Experimentation and a quest for the new has been at the heart of Italian textile designer Renata Bonfanti’s work since she traveled from her native Italy to complete her studies in Olso in the early 50s. A selection of woven work from 1968 – 1990, now on view at Kaufmann Repetto in Tribeca, foregrounds Bonfanti’s inventive techniques and varied geometries, which she explains are always inspired by the built environment. (On view through Feb 18th).
LA-based Swiss artist Christina Forrer’s new tapestries at Luhring Augustine continue to explore complex and troubled relationships, specifically between mankind and nature in the show’s most dramatic work, ‘Sepulcher.’ Titled after the space in which a dead person would be laid, the piece features a blazing sun, burning fields, bolts of lightning and icy breath from a blue figure in the sky, all signs of nature wreaking havoc. Yet lady bugs, a waterfall and a fertile orchard suggest continued benefit and abundance. All crafted in bright and pleasing colors, Forrer’s apocalypse is tempered by love of and hope for the natural world. (On view in Tribeca through Oct 29th).
