The show is billed as "Bead International 2006," but all the included artists are from the U.S.
And according to the museum's newsletter, "Beadwork has only recently become acknowledged as an art form." This might come as a surprise to the indigenous people of Alaska and elsewhere in the world who have practiced and appreciated bead art for centuries.
I never made beads, except of sweat, and I have worked to keep those to a restful minimum. But I sure do admire craftsmanship and art, and I think that work of any medium deserving of museum exhibition should emphasize the latter.
Just as an art glass show, for example, should not just be about the properties of silica, a bead show should do more than showcase what is available from what has become a vast commercial bead market. The stated goal of this biennial juried bead competition is to promote new techniques of "pierced objects." Why can't that include more homegrown, found-object or personally crafted items?
Most work in the show relies on mass-produced products. Tina Koyama of Seattle and Vicky Schroeder of Estes Park, Colo., stepped outside the realm and into a food box to utilize still more common but innovative source material -- penne pasta and shrunken Cheerios, respectively.
You can't overlook Laura McCabes' use of glass bloodshot eyeballs, because they look right back at you.
The "Most Innovative Use of Medium" award went to Susan Lenart Kazmer of Ohio for her selection of found objects -- tools, locks, springs, etc. -- to construct a marionette. It's funky and arty.
The work selected was nearly all done by women. Judy Chicago and others in the '70s freed "women's work" and what was considered domestic handicraft from its low position on the patriarchal pole. The movement transformed and expanded the use of sewing, beading, quilting and weaving as fine art.
Also chosen for the show were the works of three Alaska artists: Beth Blankenship, Judy A. Robinson and Penny Zobel, all of Anchorage.
Robinson describes her "Athabaskan Dream" as both spiritual and practical. The black bag is adorned with an intricate and tightly controlled floral design, accented with large wood beads, bells and tassels. A long back strap is wound with rawhide cord.
Zobel's meaningful "Gathering Circle" is a tribute to the people who supported Penny and her husband when he was diagnosed with cancer. It is a subtle and sophisticated piece, a fashionable blend of earth-toned iridescent beads in a graceful flow of orchestrated folds. A watermelon tourmaline, a gift to her from a friend, provides a focal point. It's all appropriate to the meaning.
Blankenship's "PMS Alert Bracelet" is a diptych, depicting top and bottom lips and teeth. Carefully selected and intertwined reds, pink and black/white beads form the design.
"If I'm having one of those days," she writes, "I can put on my PMS Alert Bracelet and let it cry 'Off with their heads' while keeping my own big mouth shut."
The Juror's Award was given to Marcia Laging Cummings of Lincoln, Neb., for "My Checkered Past." It features intense primary colors with an aura of pop or op art, utilizing checkerboards and intertwined geometric patterning.
"Salome" by Edda Blume of Pittsburgh was selected as Best of Show. It's a dark necklace with a look of antiquity. Using what looks like an appropriated (nude) image, the altered symmetry is intricate and classical.
I liked some other works better. Whereas most other pieces in the show are decorative or wearable, Annette Tacconelli of New York City suspended a minimal scheme of beaded color over a rusted metal fastener. Iridescent blue and flat brown beads are arranged in a symmetrical design. Calling it "Urban Artifact: Shakti," she describes it as a "small sculpted poem."
Ruth McCorrison of Boulder, Colo. created a "painting" in beadwork, suspended on a frame, that allows light to penetrate and reflect from both sides. Untrimmed threads hang from the imagery. In it, a figure descends a staircase in diffused light (perhaps a reference to Duchamp). It's a little too pretty, perhaps, but it's engaging.
Looking at 55 bead pieces in cases requires a commitment from the viewer, and extensive label copy sometimes overwhelms the work. That said, some of the information helps personalize the art and stimulates interest for those willing to take the time. Maybe less would be more. Errors in grammar and punctuation in the label copy are disconcerting.
Some of the work is overdone and busy. A more creative definition of "pierced object" could stimulate interest. Some artists still seem trapped in the traditional interpretations of the genre. No question, though, the show is fun and the finely crafted work is well worth a look.
Don Decker is an Anchorage artist, teacher and writer.
BEAD INTERNATIONAL 2006 will remain on display through Nov. 16 at the Anchorage Museum, 121 W. Seventh Ave. COMMENT on this review or the exhibit at
By DON DECKER
Daily News art reviewer