4 Minneapolis Art Shows to Catch as Winter Rages On
By Alicia Eler Star Tribune January 17, 2023
The weather outside is icy, but make it safely to one or all of these art spaces and you'll be glad you braved the cold. From documentary photos of diverse communities to an exhibition honoring Twin Cities art community giant Bill Cottman, there's more to see than just snow outside your window. Here are four shows worth the trek…
Moira Bateman: 'Bog Etudes'
Artist Moira Bateman's solo exhibition at Form + Content Gallery is more complex than it seems. A series of hanging rectangular strips of peace silk, thread, wax, bog mud and mud dye looks like debris. It's called "Bog Etude No. 1." On a wall is "Bog Etude No. 2," an even more shredded piece of peace silk with the same ingredients. In contrast, "Bog Etude No. 3" appears more like a piece of canvas with a slit through the middle. Bateman, a textile earth artist who is also a 2022 McKnight Fiber Arts Fellow, creates assemblages from waxed silk, strained with waterway sediments from Minnesota's lakes, rivers and bogs. Unlike the massive land art of the 1960s and '70s, like Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty," Bateman's work comes across as a collaboration with that which already exists. The result is objects as fragile as Earth itself. (Ends Feb. 11. 210 N. 2nd St., Suite #104, Mpls. Free. Noon-6 p.m. Thu.-Sat. 612-436-1151 or formandcontent.org)
Alicia Eler is the Star Tribune's visual art reporter and critic, and author of the book The Selfie Generation. | Pronouns: she/they