WHAT
Found Object Sandwich, a two-day workshop on assemblage jewelry-making with internationally known metal artist Thomas Mann.
WHEN
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8.
WHERE
R. Grey Gallery, 415 S. 8th St., Boise.
COST
$200 students, $250 adults (registration is required and space is limited).
DETAILS
Participants will walk away from the workshop with their own pieces of wearable art.
CONTACT
R. Grey Gallery at 385-9337.
A photograph of a kneeling woman, beautiful in her despair, is framed by a broken poem:
Rich or poor all fell to the force of the storm / But the poor suffered evacuation rather than escape.
Without shoes, without hope, this woman is a real victim of Hurricane Katrina. The emotion she felt in that moment is immortalized and projected in an assemblage called "Stranded," just one in a moving series by New Orleans artist Thomas Mann.
Called "Storm Cycle: An Artist Responds to Hurricane Katrina," the touring exhibit will be on display and for sale June 5-July 25 at Boise's R. Grey Gallery along with "The Hurricane Brooch Show," a companion collection of responses to Katrina by more than 30 North American metal artists.
In addition to the First Thursday opening, Mann has agreed to lead a two-day workshop called "Found Object Sandwich" that will cover design concepts and fabrication techniques vital to assembling jewelry from found objects.
While the objects brought by local participants may not be as politically or emotionally charged as those featured in Storm Cycle, Mann said the point is to keep it personal.
"I want them to use jewelry-making as a method of artistic commentary," he said. "In some cultures, jewelry pieces transcend fashion to a large degree by becoming objects of celebration, honor, reflection or spiritual context."
For 30 years, Mann has been involved in the contemporary American craft movement as an artist, gallery owner and teacher. While his work ranges from hammered sterling hearts on delicate chains to hanging installations full of aesthetic and thematic confrontation, he is best known in the international art community for his jewelry. But a jeweler he is not. He is a sculptor, often working on a scale that just happens to be wearable.
For Storm Cycle, he created 20 brooches that attach to larger panels, each one a glimpse into the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "Markings No. 1" pairs found sheet metal with a photo of a handmade warning sign that reads: "U loot / We shoot." Such markings are a major element of the show, as Mann collected images of graffiti made in the desperate hours after the devastation of New Orleans.
"Markings No. 3" is an interpretation of the grids painted on doors by inspection teams charged with searching ruined buildings for bodies. They used symbols to indicate where teams were from, the date and status of the inspection and the number of bodies recovered. Mann said the count started rising when officials realized how many people had died trapped in their attics.
"That's why those markings are so important to people," Mann said, adding that the brooch element of each piece is meant to give its message reach. "They allow you to take the whole story with you."
Storm Cycle and The Hurricane Brooch Show are visceral and profound with welcome hints of dark humor. They are meant to keep Katrina in people's minds, not only for the sake of the citizens of New Orleans, but also for America's understanding of its own fragility. Both collections have been touring museums and art centers since October 2005, but Mann said the show must go on.
"There are lots of other stories to tell," he said.
"This is a relevant topic to anyone living in the U.S. People here have watched from a distance, but we've also been involved through family, friends, transplants. A lot of us have crossed paths with people whose stories are very personal," said Tiffany Rasmussen, gallery assistant at R. Grey. "Even though we're so far away, every individual is affected through the passing on of stories, through shared experience."
Erin Ryan: 672-6732
