Weaving Fragments: Dreams of the Contemporary Moment

Weaving Fragments: Dreams of the Contemporary Moment is a small group exhibition at Form+Content Gallery that tends to relationships between the past and present. Through installation, collage and sculpture, five artists from PF Studios seek connection, meaning and new lineages. Contemporary artifacts informed by ancestry, these works begin to forge byways to alternate understandings of the past and pathways of being within the present. The resulting works in this exhibition are an act of uncovering, a call for honoring and in moments – renunciation.

GALLERY HOURS
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 12:00 noon - 6:00 pm and by appointment
Covid-19 policy: We are following the current Covid-19 protocol set forth by the Minnesota Department of Health. Masks are encouraged.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Alexandra Beaumont’s works confront feelings of dislocation from her Jamaican family’s story. Through decorative ironwork motifs from her family’s home in Mandeville, she anchors explorations of removal, permeability and emptiness through the manipulation of traditional madras cloth. Maiya Lea Hartman’s work also draws inspiration from family, yet nestles between ideas of familiarity, memory and comfort. Maiya asks the audience, “How do we keep memories alive and tangible” by creating a memory-based interpretation of their great-grandmother’s home and unspoken altarpiece, the fireplace.  

The current circumstances of our reality has artist Nailah Taman turning to the past to connect with ancestral un-languages. Nailah’s otherworldly installation is rooted in the symbolic language present in Etel Adnan's The Arab Apocalypse, and the hope that the future will garner us access to knowledge and collective consciousness to better grasp these glyphic languages. Michael Khuth’s languages of choice are familiar and familial, layering disparate materials and images together to create a new narrative. Their large scale collage draws from memory to piece together personal symbols of femininity—floral sarong textiles, various forms of adornment, Apsara tableaux—giving shape to imagined queer ancestors. Satya Varghese Mac’s work honors the non-binary deity Ardhanarishvara, who has served as a keeper of multiplicity since the beginnings of life. Through small artifact-like art objects, Satya conveys a seeking and uncovering of lineages and timelines that are parallel to what we are immersed in now. 

ABOUT THE HOSTS
PF Studios is a practice-based platform for artists to develop their craft, skills and careers in relationship with other artists. PF Studios prioritizes the creative practices of artists who need a culture of support not provided by mainstream and institutional art systems, and most importantly, makes space for them to forge their own paths. Since 2019 the artists have curated and managed the space, with support from artist Leslie Barlow. As the program director, Barlow is committed to building a Black-led, BIPOC centered platform rooted in collaboration, cooperation, solidarity, justice and liberation. PF Studios is a core program of Public Functionary, a Northeast Minneapolis arts organization founded in 2012. 

Form+Content Gallery celebrates its 15th anniversary this year as one of the longest standing artist-run galleries in the Twin Cities. This collective of 12 artists nurtures diverse artistic practice and thoughtful dialogue and aspires to link personal expression to broader social contexts.