40 under 40: Crafting the Future

[untonuggan]

The Smithsonian Renwick Gallery is going to opening an exhibit entitled 40 Under 40: Crafting the Future on Friday. There will also be a meet-the-artist session from 12-2:30. The exhibit runs from Friday until February 3, 2013 and then goes on tour.

From the exhibit website:

"40 under 40: Craft Futures features forty artists born since 1972, the year the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s contemporary craft and decorative arts program was established at its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery. The exhibition investigates evolving notions of craft within traditional media such as ceramics and metalwork, as well as in fields as varied as sculpture, industrial design, installation art, fashion design, sustainable manufacturing, and mathematics. The range of disciplines represented illustrates new avenues for the handmade in contemporary culture.

All of the artworks selected for display in the exhibition were created since Sept. 11, 2001. This new work reflects the changed world that exists today, which poses new challenges and considerations for artists. These 40 artists are united by philosophies for living differently in modern society with an emphasis on sustainability, a return to valuing the hand-made and what it means to live in a state of persistent conflict and unease."

It looks pretty awesome: check out the slide show with yarn bombing, embroidery (by Jenny Hart, even), wood carving, and lots of other stuff here. (Good even if you can't make it to DC, they have a lot of images)

cross-posted to dcmetro