DONNA MONROE
40 YEARS OF INNOVATIVE WIT
RioBravo-FineArt® Gallery
Donna Monroe: 40 Years of Innovative Wit
Exhibition Dates: November 14 - December 27, 2020
Curated By Susan A. Christie
40 YEARS OF INNOVATIVE WIT
RioBravo-FineArt® Gallery
Donna Monroe: 40 Years of Innovative Wit
Exhibition Dates: November 14 - December 27, 2020
Curated By Susan A. Christie
“40 Years Innovative Wit”, a textile fine art show by local artist Donna Monroe will open at RioBravoFine-Art® Gallery on Saturday, November 14, 2020. This show, two years in the planning, is a unique and exceptional event.
Because the Monroe show is singularly important to the history of art in New Mexico and textile art globally, the gallery is advertising the exhibition in the leading international textile publication, Selvedge Magazine (www.selvedge.org), published in London and distributed worldwide.
Monroe is part of the long history of textiles as they entered the realm of fine art in the early 1960s. At 82, her lifelong art practice has never previously been exhibited in its entirety.
(Reference: The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present Oct 1, 2014 – Jan 4, 2015 www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/fiber-sculpture-1960-present)
This exhibition is a notable opportunity to gather together the prodigious and historical collection of an artist’s work. The story begins with Monroe’s graduation with a BA, 1983 and MA, 1984 from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a focus on photography and printmaking. Examples of her early work will be included along with her growing body of Sculpture, Embellished Textiles, Totem Figures, Shrines, Assemblages, Altered Books, and Paper Collagé.
“Nearly 100% of my work is created using found materials. My hunting skills have been honed to a fine art while pawing through second-hand clothing, fabrics, beads, yarns, rusted metal, and fanciful objects found at local thrift stores, yard sales and on many rambles on desert trails. This kind of reuse and upcycling gives me fits of pleasure and excitement.” ...Donna Monroe
“Her studio is filled with shelves of fabrics, drawers of embroidery floss organized into colorways, buttons, laces, collected bits and pieces from thrift stores and other browsed locations. Portfolios, folders, and cabinets hold years of her history. Flat tables hold an array of materials, works in progress, scissors, sewing machine, threads, needles and more. On the walls are works in some stage of development. She said that often pieces went up and down for some time as they were slowly worked on and inspiration struck with a found piece to be included.” …Curator, Susan A. Christie
The RioBravoFine-Art® Gallery is both the perfect partner and environment for Monroe’s exhibition. The gallery represents other local historical figures Delmas Howe and Harold Joe Waldrum.
The show is being curated by Susan A. Christie, a local artist with over 50 years of professional experience in the art world. Christie is the Editor/Publisher of the New Mexico Fiber Arts Directory. A recent project of Christie’s was the Exhibition, Transforming Space-Transforming Fiber at the Las Cruces Museum of Arts, 2016-17.
Christie became aware of the extent of this quiet artists commitment to her work as she and Monroe developed their friendship and worked on various projects together. As an experienced curator, Christie knew Monroe’s work must be documented and exhibited, bringing it to RioBravoFine-Art® Gallery to mount a professionally curated show that reflects the exceptional quality of the artwork and the uniqueness of the collection.
Monroe has a great sense of humor. One afternoon, as we were photographing “Bygones,” I said “I bet you just chuckle your way thru all of this.” She chuckled and said “yes!” …sac
Because the Monroe show is singularly important to the history of art in New Mexico and textile art globally, the gallery is advertising the exhibition in the leading international textile publication, Selvedge Magazine (www.selvedge.org), published in London and distributed worldwide.
Monroe is part of the long history of textiles as they entered the realm of fine art in the early 1960s. At 82, her lifelong art practice has never previously been exhibited in its entirety.
(Reference: The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present Oct 1, 2014 – Jan 4, 2015 www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/fiber-sculpture-1960-present)
This exhibition is a notable opportunity to gather together the prodigious and historical collection of an artist’s work. The story begins with Monroe’s graduation with a BA, 1983 and MA, 1984 from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a focus on photography and printmaking. Examples of her early work will be included along with her growing body of Sculpture, Embellished Textiles, Totem Figures, Shrines, Assemblages, Altered Books, and Paper Collagé.
“Nearly 100% of my work is created using found materials. My hunting skills have been honed to a fine art while pawing through second-hand clothing, fabrics, beads, yarns, rusted metal, and fanciful objects found at local thrift stores, yard sales and on many rambles on desert trails. This kind of reuse and upcycling gives me fits of pleasure and excitement.” ...Donna Monroe
“Her studio is filled with shelves of fabrics, drawers of embroidery floss organized into colorways, buttons, laces, collected bits and pieces from thrift stores and other browsed locations. Portfolios, folders, and cabinets hold years of her history. Flat tables hold an array of materials, works in progress, scissors, sewing machine, threads, needles and more. On the walls are works in some stage of development. She said that often pieces went up and down for some time as they were slowly worked on and inspiration struck with a found piece to be included.” …Curator, Susan A. Christie
The RioBravoFine-Art® Gallery is both the perfect partner and environment for Monroe’s exhibition. The gallery represents other local historical figures Delmas Howe and Harold Joe Waldrum.
The show is being curated by Susan A. Christie, a local artist with over 50 years of professional experience in the art world. Christie is the Editor/Publisher of the New Mexico Fiber Arts Directory. A recent project of Christie’s was the Exhibition, Transforming Space-Transforming Fiber at the Las Cruces Museum of Arts, 2016-17.
Christie became aware of the extent of this quiet artists commitment to her work as she and Monroe developed their friendship and worked on various projects together. As an experienced curator, Christie knew Monroe’s work must be documented and exhibited, bringing it to RioBravoFine-Art® Gallery to mount a professionally curated show that reflects the exceptional quality of the artwork and the uniqueness of the collection.
Monroe has a great sense of humor. One afternoon, as we were photographing “Bygones,” I said “I bet you just chuckle your way thru all of this.” She chuckled and said “yes!” …sac
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