Brand New Rug
Jovencio de la Paz
Oct 14 - Nov 4, 2017
Textiles and notions of commodity are intertwined through long eras of trade, colonization, industrialization, and globalization. As part of the mass material cultures of both trade and domesticity, blankets and rugs play schismatic lives. At once part of the geography of the near, they are familiar, warm, and homey. As part of a global discourse, they are mass-produced, consumer grade, of unknown origin, and disposable. "Brand New Rug" is comprised of two large scale weaving installations. While two brightly colored rag rugs span the entire gallery floor, an accumulation of overshot textiles precariously leans against the wall. The works, on the cognitive space of the wall and the corporeal space of the floor, consider the uncertain status of cloth, occupying a contested and fluid space between conflicting roles of myriad taxonomies: utilitarian object, painting, artifact, sculpture, image, structure, and crafted thing.
Jovencio de la Paz received an MFA in fibers from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2012 and a BFA in fiber and material studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008. He has exhibited work in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally, most recently at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO; Ditch Projects in Springfield, OR; Threewalls, 4th Ward Project Space, Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center, and Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, IL; the Museum of Contemporary Craft and Carl & Sloan Contemporary in Portland, OR; Soil Gallery and the Alice in Seattle, WA; Space Gallery in Portland, ME; the Sculpture Center in Cleveland, OH; and Uri Gallery in Seoul, South Korea, among others. He regularly teaches at schools of art, craft, and design throughout the country, including the Ox-Bow School of Art in Saugatuck, MI; the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME; and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN. He is also a cofounder of the collaborative group Craft Mystery Cult, established in 2010.
jovenciodelapaz.org
Jovencio de la Paz received an MFA in fibers from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2012 and a BFA in fiber and material studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008. He has exhibited work in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally, most recently at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, CO; Ditch Projects in Springfield, OR; Threewalls, 4th Ward Project Space, Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center, and Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, IL; the Museum of Contemporary Craft and Carl & Sloan Contemporary in Portland, OR; Soil Gallery and the Alice in Seattle, WA; Space Gallery in Portland, ME; the Sculpture Center in Cleveland, OH; and Uri Gallery in Seoul, South Korea, among others. He regularly teaches at schools of art, craft, and design throughout the country, including the Ox-Bow School of Art in Saugatuck, MI; the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME; and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN. He is also a cofounder of the collaborative group Craft Mystery Cult, established in 2010.
jovenciodelapaz.org
