Mill Valley fiber arts show full of whimsy and wonder

Art for art’s sake is in full bloom at Mill Valley’s O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, now hosting a large-scale “Fiber Arts” exhibit through June 27.

Juried by Carole Beadle, the exhibit is a collection of works by more than 90 artists, all but one of them female. Pieces on display range from simple design exercises and folk craft to intensely personal expressions and ambitious political statements.

“Rice” by San Rafael quilter Patricia Bruvry, near the gallery’s entry, is a quilt that evokes a time-honored craft, reminiscent of touring exhibits such as “The Quilters of Gee’s Bend” that generated much enthusiasm in San Francisco some years ago. Around the corner from this piece is a wall-mounted installation of a couple dozen small sculptures by former teacher Annelies Atchley. Her “Basket Meditation” is a collection of flexible little woven baskets each about the size of a coffee cup, every one of them covered in barnacles of beads, buttons and whatever found objects tweaked the artist’s curiosity. Atchley encourages art enthusiasts to contact her for lessons in how to create such pieces.

The definition of “fiber art” (traditionally, fabrics and paper) is stretched a bit at O’Hanlon — such as Marin artist Heather J. Chamberlain’s “Always in My Heart,” a torso made of woven copper wire, and Marin artist Kathy Pallie’s “Stormy Weather,” a hovering dark rain cloud made of wire, wire mesh and rubber ropes. The fiber concept is pretty much stretched to its limit with Beth Hartmann’s “Grandpa’s Cushion #2,” realistic-looking cushions made of pounded steel and wire —an amazing and beautiful illusion.

Most of the exhibiting artists stick to the use of actual fiber materials with pieces that range from humorous — such as San Rafael artist Arlene Wohl’s “Get Me Out of Here,” like an octopus’s comic nightmare — to deadly serious, such as Sue Weil’s “Life Without CHOICE,” a modestly scaled woven tapestry whose opposing sides are bisected by a blood-red rivulet, presumably a statement about increasing legal restrictions on women’s reproductive autonomy.

But whimsy is everywhere in this exhibit. It’s clear that many of the artists have tremendous fun creating their works. Tracy Flanagan’s “Earth Wrinkles” is an amusing hanging patchwork piece that alludes to old clothing on a rack, while Marin artist Phyllis Thelen’s “Flowers #1” is an overturned basket with a rim of brightly colored zip ties. Servane Briand offers “Botanikos 1,” three disheveled little books as if from an archeological site.

Many of the artworks are gorgeously decorative, such as Anne Hermann Lamborn’s “Summer Celebration,” a brightly hued, dyed-fabric tapestry, and Alex Friedman’s more subdued “World in Tatters.” Among the most beautiful pieces in this exhibit is Paul Kensinger’s “Water Fall,” a large woven creation made of fabrics he inherited from his brother, also a fabric artist. Many of the elements in “Water Fall” are painted with acrylics. It’s a dynamic, compelling piece that combines color, iridescence, action and serenity in a way that both draws you in and gives back.

There are a couple pieces at O’Hanlon that are disturbingly personal. Primary among these is “Stop Hating Me” by Karin Taylor. A collage of old maps festooned with what appear to be takeout food containers, the title of the piece is clearly spelled out in bold red letters, the maps presumably alluding to an unpleasant individual history, the empty containers perhaps symbolic of less-than-nourishing events.

The most audacious piece in the exhibit is Susan Doyle’s “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby?” It’s a huge work of durable fabric printed with full-page advertisements from mainstream publications going back 100 years — every one of them demeaning women in some way. The reproduced ads depict women as simple objects such as a coffee table covered with shoes, or demonstrate how  “helpless” they can be without male guidance.

The creators of these ads no doubt congratulated themselves on their own cleverness — cue reruns of “Mad Men” here — regardless of the meta-message they were really conveying. An added enjoyment for this reviewer is that Doyle devotes a large swath of “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby?” to cigarette ads, a probably intentional poke at the tobacco industry whose products have plagued and poisoned us for more than a century.

Doyle’s obsessive creation is the most overtly political piece in the exhibit. It’s also the most imposing, one whose sheer size would make for a difficult installation in a private home but ideal in a public gallery. It’s both stunning and overwhelming. O’Hanlon Center for the Arts deserves kudos for including it and for putting together this tremendous exhibit.

Contact Barry Willis at barry.m.willis@gmail.com

If you go

What: “Fiber Arts”

Where: O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, 616 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley

When: Through June 27; 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays

Admission: Free

Information: ohanloncenter.org