General admission for children 17 years and under is always free
Standard Incomparable (partial), 2016/2017
Organized by Helen Mirra
wool, linen, cotton, alpaca, and other fibers
Standard Incomparable is an international collection of weavings, here shown in part. In 2015, Helen Mirra invited people of all ages and experience levels to weave with the following parameters: to use undyed wool from the weaver's locale to make a weaving the length of the weaver's arm, with seven stripes the width of the weaver's hand. Each participant made two pieces: one for this collection, the other to be exchanged as a gift with another participant. Standard Incomparable includes weavings from sixteen countries, made by people born between the years 1946 and 2009.
Photo at top: Stewart Clements.
A couple years ago I was Artist-in-Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. While there, I was looking for the plainest of things in the collection, the ordinary among the extraordinary. The Museum is a dense and elaborate complex of artworks and artifacts collected by Gardner, a privileged international traveler in the late 1800s. This project is a kind of inversion of that approach.
— Helen Mirra
Standard Incomparable is one part of the contemporary exhibition, Common Threads: Weaving Stories Across Time. On view in Hostetter Gallery beginning October 4.
Common Threads: Weaving Stories Across Time is supported in part by Amy and David Abrams, The Coby Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Barr Foundation ArtsAmplified Initiative, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which receives support from the State of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Media Sponsor: WBUR
