David Richard Gallery is pleased to present, Woven and Stitched, a solo exhibition of selected textiles by artist Judy Chicago that were created from 1983 through 2000 and part of Birth Project and Resolutions for the Millennium: A Stitch In Time. These works examine not only birth, but how we can live as human beings in a global community by taking a new look at old proverbs and words of wisdom—a thought provoking collection of powerful images and texts.

Chicago’s feminist work, writing, teaching and artistic practice has elevated women and their voices in the arts, and culturally as well. She celebrates through her textile work those art-making practices that are frequently misunderstood and considered craft, low art or feminine domestic activities by incorporating them in her monumental projects that examine and critique topics of global importance, such as creation, human rights and dignity. She frequently utilizes weaving, embroidery, appliqué, quilting, beading and other textile practices in her major theme-based projects, including The Dinner Party, Birth Project, PowerPlay, Holocaust Project and Resolutions for the Millennium: A Stitch In Time. Emphasizing participation and collaboration in the art-making practice imbues her protest-based artwork with solidarity. Chicago’s artwork is strategic with a long-term view and life-long commitment to creating and implementing change, not for only women, but for everyone who feels as though they are powerless and in the category of “other”.

In conjunction with Judy Chicago’s solo exhibition, Woven and Stitched, the gallery will also present another related solo exhibition, June Wayne, The Tapestries: Forces of Nature and Beyond, and host a series of lectures and discussions, June Wayne's Tapestries and Judy Chicago's Textiles, in the gallery on Saturday, February 23, 2013, 2:00 – 4:00 PM. The featured presenters will include:
 

• Elissa Auther, Associate Professor of Contemporary Art, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and Co-Director | Feminism & Co.: Art, Sex, Politics, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver. Her book, String, Felt, Thread and the Hierarchy of Art and Craft (University of Minnesota Press, 2010) is the definitive text that examines the use of fiber in post-war American art and makes distinctions between “art” and “craft.”
  
  Janet Koplos, a New York City-based art critic, writer and contributing editor for Art In America. She is co-author of Makers: A History of American Studio Craft (2010) and author of Contemporary Japanese Sculpture (1990) and other books. She has written extensively on crafts and on American, Japanese and Dutch contemporary art and has published approximately 2,500 articles, reviews and essays in some two dozen periodicals over the last 30 years.

In addition to Auther and Koplos, the discussion panel will include Judy Chicago, artist, educator, writer and feminist and David Eichholtz, art writer and curator at David Richard Gallery. Location: David Richard Gallery, 544 South Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501.