TSA_CHI presents:
Places (Edition I)
A solo exhibition by Bryana Bibbs

Exhibition Dates:
October 14 – November 18, 2023
Opening Reception:
Saturday, October 14, from 1-4 pm
Gallery Open Hours:
Saturdays from 12-4 pm

The We Were Never Alone Project weaving workshop:
Sunday, November 5th from 1 pm – 4pm
***Please see below for information on how to rsvp to take part in the workshop

Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago is pleased to present Places (Edition I), a solo exhibition of select “Journal Series” weavings and Polaroid photos by Bryana Bibbs. The exhibition is curated by Debra Kayes, TSA CHI member and co-director.

The works in this exhibition were made between 2022 and 2023, during Bibbs’s travels driving from Chicago to Maine and Tennessee for residencies, work, and vacation. In her ongoing “Journal Series” weavings, Bibbs intuitively documents her personal experience using materials, colors, and textures. She makes her yarn using the traditional textile techniques of hand-carding and hand-spinning before hand-weaving them on her frame loom, and she incorporates collected found objects. In the works on view, Bibbs also includes objects that have been given to her, including fungi, shells, pine needles, and more. Bibbs has been steadily building an archive of Polaroids that share evidence of her process and her travels. This exhibition is the first time she will exhibit these documentary materials alongside the weavings they index.

The 2022 works in this exhibition were made possible thanks to the Lunder Institute for American Art and Surf Point Foundation.

***
The We Were Never Alone Project Information:

The We Were Never Alone Project is a weaving workshop for victims and survivors of domestic violence hosted by artist Bryana Bibbs.

In these free and limited-participant workshops, participants will be able to share their stories while creating art through the practice of hand-weaving. The workshop will provide participants with materials such as yarn, weaving needles, and cardboard looms. However, participants are encouraged to bring experimental materials (such as plastic bags, tees, ties, jeans, scarves, old denim, etc.) to weave. No weaving experience is necessary to participate in these workshops. There are six spots available.

Please RSVP with the provided link for the Sunday, November 5th 1 pm–4pm workshop. Those that sign up will receive a confirmation or waitlist email within 24–48 hours.

Please RSVP here.

Image credit: Bryana Bibbs, 7-7-23, 2023. Polaroid (left), Journal Series weaving 7.9.23–7.10.23.1, 2023. Handwoven fungi and bark given to me by CP, hand-spinning demo yarn bundle, and hand-carded, hand-spun wool, created in West Paris, ME; 12 x 14 inches (right).

Scheduling & Contact Info
The gallery will be open every Saturday from 12-4pm between October 14 to November 18. Questions or requests to schedule appointments outside our normal hours can be sent to: chicago@tigerstrikesasteroid.com
The TSA gallery is located on the 4th floor of Mana Contemporary, and it can be reached via an attendant-operated elevator or the stairs. Please contact Mana Contemporary separately in advance of your visit if you will be needing wheelchair access into the building.

Artist Biography:

Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist who works at the intersection of textiles, painting, and community-based practices. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of “The We Were Never Alone Project—A Weaving Workshop for Victims and Survivors of Domestic Violence” (thewewereneveraloneproject.com), and she serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee.

Recent exhibitions include Power Trip, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL (2020); Evanston Art Center Faculty Exhibition, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL (2020); Intrinsic Color, The Wayback, Chicago, IL (2021); HATCH: I Sense Something Has Changed, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2021); Cotton: Raw Material & Precious Metaphor, Room482, Brooklyn, NY (2021) Fluffy Crimes #6, Fluffy Crimes, Chicago, IL (2022); Black Creativity Exhibition, Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, IL (2022); Art of Surface, Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art, Grayslake, IL (2022), Embedded, Praxis Fiber Workshop, Cleveland, OH (2022); Layer, Mark, Repeat, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL (2022); (un)disclosed, 1100 Florence, Evanston, IL (2022); Carrying the Thread, The Merchandise Mart—Chicago Textile Week (2022); In the Fray, Bolivar Art Gallery, Lexington, KY (2022); In Good Hands, Purple Window Gallery, Chicago, IL (2022); ANTHEM-X curated by Jared Owens, Malin Gallery, Miami, FL (2022); Numb, Oliva Gallery, Chicago, IL (2023); A More Human Dwelling Place curated by Myron Beasley, George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME (2023); Sustenance, Portland Public Library, Portland, ME (2023).

Recent awards and residencies include the Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH Residency (2021/22); The Lunder Institute for American Art Residential Fellowship, Waterville, ME (2022); Surf Point Foundation Artist Residency, York, ME (2022); Winter Pentaculum at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (2023). Recent interviews and reviews include Warp & Weft Magazine, The Coastal Post, “The Strategist” in New York Magazine, TATTER Journal, UPPERCASE Magazine, New Visionary Magazine, New City Magazine, Artdose Magazine, CBS2 Chicago, and Sixty Inches from Center.

Recent commissions include The Art Institute of Chicago and The Design Museum of Chicago. Collections include Delta Airlines, Inc. and various private collections.

Instagram: @bryanabibbs, @thewewereneveraloneproject
Website: bryanabibbs.com, thewewereneveraloneproject.com

Curator Biography:

Debra Kayes is an artist, designer, curator, and teacher. She has been a member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid since late 2018 and has been co-director for the past year. Debra is a tenure-track professor of art and design at Waubonsee Community College, outside of Chicago, and is a former Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH artist resident and Convergence Academies Research Fellow. A theme that ties Debra’s art and design projects together is her love for patterns. This ranges from the repetition of shapes and marks in her paintings to designing surface patterns in her digital work. She has exhibited her art and design projects in venues such as the Illinois State Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Chicago Artists Coalition, The Hyde Park Art Center, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, the juried publication New American Paintings, the nationalmuseum in Berlin, and, most recently, at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver. Debra has curated art and design exhibitions in Chicago at the Glass Curtain Gallery, The Averill and Bernard Leviton Gallery, The Alcove Gallery, as well as numerous shows at Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago. In 2022, she co-curated “Life Linien” at SCOTTY Gallery in Berlin with Holly Cahill.

Instagram: @debrakayes
Website: debrakayes.com

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Tags: Bryana Bibbs, Chicago, Lower West Side, Mana Contemporary, Places (Edition I), Tiger Strikes Asteroid