MOCA Cleveland Opens Fall Season With Show of Rug Art

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Fri 9/23 @ 7-10PM

Are rugs museum-worthy art? Wall to Wall: Carpets by Artists, opening at MOCA Cleveland, takes a look at a medium not generally seen on museum walls and indeed not even thought of as “art” by many people (although if you saw MOCA’s summer show, Myopia, featuring the work of Akron native Mark Mothersbaugh, you would have seen the work he’s done in this format).

The show, featuring the work of more than two dozen artists, differs from the typical display of rugs in that it looks at them as art rather than craft, acting as art historical statements rather than as artifacts of a culture. They also demonstrate a range of production techniques and different approaches to collaboration throughout the process of creation.

Wall to Wall raises questions about the geopolitics of production and the art market as expressed in the carpet, and the ways in which both respond to and express the significance of the artist in creating value and demand,” says MOCA’s press release. “The artist carpet models the interwoven nature of art, design, craft, industry and sociocultural politics today.”

Along with Wall to Wall, Anders Ruhwald: Unit 1: 3583 Dubois, will go on view, featuring life-sized spaces re-creating those the artist creating at an abandoned apartment building he has purchased in Detroit to reflect on the erasure of the building’s history and its potential for renewal and transformation.

“Art, design, and craft are seen as provocative contemporary bedfellows in MOCA’s new fall shows,” says MOCA executive director Jill Snyder in the event’s press release. “Together, the exhibitions focus on crossovers and relationships between artists, media, processes, concepts, and disciplines.”

The shows open with a free public opening night party and remain on view through Sun 1/8/2017. At 7pm, Wall to Wall curator Cornelia Lauf will hold a conversation with one of the artists, Ken Lum. At 8pm, DJ Roadrunner will play music outside on Toby Plaza, where Detroit vocalist/composer Britney Stoney, who embeds her soul and jazz-influenced vocals inside spacious, dreamy soundscapes, will perform at 9pm.

mocacleveland/fall-season-opening-night-party

Cleveland, OH 44106

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