Karen Gelardi is the artist behind New Factories, a network of artist studios and workshops that connects artists, production resources, and opportunities. Working with weaving, ceramics, hand-tufting, printing, knitting, metal fabrication, and cut & sew, New Factories exists amidst fine art practices, design and production for the purpose of originating and distributing new works.
Standard is a collection of vibrant geometric fabric assemblies which are hand-sewn in linen. The body of work draws upon a standard set of shapes and a colorful yet limited palette which aligns with the utopian modernist principles of the Bauhaus where artists and mass-manufacturing are reconciled. Karen and a team of sewers constructed 120 unique banners throughout the duration of the show at SPACE, adding to the walls as the pieces are completed
The project provided income to artists and an opportunity to experiment with ideas around mass production, customization, and on-demand manufacturing.
June 2022
THOMASTON, MAINE: Interloc is delighted to present Shape Symmetry & Sun by K.Gelardi, in our new space at 153 Main Street in Thomaston. The show features works by Gelardi and her family, a group of artists and designers, with artworks, artifacts, and objects. The works span over 50 years, with many from 1972, when the family first moved to Maine and started an injection molding factory in Biddeford. Works include nature studies, paintings, toys (manufactured and handmade), folk art, ceramics, patent drawings, models, and materials.
A note from the artist:
After being separated from my family for two years because of Covid, and ten years after losing my brother, I am gathering together the creative work that connects my family as a way to reflect. There has been loss, fragmentation, and reformation caused by divorce, relocation, death, remarriage, and birth. Through all of this I am able to hold on to my “creative family”. It is here that we are still connected and in conversation despite the fact that we are not actually all together. This show of my family’s work is a way in which to take stock of where we are at this particular moment in time, and perhaps as a way to look back in order to move forward.
Featuring works by:
Emily Funkhouser
Judith B. Funkhouser
Anthony Gelardi II
Anthony L. Gelardi
John Gelardi
Karen Gelardi
Charles Schreiber
Tatiana Whitlock
Interloc is a multidisciplinary art space providing access to contemporary artists through exhibitions, events, and publications.
