12 female artists are displaying their work in a new collection properly dubbed “STUFFED.” The witty and eccentric gallery explores the intersections of quilting, painting, sculpture, and installation. You’ll come across everything from jumbo figurines exploding with batting (think a life-size teddy) and “puffy” wall art with undeniably contagious cuteness.
The three-dimensional gallery is only in the city for a limited time, running from June 15 through September 15 at Boston University’s art galleries. Most notably, a rare piece by Elizabeth Murray of Monterey, California, who is thought to be one of the most important postmodern abstract artists of her time, will be on display! Murray revels in the physicality of paint and constructive sculpture, offering a fresh perspective on the relationship between art and space.
STUFFED explores the ways in which texture and softness impact expression. Throughout the gallery you’ll be drawn to the soft inflated curves of art composed from a variety of materials with an interlinking theme-stuffing.
The 12 female artists below showcase their version of STUFFED art:
- Khadija Aziz
- Natalie Baxter
- Amelia Briggs
- Maria A. Guzmán Capron
- L’Merchie Frazier
- Jai Hart
- BSisters Khaleghi
- Anne Libby
- Meg Lipke
- Elizabeth Murray
- Rose Nestler
- Courtney Stock
- Nastassja E. Swift
Techniques used to create the “puffiness” displayed in the exhibition include filling, batting, liner, wadding, swaddle, bushing, and padding!
There are many ways to name the material that brings life to a blanket or fills a comfortable seat,” explains co-curators Mallory A. Ruymann and Leah Triplett Harrington. “A quilt reflects the collision of painting and technology. Portraits of people and charismatic objects emerge from padded surfaces. Wool gives shape to imaginative reflections on identity. The curve of an unstructured edge conjures architecture. This exhibition examines the volumes that swell, and the possibilities presented within those distensions,” they add, “and though reflecting movements associated with Soft Sculpture, Craft, and other pliable materials similarly historicized, the artists presented here make in ways that defy category. Offering, beguiling, and encouraging new ways for art to exist in space, STUFFED makes room for softness to stretch beyond neutral material.
Admission to STUFFED is free. Find it at the Boston University Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery on Commonwealth!
855 Commonwealth Avenue
Tuesday through Saturday from 11 AM until 5 PM through September 15 (closed holidays)