AMY COREY: KNITTING IN PUBLIC

March 4 - 22, 2018
Opening Reception: Sunday, March 4, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

University of Massachusetts Amherst-----Hampden Gallery is delighted to announce the opening of a solo exhibition by Taunton, Massachusetts native, Amy Corey, titled Knitting in Public. Corey returns to campus, after a 17 year hiatus, with an exhibition in the main gallery that includes her textured, free-form knitted pieces that playfully suggest wearable items, over 60 knitted hats arrayed on the wall as leaves on branches that reference Corey’s engagement with notions of “family tree” (they are wearable), sock collages, and projections of people who, as the exhibition’s title states clearly, are Knitting in Public. Themes of connection, lineage, and family can be seen throughout the works. Corey credits her mother, Patricia Corey, with her decade-long mission to teach knitting to elementary school students in Taunton, MA, for inspiring her, in turn, to share her knitting with the public.

Collectively, the work in the installation addresses the relationship in art between form and function. At the same time, Corey’s work underscores the Knit Stitch as the one elegant stitch which is the foundation of all knitting, from essential fishing nets to clothing. In Knitting in Public Corey mines the potential in this diametric form and elevates it to fine art. At the close of the exhibition, the hats will be donated to a local organization that provides assistance to the homeless and others in need.

Special acknowledgement goes to the knitters who contributed photographs to the Knitting In Public Slideshow (Patricia Corey, Jen Garber, Jane Runowski, Rosemary McDonald, Margaret Souza, Cathy Wojewoda, Virginia Guerrero, Michele Mendelson (CO)

Amy Corey earned a BFA in Sculpture (’95) with minors in Psychology and Art History, and an MA in Art History (’01) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her transition from sculpting with clay by hand and on the wheel to sculpting in cotton, wool, and synthetic yarns with hand knitting and crocheting began while she lived in the upstate NY Albany area, where she taught several knitting and crochet classes and where she was a founding member of The Fear Knot knitting group. Currently, she lives, works, and knits in Denver, CO.

 

Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 1 PM to 6 PM and Sunday 2 PM to 5 PM. University holiday schedule observed.

All events are free and the public is welcome.