The Miniature Worlds of Bruce Metcalf

The Miniature Worlds of Bruce Metcalf

February 21, 2009 – May 17, 2009

Mint Museum of Craft + Design

 

Deliverance from a Gilded Cage, 1994

Pins: Sterling silver, brass, 14ky gold, Micarta, 3” x 1 ¼”

Stage: Painted wood, 8 ½” x 7 ¾” x 1 ¼”

Collection of Nan Schaffer

 

 

The Miniature Worlds of Bruce Metcalf is the the first exhibition and first major monograph with a retrospective view of the artist’s work. Featuring approximately sixty pieces dating from the 1970s to the present, the exhibition conceptualizes Metcalf’s work in relationship to his interest in architecture, the comics, and the narrative. It examines the social, moral, and political issues that Metcalf has raised in published essays about the handmade and that are acted out by his rueful bigheaded and vulnerable protagonists on miniature stages. In their dual life as wearable brooches, they venture into the world, where they engage the unsuspecting viewer with their stories and distinctive visual language.

 

Organized by Palo Alto Art Center, Division of Arts and Sciences, City of Palo Alto, Palo Alto, California.

 

This exhibition has been made possible through the support of the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation; Rotasa Foundation, Windgate Charitable Foundation, the Arts Council Silicon Valley; and private contributions. Sponsored by The Founders' Circle Ltd., the national support affiliate of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design. A full color catalog accompanies the exhibition.

 

 

The Miniature Worlds of Bruce Metcalf page on the Mint Museum website

 

• MetclfFamGuide_V6_Final.pdf  View and/or download the Family Fun Guide!

 

• Handmade Portraits - Bruce Metcalf with Bonus Audio Podcast from the etsy.com blog . Video podcast from YouTube or Blip.tv   Audio podcast

 

• The Metalcyberspace blog has a short description of the exhibition on their blog.

 

• This exhibition will be at the Palo Alto Art Center from September 28 - December 21, 2008. Here is the Press Release.

 

• artdaily.org's announcement of the exhibition at the Palo Alto Art Center includes a large image of one of his pieces.

 

 

About the Artist 

• Bruce Metcalf's website has numerous images of his work presented chronologically, and his blog.

 

• In 1996, Metcalf was awarded a Pew Fellowship which is designed to "provide financial support directly to the artists so that they may have the opportunity to dedicate themselves to creative pursuits exclusively.
   
• Charon Kransen artists page on Bruce Metcalf shows recent work and an artist statement.

 

 

Essays and Multimedia 

• Metcalf describes himself as a "studio jeweler and writer." Here is a link to some of Metcalf's writings from his website. Two of his influential essays on craft are also linked below.

 

• Metcalf, along with Janet Koplos (Editor, Art in America), is creating a textbook publication, The History of 20th Century Studio Crafts in America. Here is the process that went into the making of the text from The Center for Craft Creativity and Design in Hendersonville, NC. Also, the production site for the book, which has online resources for students and instructors. 

 

• "The Hand: At the Heart of Craft" , an article in PDF format from American Craft magazine (August/September 2000). Also, here, from the artist's site.

 

• "Replacing the Myth of Modernism”, is another article from American Craft magazine (February/March 1993) available from Metcalf's site.

 

• Explore the complicated relationships among the broad spectrum of craft makers today and listen the podcast of Connect/(Dis)connect: Bruce Metcalf and Chanel Kennebrew of Junkprints; a dialogue between Metcalf and Chanel Kennebrew, an indie craft artist, graphic designer and Etsy seller. This dialogue was one of the American Craft Council's 2008 Summer in the City Salon Series made possible by the support of Leatrice S. Eagle, with additional support from Etsy. A bloggers perspective on the event.

 

• The Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) posts a transcript of the 2008 SNAG (Society of North American Goldsmiths) presentation by Bruce Metcalf entitled "DIY, Websites and Energy: The New Alternative Crafts” .  A good synopsis from the Greenjeans blog (with links to more information) of the vigorous online craft debate which was created by reaction to the presentation. The American Craft Magazine's Zoom blog also has more information.
   
• The catalog for the exhibition contains the essay " In and Out of Context" by Dr. Vicky A. Clark. In it, she discusses some parallels between Metcalf's figures and those from Graphic Novels by writers such as Harvey Pekar (who will be at Charlotte's Novello Festival of Reading this October) and Art Spiegelman. Clark was the curator for the exhibtion, "Comic Release: Negotiating Identity for a New Generation" , held at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University in 2003

 

 

Selected Resources In The Mint Museum Library 

• Brooching it Diplomatically: a Tribute to Madeleine Albright. Philadelphia: Helen Drutt - Philadelphia, 1998. Includes work by Metcalf and a wide range of jewelry artists.
• Fariello, M. Anna. Objects and Meaning: New Perspectives on Art and Craft. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004. Contains Metcalf's essay "Evolutionary Biology and its Implications for Craft."
• Metcalf, Bruce. The Miniature Worlds of Bruce Metcalf: September 28 - December 21, 2008. Palo Alto: Palo Alto Art Center, [2008] . The catalogue accompanying the exhibition. 
• Neocraft: Modernity and the Crafts. Halifax, NS: Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 2007. Metcalf contributed to this collection of  "scholarly essays that explore the historical, contemporary, and future positioning of the crafts within the broader scope of visual culture."

 

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Created by Joe Eshleman, Library Assistant for The Mint Museum