Fransje Killaars | at the University of Tennessee

Thu, Sep 12 - Mon, Oct 21  2013

Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture - University of Tennessee - Atlanta Consulate Region

The Ewing Gallery of Art & Architecture at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is pleased to present a solo exhibition with recent work by Fransje Killaars, a remarkable colorist who approaches her medium – textiles – in challenging and innovative ways that are as much cultural statements as they are vigorously conceptual. Killaars places color at the center of her practice, production, and viewer’s experience. Her installations exist in a space that merges art, architecture, fashion, and interior design.

Her most common formats are carpets and bedspreads, or walls covered with textiles, which she has made in a handloom mill in India. These, and the inclusion of the human figure in the form of mannequins, are the most frequent components of her installations. The embodied shapes evoke associations to historic and contemporary representations of women. In Color at the Center, her textiles also take the form of everyday objects such as walls, beds, or are stacked on chairs.

Killaars’ primary media has strong associations with the handwork of craft traditions. At the same time, her work is also discussed within the context of deskilling, the continued removal of the artist’s hand from the creation of art, an artistic practice embraced by artists primarily with the advent of Modernism. This exhibition is sponsored by VADSCO and UT’s Ready for the World.

For additional information on this exhibition, please call the Ewing Gallery at 865.974.3200

All images courtesy of Fransje Killaars and the Ewing Gallery.