Mika Tajima at 11R Gallery

From sounds recorded at a textile factory in Bally, PA and computer data sites, Mika Tajima and a textile designer worked to translate sound waves into visual patterns. Old technology – the mill uses jacquard looms (a punch-card system invented in the early 1800s) – meets new in a beautiful abstract textile that looks like a screen interrupted by interference. (At 11R Gallery on the Lower East Side through March 13th).

Mika Tajima, Negative Entropy (Bally Ribbon Mills NASA Carbon Fiber 3D Weave, Pink, Single), cotton, wood, acoustic baffling felt, 37 x 27 ½ inches, 2015.
Mika Tajima, Negative Entropy (Bally Ribbon Mills NASA Carbon Fiber 3D Weave, Pink, Single), cotton, wood, acoustic baffling felt, 37 x 27 ½ inches, 2015.

Mark Barrow and Sarah Parke at Elizabeth Dee Gallery

Painter Mark Barrow and textile designer Sarah Parke collaborate on painted, hand loomed fabrics that are so labor intensive, they’ll blow your mind. Here, the duo dye fabric, then reweave either the warp or the weft into a different material, thread by thread. (At Elizabeth Dee Gallery through October 24th).

Mark Barrow and Sarah Parke, detail of Reweave 7, hand dyed linen, 19 x 17 inches, 2015.

Cesar at Luxembourg and Dayan

Cesar’s process art fills Upper East Side gallery Luxembourg & Dayan in a mini-retrospective ongoing until the end of this month.  Here, ‘Compressions’ of heavy-duty fabrics that bring that bring to mind commerce (jute sacks) and work clothes (corduroy) contrast a shiny plastic ‘Expansion’ which seems to exist for visual pleasure.  (Through Jan 31st).  

Cesar.  On walls:  three Mural Compressions (Jute Sack, Wool Blanket & Corduroy – all 1976.)  On floor:  Expansion N35/15, polyester reinforced with fiberglass, mauve lacquer, 1972.

Rosie Lee Tompkins in ‘Roving Signs’ at Matthew Marks Gallery

Further to yesterday’s post, another standout at Matthew Marks Gallery is this quilt by legendary (and pseudonymous) quilter Rosie Lee Tompkins.  Titled ‘Three Sixes,’ it follows Tompkins’ practice of making her quilts as a prayer for a loved one; in this case commemorating three relatives’ birthdays that involve the number six. (At Matthew Marks Gallery’s 522 W. 22nd St space through Aug 16th).  

Rosie Lee Tompkins, Three Sixes, polyester double-knit, polyester knit, broadcloth, ottoman, poplin, wool jersey with muslin backing, 1987.