The last museum show I saw was a year ago, just before everything shut down. The Morris Museum is NOT crowded, strictly limiting people, and so, fully masked, I ventured forth! Jon Riis creates great tapestries - take a look:
The main room had 3 pieces dealing with Icarus.
It looks like the surface is entirely beaded, but actually it’s woven with metallic threads. The first piece (back at the start of the blog) has woven metallic threads AND beads.
Wish I’d copied the name of this one (below). Based on an ancient statue, Riis has added body hair (fine gold threads sticking up from the surface) and a tattoo, as nods to contemporary ideals of beauty. And look - a fibula!
(below) The green shading on this grasshopper is impressive.
(below) Unlike some others, this one is covered in beading - beautiful concentric circles of black pearls.
(below) It looks like the frogs are woven with metallic threads, and the black pearls are sewn…OVER the weaving?
(below) This is best one, for me. The desert camouflage on the outside (referencing war), the vintage-style sampler inside, and the dripping blood all combine to make such a strong statement.
(below) Another view, showing how the jacket front opens out. The green piece on the wall behind it shows a hundred dollar bill, with Benjamin Franklin’s eye shot out. Don’t know what the message is there.
(below) This one is NOT in the show - I found the image online, and wonder if it’s an earlier version of the other jacket.
(below and above) This Ancestor’s Pearl Coat also has swirling black pearls. Black and white faces on the outside, with a chimpanzee - our ancestor - inside.
(above) Several pieces on display in a large case, and I’m not sure this is the correct label.
(above) I don’t understand these two different peacock jackets. Riis is obviously an excellent colorist, so why has he created peacock coats with such drab colors? There’s a message here that I’m not getting.
(above) On his earlier works, Riis signs with a stylized R woven into the design. On later pieces, he attaches a metallic bit with the same stylized letter.
(above and below) The bunnies in this piece are woven with metallic threads, giving them that shimmery, beaded look that so many of his pieces have. But if you look closely, you can see the fine golden threads sticking up from the surface.
(below) On this one, tiny tubular beads stand up from the surface. As far as I know, that has to be done by hand. Did Riis do the sewing? Dunno. A sign says that he does all his own weaving, which I’m assuming is done on a computerized loom.
There are more pieces, including a giant Icarus tapestry in a back hallway. This site https://baristanet.com/2020/11/morris-museum-presents-the-tapestries-of-jon-eric-riis/ gives a good deal more information on the show, and about Riis and his work. (Having actually seen the show, I didn’t feel the need to read the entire piece……but you’re welcome to it:)
The Jacket Fibula Man is coming along nicely, and I’ve started creating new fibulae for the Jacket Fibula Quilt. Stay well. Stay safe.