Art Metropole

17 - 19 Aug. 2006

An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail, a project by Ginger Brooks Takahashi

Artist

Ginger Brooks Takahashi

Art Metropole is pleased to present An Army Of Lovers Cannot Fail, part of an ongoing series of quilting forums initiated by Ginger Brooks Takahashi. Please join us Thursday August 17 and Friday August 18 from 3 to 8 PM, and Saturday August 19 from 2 to 6 PM when An Army Of Lovers Cannot Fail will be stopping at Art Metropole. Art Metropole is located at 788 King Street West, Toronto.

Conceived by Takahashi Brooks in 2004, An Army Of Lovers Cannot Fail is an invitation to participate in traditional hand quilting, regardless of skill. Taking the form of the quilting bee, Takahashi Brooks harnesses this history as the foremost in political activities: community building and dialog, creating a sense of belonging for those who participate, while reanimating the gallery space and places of gathering.

For Takahashi Brooks, “the quilting forums are symbolic of the same ideals upheld by [her] own queer community. While redefining these traditions and reviving a historically outdated mode of production,” An Army Of Lovers Cannot Fail brings the spirit of this shared experience to an extended community.

Taking its title from a 1970s San Francisco Gay Freedom poster, the quilt advocates the politics of sexual liberation and collective production. The quilt’s design repossesses these values with rabbit and human forms. The imagery, taken from recent drawings by Takahashi Brooks, is depicted in found linen on the quilts nine panels. These explicit images of engaged bodies are sublimated by a rendering in subtle, all-white embroidery and appliqué. The relation between the imagery and the communal aspect lies in her interest in documenting queer culture and community

In progress for over two years now, the quilt will require at least one more year to completion. In Takahashi Brooks’s practice, the end product is not the piece, but rather the process-the informal gatherings and dialog between friends and strangers. In fostering this, the artist encourages participants to bring books to read aloud from and talk about ideas.

Ginger Brooks Takahashi (b. 1977) lives in Brooklyn, NY, maintaining a social, project-based practice. She is co-founder of LTTR, a queer and feminist art journal, and projet MOBILIVRE BOOKMOBILE project, a traveling exhibit of artist books and zines. She received her BA from Oberlin College, attended the Whitney Independent Study Program, and is a resident artist at Smack Mellon, 2008-09. Her work has shown in the following exhibitions recently: “Shared Women” at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, 2007; “Exile of the Imaginary” at the Generali Foundation, Vienna, 2007; and “Locally Localized Gravity” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, 2007. She has presented public projects at the Serpentine Gallery, London, 2008; documenta 12, Kassel, 2007; Art Metropole, Toronto, 2007; and with Ridykeulous at The Kitchen, NY, 2007.

Images

2: Dimitri the bunny laps it with Ginger Brooks Takahashi.
3: Natalie Matutschovsky looks at the camera.
4: Natalie Matutschovsky looks at the camera.
5: John shows Ginger his quilting technique.
6: John and Ann read from the biography of Liberace.
7: Alynne Lavigne and Will Munro stay busy sewing, while Meichen yuks it up with Miles behind Ginger.
8: Sandy Plotnikoff.
9: Will Munro shows off his technique.
10: Cecilia Berkovic.
11: Chris Curreri.
12: Ali watches Alynne.
13: Julie Voyce studies as Ginger teaches.
14: Krista Buecking.
15: Eli Langer being jolly.
16: Onya Hogan Finley, John and Ginger chat it up.
17: Shannon Michael Cane, editor of They Shoot Homos Don't They? takes a break.

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