We love the work of artist Rubi McGrory, and she's just launched a solo exhibition of her thesis project, entitled Art, at the Oglethorpe Gallery in Savannah, Georgia.
Art is a solo exhibition where contemporary branding meets traditional hand embroidery. In the work, McGrory focuses on the overwhelming prevalence of logo symbolism and how inured we have become to its visual clutter. In one piece, the old-fashioned sampler is given a makeover with a quote from Naomi Klein's "No Logo" accompanied by crystal cockroaches; another sampler explores the layout of the Mall of America.
The barcode pieces are standouts: The UPC is hypnotic and beautiful; the QR code quilt made of recycled garments is actually a working code. Other pieces recontextualize our relationship with common logo characters by turning them into a series of hand stitched family portraits: Foreign cookie packages are translated into thousands of tiny stitches on silk. A red satin cocktail dress indicates the branding of femininity--like a Nascar jacket shows off a team's sponsors. The theme follows through right to the show's reception menu, which includes foods in which the logo is part of the food, so gallery guests will eat and digest branding. Nice.
More pictures after the jump.
Art is the MFA thesis show for McGrory, who has been stitching and sarcastic for as long as she can remember. When she isn't embroidering or creating art, McGrory works as a chef in the yachting industry and writes a design column for Dockwalk.com, a website and magazine for professional yacht crew. More info is available at rubistudios.com or rubistudios.com/blog.
Art Oglethorpe Gallery 406 E Oglethorpe (@ Habersham) March 19-31, Mon-Fri, 10am to 6pm Reception March 26, 6-9 pm
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If you can see one show during the Savannah Music fest, running concurrently, it should be this show.