LONE SOME
JUNE 1, 2020 – MARCH 2021
LOBBY OF SJMQT 

Montalvo Arts Center presents a new, multi-site public exhibition entitled lone some, appearing throughout the Bay Area. As part of this large-scale project, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles is proud to feature artist Modesto Covarrubias's site-specific installation Hear, There and Everywhere in our lobby.

In association with its 2019-2020 programming initiative, SOCIAL: Rethinking Loneliness Together, Montalvo transforms traditional advertising and commerce medium spaces into catalysts for conversation and connection. Seeking to inspire and provoke questions about what it means to experience loneliness, local and national artists and poets were commissioned to create works for presentation on billboards and bus shelters in the East Bay, San Francisco, and the South Bay. Artworks will be featured on billboards located in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and East San Jose, and on bus shelters throughout the Peninsula from San Bruno to Millbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, and Santa Clara.

INSIDE OUT: SEEING THROUGH CLOTHING
JANUARY 19, 2020 – MARCH 2021
TURNER AND GILLILAND GALLERIES

Clothing acts as both a boundary and bridge between the body and the world. At once utilitarian and deeply expressive, clothing offers protection from external conditions while extending our inner selves—our identities, desires and beliefs—to the surface of our bodies and beyond. This dynamic relationship between inside and outside will be explored in Inside Out: Seeing Through Clothing, featuring the work of 11 artists who investigate the boundary that clothing creates between the self and world. Working in the fields of sculpture, photography, installation and textile art, these artists consider themes of transparency, openness, interiority and visibility to create objects that invite us in while reaching out. Their works reimagine clothing as a radical and poetic form, capable of revealing hidden—and often uncomfortable—truths while dissolving boundaries between interior and exterior worlds.

Artists include Reiko Fujii, Claudia Casarino, Charlotte Kruk, Robin Lasser & Adrienne Pao, Victoria May, Kate Mitchell, Laura Raboff, Beverly Rayner, Rose Sellery, and Jean Shin.

SHIRLEY CUNNINGHAM AND MARIANNE LETTIERI:
NEVER ENDING THREAD
JANUARY 19 – November 2020
FINLAYSON GALLERY

Cunningham and Lettieri juxtapose their independent art installations to create a space for poetic reverie. Working with re-purposed materials, needle, thread, light and shadow, they explore cultural, spiritual, and material translations of objects, symbols, and text through the aesthetics of craft and design. Cunningham retells an ancient creation story in imaginary tapestry, transforming garments through painterly stitches and skillful embellishment. Lettieri re-contextualizes a thousand articles of estate crochet to make a new narrative about individual identity, community, and creativity. Together, the artists engage the infinite thread that runs through time.

FIBER ART 101
JANUARY 19 – APRIL 12, 2020
HALLWAY GALLERY

Fiber Art 101 showcases various fiber and textile processes for museum visitors to experience. Through sight and touch this interactive didactic illuminates how natural fibers are turned into commonly used fabrics we are familiar with. 

Want to learn more? Check out our digital Fiber Art 101 space!

PANTEA KARIMI: THE FORGOTTEN WOMEN OF SCIENCE
JANUARY 19, 2020 – MARCH 1, 2020
PORCELLA GALLERY

The Forgotten Women of Science, features lesser-acknowledged female scientists from ancient times to the nineteenth century, and highlights their contributions to science. History shows that there were many powerful, intelligent and professional women in a wide range of scientific fields. These women did not just assume marginalized roles in the male-dominated fields of science; they were also pioneers and generators of cutting-edge ideas.

KNOW YOUR MEME: STITCHING VIRAL PHENOMENA
OCTOBER 20, 2019 – JANUARY 12, 2020
TURNER AND GILLILAND GALLERIES

The exhibition explores the concept of the meme as a poignant method to summarize, understand, critique and share thoughts on important societal issues. In true meme fashion, the artwork selection was driven by the power of the people, and curated by the online community. All artworks depict, relate to or reference a meme through a textile method such as quilting, embroidery, cross- stitching, knitting and crocheting, weaving, basketry, etc.

STORIES OF WEST AFRICA: HOLLIS CHATELAIN OCTOBER 20, 2019 – JANUARY 12, 2020
FINLAYSON GALLERY

Hollis Chatelain creates art quilts based on her photographs while she lived in the West African countries of Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Benin.

From her photographs, Hollis drew the original illustrations for her coloring book titled Stories of West Africa. These drawings, done in colored pencil, were scanned, enlarged, digitally printed on cotton fabric, and then machine quilted.  Each quilt tells a story showing the strength of family and community, while the backgrounds show lively African fabrics which play an important role in the everyday life of this region.

FORM AND FUNCTION: FIBER ARTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
SECOND ARTIST MEMBERS BIENNIAL
NOVEMBER 27, 2019 – JANUARY 12, 2020 

HALLWAY AND PORCELLA GALLERY 

Juried by artist and curator Karen Gutfreund, Form and Function: Fiber Arts for the 21st Century showcases works in both traditional and new media that emphasize art over craft with bold use of artistic elements—line, space, shape, form, texture, and color to tell an individual story.  Fiber artists utilize a multitude of methods to bridge craft and design, invoke new artistic concepts, and alter or refresh views of fiber. Each of our SJMQT Artist's Members brings a personal vision and sensibility to his or her cloth. We want to celebrate this diversity and this exhibition is intended to promote an appreciation of fiber arts in the broader community.