Please join us to celebrate the Opening Reception, October 30th from 1-4pm.
Illumination, Time, Containment and Bling brings together an exhibition focused primarily on fine craft lamps, clocks, boxes and jewelry by Garry Knox Bennett, spanning several decades of his career.
Ever the consummate craftsman, Bennett revels in the exploration and design of everyday objects, elevating them from the arena of routine utility, and they are meant to be used, to the realm of art and high craft, in a most unpretentious way.
Notable early on for contributions to metal plating as well as the use of unexpected combinations of materials, Bennett’s unconventional perspective and drive has profoundly influenced American furniture making. So much so, he is referenced in popular culture, in a season seven episode of Parks and Recreation, as one of only two celebrities recognized by lead character Ron Swanson.
Pop culture aside, Bennett’s long career includes major exhibitions at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, and Oakland Museum, traveling exhibition, Garry Knox Bennett: Call Me Chairmaker, which toured Bellvue Arts Museum, Racine Art Museum, Delaware art Museum, Fuller Craft Museum and American University-Katzen Center, and an extensive exhibition history dating back to 1960. Works are included in museum collections including the Museum of Arts and Design, de young Museum, Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Montreal Museum of Art, Oakland Museum of California, Ravine Art Museum, Renwick Gallery and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Works in this exhibition feature materials ranging from the commonplace, accessible and manmade, Nevamar, Corian and Color Core, to exotic woods, fine metal plating, silver, gold, nickel, and natural elements such as sea anemone spines. One of a kind glass or ceramic details may be incorporated, or more pedestrian elements like golf tees and tin. Key to the work is the intention that these objects are useful and pleasurable in their function. A fine attention to balance and proportion is notable throughout as are the many playful moments of lighthearted humor.
While Bennett produced some editioned lamps, and most often produced work in series as he developed forms and style, the pieces in Illumination, Time, Containment and Bling are unique works, each an expression of Bennett’s aesthetic and presence. Of special note is Sylvia’s Chair, named for Bennett’s wife. Its elegant grace and spare beauty speak to Bennett’s sensitivity to form, while its comfort and strength declare its service as a chair.
See the work at Transmission Gallery October 23rd through November 27th.*
*(closed Nov 25/26 for Thanksgiving break)
