Assemble: Tufting Gun Tapestries
September 13 - October 27, 2019
Installation View, Logan Center Gallery. Photo by Robert Chase Heishman
Tufting Gun Tapestries presents textile experiments produced by the art and architecture collective Assemble and multidisciplinary artist Duval Timothy, in collaboration with Big Chief Demond Melancon and his students from the Material Institute in New Orleans. Exploring alternative education and spatial practices, this project transforms the Logan Center Gallery into an active site of learning and production through the investigation of an ancient carpet making technique reimagined with contemporary tufting equipment.
The presentation at the Logan Center Gallery builds on Assemble’s ongoing connection with the Material Institute—a fashion school they co-founded with the Museum of Old and New Art that aims to provide free or affordable space, tools, and professional guidance to students in New Orleans. Leading up to the exhibition, students undertake an intensive three-week workshop in New Orleans, learning the tufting gun technique and designing garments, an endeavor that is supported by Assemble, Norma Hedrick, and Timothy. In addition, Big Chief Demond Melancon, a contemporary artist, one of the founding teachers of the Material Institute, and performer with roots in the Black Masking culture of New Orleans, runs a workshop exploring the traditions and techniques of craft and costuming in the city. Following these engagements, students from the Material Institute travel to Chicago to learn, create new work, and share their skills with the Logan’s publics and communities.
The newly commissioned project is presented alongside a selection of Assemble’s past work, contextualizing their interest in spaces for alternative pedagogy, and their expansive, interdisciplinary view of the built environment. Paying tribute to experimental schools such as Black Mountain College, the Bauhaus, and Virgil Abloh’s workshops, Tufting Gun Tapestries uses textile-based arts to create a space for hands on learning and community building.
Assemble: Tufting Gun Tapestries is presented by Logan Center Exhibitions and curated by Yesomi Umolu, Director & Curator with Katja Rivera, Assistant Curator and Alyssa Brubaker, Exhibitions Manager. This exhibition is made possible by support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, UChicago Urban Architecture Initiative, The Reva and David Logan Foundation, and friends of the Logan Center and is co-funded by MONA (Museum of Old and New Art).
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About the Artists
Maria Lisogorskaya and Louis Schulz are two of the co-founders of Assemble, a multi-disciplinary collective based in London, working across architecture, design and art. They have delivered a diverse and award-winning body of work that spans research, construction, business planning, architectural and furniture design, ceramics and textiles.
Material Institute is a new alternative space for design and manufacture of garments, textiles and fashion, with a focus on learning through hands-on experimentation. Assemble have been invited by MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) to design the project. The space is founded on a belief in the value of free high quality education for all; and the learning environment as a community and place for expression.
Big Chief Demond Melancon is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist and performer with extensive roots in contemporary African diaspora art. Demond is a founding teacher at Material Institute. With a career spanning almost three decades, Melancon is well-known for his meticulous hand-sewn beadwork used to create massive Mardi Gras Indian suits which are composed of intricately beaded patches depicting actual and imagined events from African and American history.
Duval Timothy is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works between London, UK and Freetown, Sierra Leone. His work focuses on colour and identity via music, textiles, painting, food and photography.
Material Institute students: Bilal Hankins, Brandon Hayward, Chelsea Louvierre, Cherise Lockett, Christopher Maya, Cody Gallegos, Compton III, Daquine Hebert, David Neco, Didi Robbins, Ian Jones, Jalisa Riels, Face Faulkner, Logan Jackson, Sarah Hernandez, Tahj Pierre, Angel Walker, and Tysean Riles