Featured Artist: Adela Akers
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Adela Akers
“43aa Circles in a Square”, 2010
sisal, linen, horsehair & paint.
50″ x 50″
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Adela Akers
“58aa Markings and Blues”, 2018
linen, horsehair, metal & paint.
28” X 30″
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A world-renown textile and fiber artist born in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Adela Akers’ career extends across the history of modern fiber art. Ms. Akers’ work can be found in the collections of the Renwick Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Art and Design, among others.
A graduate from the University of Havana with a degree in Pharmacy, Akers met a group of Havana-based artists, Los Once (The Eleven), who encouraged her to explore art and enroll in classes. Her interest grew, and while at the Art Institute of Chicago, she discovered the art of weaving. Ms. Akers completed her studies at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1964, subsequently embarking upon a weaver-in-residence at Penland School of Crafts.
Akers’ weavings consist of zigzags, checkerboard patterns, and simple geometric shapes. Largely influenced and informed by pre-Columbian textiles and paintings by women of the Mbuti (Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Akers attributes her appreciation for this work to the math and geometry that lies within this period and form. Similarly, Akers finds familiarity and connection with the loom’s complexity and mathematical constructs.
“My background in science has strongly influenced my artwork. The choice of materials and process emerges from that experience. There is a mathematical discipline in the way the work is constructed. This mathematical sequence is in strong contrast to the organic process (handweaving) and materials (linen and horsehair) that bring the work to fruition. Even when I don’t know the outcome, it is the transformation of the materials by the repetitive hand manipulation that leads me to the final expression. It is always a discovery when reaching the end. All the steps are important and contribute to the final work. Narrow strips are woven sequentially; horsehair is inserted at intervals. When the metal foil is used, it is cut in narrow bands to fit at intervals.
It is my intention to externalize both process and materials and their interaction in order to create a richer surface, which is the focus of the work. In the search for answers or solutions, the questions get better and the possibility of a miracle is ever present. The completion of each piece raises questions that form the fabric of work to come.”
-Adela Akers-
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Our current show of Doug Herren’s dynamic clay forms is running through Nov 15. If you won’t have the chance to stop by in person, take a virtual tour via our new 3D platform!
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In the Community: Leslie Pontz
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Leslie Pontz at Allen’s Lane Art Center
More and more people are tuning in to discover the artists that live in their own neighborhood. Tune in this Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7pm as Allens Lane Art Center’s Executive Director, Craig Stover, sits down with Mt. Airy artist Leslie Pontz as they talk about her life and work followed by a Q&A from audience members.
Leslie Pontz creates unique sculpture by crocheting wire and monofilament forms and combining them with iron and fiber elements. The result is non-traditional fiber sculpture that challenges the senses and the mind. Leslie holds a masters degree in printmaking from Syracuse University and was the recipient of two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts through the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts as an Artist-in-residence. She is the former owner/designer of Leslie Pontz Design, an international manufacturing company that produced an artist designed and hand printed line of table linens and related tabletop products.
Leslie has shown internationally in invitational and juried exhibits in Paris, Brazil and Venezuela as well as throughout the U.S. She is the recipient of several awards for her work. Leslie is a co-founder of ArtQuilts at the Sedgwick, a nationally acclaimed east coast venue for the exhibition of art quilts. Her work is featured in many private and public collections including but not limited to the Kamm, Best Western, Chestnut Hill Hotel, and Philadelphia Museum of Art collections. She is represented by Gravers Lane Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Click here to get your zoom login code for this interview: https://allenslane.org/art-show/ and to see the list of all of the artists scheduled for interviews this year.
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If you’ve been by the gallery lately, you might’ve noticed an abundance of plastic sheeting, and maybe a locked door. Our landlord is doing major renovations that have unfortunately impacted the gallery. We were closed for a few days but are happily back open to visitors. And the short closure gave us a chance to reorganize and re-decorate! Stop by to see our current exhibitions and new layout.
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These Philadelphians are dancing all the way to the ballot box.
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In order to provide our guests with a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable visit, we are offering private visits for individuals, families, or small groups of friends. In accordance with Pennsylvania COVID guidelines, no more than 6 names will be registered per group.
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Located in the historic Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. Gravers Lane Gallery represents the finest in Contemporary Crafts, Painting, and Sculpture. With an emphasis on Contemporary 2 & 3D Textile and Fiber Art, one-of-a-kind Jewelry, Studio Furniture, Ceramics, and Mixed Media Art, Gravers Lane remains one of the last galleries representing the spectrum of Studio Crafts in the United States.
Contact us to schedule a private appointment or virtual tour.
Wednesday – Sunday 11am-5pm and
Monday – Tuesday by appointment
8405 Germantown Ave/Philadelphia/PA/19118
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