Shoshana Wayne Gallery

Shoshana Wayne Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Frances Trombly.  This is Frances’ first show with the gallery.

Frances Trombly is best known for her work in fabric, using related fiber materials to mimic items of quotidian experience.  The use of fabric explores the traditionally feminine sphere of handicraft (knitting, sewing, crocheting, weaving).  Trombly explores the labor associated with women through the position of the feminine vs. the masculine; the industrial vs. the domestic.

In recent years, Trombly has extended her practice to engage with an object’s utility; function remains a crucial part of each sculpture, each work serving its original purpose.

In the gallery exhibition, Frances installs several blank canvases leaning nonchalantly along the gallery walls as if they are waiting to be moved or hung.  The sculptures resemble stretched canvases waiting to be primed for painting, and in fact could be used for such a purpose.  The great labor involved is not apparent in the casualness of the sculpture- each canvas has been individually woven by the artist.  Placed in the gallery is a Knoll bench, which the artist has also skillfully reupholstered.

The work continues the dialogue between the practices of three disciplines- art, craft and design.  The canvases immediately relate to the idea of painting, and then recall the craft of weaving and the design of textiles, as well as the sculptural relationship between wood and fabric.   The bench is cleverly placed in the context of the gallery space as it would be in a museum; to be used for sitting and contemplating art.  Knoll is a premier designer of furniture and Trombly utilizes this iconic piece, translating design into art.

The sculptures pay homage to both Kasimir Malevich and Robert Rauchenburg’s early white paintings; Brice Marden and Agnes Martin’s poetic use of emptiness; and Rosemarie Trockel and Sheila Hick’s usage of fabric turned into painting.

The show is a discussion of objects in their purest form.  The objects- the canvases, the bench; they are simply what they are.

Frances Trombly lives and works in Miami, FL.  The artist has had solo exhibitions at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia; The Girls’ Club, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; and has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; The Bass Art Museum, Miami, FL. Her work has been featured in various publications including Art + Auction, Art Papers, Sculpture Magazine, Surface Design Journal and the Miami Herald.