Gallery Show of Handmade Furniture Will Benefit Renowned Boston Crafts School
Summary
The show’s many sought-after and collectible artists include California furniture maker Garry Knox Bennett, best known for his chairs and use of conventional woods and unusual materials such as plywood, aluminum, steel, and plastics.The school’s philanthropist founders began offering woodworking and cabinet making training programs in the 1880’s as a way for immigrants from Europe to begin earning a livelihood in their adopted country.“For North Bennet: A Benefit Exhibition of Studio Furniture” will feature the work of 28 makers from across the country, including such established and highly collectible American furniture makers as Garry Knox Bennet, Hank Gilpin, Judy McKie, Jere Osgood, Tommy Simpson and Rosanne Somerson.The work of lesser-known but rising stars -- Bart Niswonger and Ben Fleis among them -- will also be included.In an unprecedented gesture of financial support by a commercial gallery and its artists, half the purchase price of every exhibition piece sold will be donated to support the school’s crafts training programs.The idea for the group show grew out of a series of conversations between Galley NAGA director Arthur Dion and the school’s president Miguel Gomez-Ibanez, himself an accomplished furniture maker, and whose work is included in the show.Dion had long been aware of North Bennet Street School’s reputation as a training institution, and of its role in maintaining high standards in furniture making and cabinetry.Her Bird Table’s flat top is the silhouette of an avian body and wings, with a head that rises quizzically.Jon Brooks makes use of found materials from his house and the surrounding New Hampshire woods to create his playful furniture and sculpture.His Analtar Table III stands on nine undulating legs fashioned from found tree branches that are decorated with acrylic, pastel and colored pencil.Rosanne Somerson adds gesture, caprice and mystery to classic furniture forms, transforming exotic woods into intimate and evocative functional objects.