20cDesign presents a “Celebrate Fall” party featuring the early work of noted fiber artist Jane Knight. This collection of wall hangings and fiber sculptures hasn’t been seen since 1977 when it was presented at the San Francisco Galleria Design Center Exposition “Art Fabric ’77: The Contemporary American Tapestry.” “We acquired these works directly from the personal collection of the Knight family where they were recently found in storage,” says Barry Gream, Founder of 20cDesign gallery in the Dallas design district. “The rich fall colors of these pieces make a perfect backdrop in the gallery to celebrate the change in season and look forward to cooler temperatures,” says Co-Founder Ryan Rucker.
This festive FREE evening with delicious sips and bites is from 6-9 pm on Saturday, September 17 at the 20cDesign gallery, 1430 N. Riverfront Blvd., Dallas, TX 75207. An RSVP is requested to RSVP@20cDesign.com.
Art and design enthusiasts have the chance to come out and see one of the 20th century’s noted fiber artists in one of Dallas’ top galleries that is devoted to mid-century modern furniture and design.
The interest in mid-century modern architecture that has been trending for the past several years has also rekindled an interest in textiles and crafts from the same period. However, these are not your mother’s macramé pot hangers from the 70’s. Knight (1928-2013) hand crafted her sculptural wall hangings and artworks by wrapping hundreds of yards of colored woolen strands around heavy lengths of jute to create sophisticated decorative pieces. She received her BFA in Art from the University of Michigan and was personal friends with some of the iconic architects of the 20th century -- Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson -- and held dinner parties at her home which they attended. Jane Knight also taught in the theater department at the prestigious Cranbrook School. See her full bio below.
About Jane Knight
Jane Knight (1928-2013) was born in Grosse Pointe and received her BFA from the University of Michigan, School of Art and Architecture in 1951. After graduation, she worked as the Art Director for the Detroit-based luxury department store JL Hudsons and designed for the Cranbrook Theater School. Due to her husband’s employment at Eero Saarinen and Associates she was embraced by a community of cutting-edge designers and architects at the epicenter of the modernism movement including Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames and Alexander Girard, to name a few.
She was an avid world traveler who always viewed the world magically with her creative eye. As an art collector herself, she highly regarded the work of Alexander Calder and Henri Matisse. Her body of work is a product of her perpetual need to create art and a constant conviction that one’s home should be a continual environmental stimulus. Her wall hangings, which are considered to be her most important works, were created by wrapping brightly colored woolen strands around heavy lengths of jute. Like many of the other three dimensional textiles her works reflect the colorful, textural exuberance that was characteristic of fiber art during the 1970s. Throughout her career, she created freestanding, wall-mounted, and suspended fiber pieces for interior environments and stage sets. Her work has been featured in books on fiber design, widely exhibited in galleries in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York, and included in several corporate collections including Borge Warner and Chrysler.
About 20cDesign
Born out of a sincere love for Modernism 20cdesign has been buying and selling extraordinary examples of classic 20th century design since our inception in 1998. It is our desire to develop lasting business relationships with designers and collectors from around the globe. We invite you to visit our award-winning gallery in the heart of the Dallas design district where you will discover a uniquely curated selection of furniture, fine art and decorative objects.