40 under 40

OLEK‘s entire studio apartment installation will be included in 40 under 40: Craft Futures, a group exhibition curated by Nicholas Bell at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, in the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC.

40 under 40: Craft Futures features forty artists born since 1972, the year the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s contemporary craft and decorative arts program was established at its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery. The exhibition investigates evolving notions of craft within traditional media such as ceramics and metalwork, as well as in fields as varied as sculpture, industrial design, installation art, fashion design, sustainable manufacturing, and mathematics. The range of disciplines represented illustrates new avenues for the handmade in contemporary culture.

All of the artworks selected for display in the exhibition were created since Sept. 11, 2001. This new work reflects the changed world that exists today, which poses new challenges and considerations for artists. These 40 artists are united by philosophies for living differently in modern society with an emphasis on sustainability, a return to valuing the hand-made and what it means to live in a state of persistent conflict and unease.

Nicholas R. Bell, The Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator of American Craft and Decorative Art at the Renwick Gallery, organized the exhibition. The museum hopes to acquire works by every artist featured in the exhibition to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Renwick Gallery. Click here to learn how you can help in this effort.

Select works from 40 under 40:Craft Futures provided inspiration to the designers of Washington Design Center’s 2012 DreamHome. Visit dcdesigncenter.com for more information.

1st floor, Renwick Gallery (Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W.)
July 20, 2012 – February 3, 2013