone shell, and electric components
Collection of the artist

This hand-made, curvaceous “pretzel guitar” showcases both the rock n roll culture and the craftsmen life that many like Rick Turner created for themselves.

Stan Dann
Fantasia, 1964
California walnut and paint
Forrest L. Merrill Collection

This wall plaque’s dream-like, trippy scene, rounded edges and psychedelic colors reference the drug culture of the period.

 Don’t forget about our exhibition Crafting Modernism: Midcentury American Art and Design runs through January 15, 2012. You can visit the museum at 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019. The Crafting Modernism catalogue is available at the Museum store (212.299.7700), at www.abramsbooks.com and wherever books are sold.

Entry Filed under: crafting modernism