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May 15, 2005 REVIEW =
"Jon
Eric Riis: The Embellished Textile" =
Through
June 11. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. =
The
verdict: Riis is a hometown treasure. =
Jon Eric
Riis spends hours and hours at his loom, like a millennium of arti=
stic
forebears, weaving tapestries with exemplary craftsmanship and attention =
to
detail. But his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia is as
contemporary as any that has appeared in MOCA's
galleries. =
Attentive
to the world around him, he draws images and subject matter from nature a=
nd
contemporary culture, as well as the collection of arts and crafts in his
Midtown home, or even a glimpse of a man walking up the stairs. =
Some of
his tapestries are decoration in the grand tradition. Among the sampling =
of
works from 1995 to 2004 are sumptuous (non-wearable) coats in which feath=
ers,
frogs, butterflies and such float amid intricate patterns of pearls or be=
ads.
Riis has also done a series of large-scale hangings on the theme o=
f Icarus, in which he affixes separately woven feathe=
rs to
his highly realistic images of the tragic character. =
He's not
above giving timeless subjects an updated, even humorous spin. A fan of
19th-century artist Canova's classical sculpture, he lovingly renders a n=
ude
sculpture of the mythological =
Playful
in a different way are his versions of "The Invisible Man." =
Riis
uses the coat as a stand-in for the body. The outside is tapestry
"skin" done in metallic gold thread. The lining of the coat is =
an
anatomically correct rendering of the organs and muscles. These pieces are
inverted sculptures, in which the action is in the interior. =
Like
many contemporary artists, Riis takes up the subject of violence in
American culture. "Babes in Arms" is a sweet trio of little gir=
ls
(or china dolls) in high-neck Victorian dresses, who<=
/span>
clutch not dolls, but guns -- an Uzi, an assault rifle and a pistol. =
The
contrast between the girls' old -timey appear=
ance
and the contemporary guns contributes to the piece's emotional effect. The
contrast between the hundreds of tiny coral beads that make up the dresses
with the tapestry faces and guns contributes to its visual effect. =
Imagine
sewing all those beads onto the leather armature, or manipulating colored
yarn to detail the guns and suggest three dimensions. As a recent exhibit=
ion
of high-tech textiles at the =
One
man's tedium, however, is another's labor of love. =
Works by
Jon Eric Riis "Dorothy Takes a =
Photo =
Work by
Jon Eric Riis "Babes in Arms." =
Photo =
Detail
look at "The Frog" =
Photo = Work by Jon Eric Riis "The Frog" coat."
Copyright 2005 The=
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