QUEER THREADS: CRAFTING IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY

BY JOHN CHAICH + TODD OLDHAM - LOS ANGELES BOOK LAUNCH
SATURDAY, JUNE 10th 4:00 - 6:00 PM
 

Join us Saturday, June 10th  for a book signing and exhibition with John Chaich as part of the Design Field Day at Helms! We'll be showing work from Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community and enjoying treats from our own Culver City community -  a special cocktail from Bar & Garden and the ice cream stylings of CoolHaus!

The exhibition, running through June 24th, will feature work by five Los Angeles-based artists. On view will be fiber and textile work by Diedrick Brackens, Ben Cuevas, Aubrey Longley-Cook, Maria E. Pineres, and Nathan Vincent. Spanning video to soft sculpture and wall-work, the pieces on view range from  life-sized knit and crochet urinals to a stop-motion animation based on needle-point scenes from RuPaul's "Supermodel" video.

Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community spotlights an international, inter-generational, inter-sectional mix of thirty artists who are remixing fiber craft traditions such as crochet, embroidery, quilting, and sewing while reconsidering the binaries of art and craft, masculine and feminine, and gay and straight.

Designed by Todd Oldham and edited by John Chaich, Queer Threads features full-color spreads of each artist's work, intimate details of selections and artist studios, and an introductory essay by Mr. Chaich, who curated the exhibition of the same name that inspired the book.

To further examine how queerness informs their work in fiber and textiles, the artists are interviewed by makers and thinkers from the worlds of dance, design, fashion, media, music, museums, scholarship, and more - many of whom are members of the LGBTQ community themselves and otherwise passionate allies. Queer Threads is not just an exploration of fiber art and crafts, but also a celebration of the creativity, diversity, and vibrancy of contemporary queer culture.
 

If you are unable to attend but would like a copy of Queer Threads signed by author and editor John Chaich,  please place your order on our website here, or call us at 310-458-1499.

The exhibition will be on display through June 24th. 

The Helms-wide "Design Field Day: This Modern Life" will be running all day Saturday. There are dozens of panels, specials, workshops, demonstrations, tastings throughout the Helms "campus" from 12 to 6. Here's a link to the schedule, including a panel lead by KCRW's Frances Anderton. Attendees can enter the "This Modern LIie" sweepstakes to win chairs from Vitra, lamps from Louis Poulson,  a gift certificate from Arcana, and more!