Dianna Frid: Time is Textile

November 4, 2022 - January 13, 2023

Opening Reception: Friday, Nov 4:  6:00-9:00 pm

Artist conversation with Dianna Frid and John Neff: Friday, Dec 2:  6:00-8:00 pm

Time is Textile is a solo exhibition of new works by artist Dianna Frid. The exhibition opens Friday, November 4 and continues through January 13, 2023 at our Chicago location at 806 North Dearborn Street.

The works in Time is Textile—seven books and three wall pieces—grapple with themes of mortality, surrender, disaster, awe, and singing. Sewn text is prevalent in these mixed-media artworks. And yet, as much as Frid’s work intersects with and borrows from written language, it also wrestles with language and its limits. 

I began to make artist’s books in Vancouver in the early 1990s. My first books included photographic sequences of performances that I co-created with friends in Oaxaca. I used thread to bind those books, and eventually the thread moved into the field-space of the page. This is when I started to see sewing as a form of drawing and to understand drawing as a form of writing. Typically, I transcribe and riff on the words of others. These are words I want to spend time with, words I choose for their resonances and rhythms. –Dianna Frid, October 2022  

In addition to the opening reception on November 4 6:00-9:00 pm, Dianna Frid will discuss her artwork with artist John Neff on Friday, December 2 at 6:00 pm. These events are free and open to the public.

Dianna Frid was born in Mexico City, where she was first exposed to textiles as complex codes of material writing. At the age of fifteen she immigrated, with her family, to Vancouver, Canada. These and other points of reference help her situate her work alongside lineages that embrace art and needlework without framing them in hierarchical opposition. Time, Rhythm, Process, and Matter are never in opposition.

Frid is Professor in the Art Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and she has received numerous grants including a 3Arts Award, as well as support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. She recently completed a residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. 

Alan Koppel Gallery in Chicago has regular public hours Monday - Friday 10:00 am - 5:30 pm, and Saturdays by appointment. Please contact the gallery for closures during the holidays.

This project is partially supported by an Individual Artist Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Image: Dianna Frid, SEEDS OF FIRE / LEAP YEAR, 2020, Canvas, paper, paint, aluminum, embroidery floss