Yesterday an announcement came in from BravinLee programs about their newest rug edition, with an artist well known to DART subscribers: Jason Polan. Author of Every Person in New York  (Chronicle Books 2015, Info) and founder of the Taco Bell Drawing Club, Jason created Life-Size King Kong, working with BravinLee programs [BLp] to produce a work in a medium new to him. Photo below, courtesy BravinLee programs.

King Kong (the 1933 movie), expresses the cluelessness of western civilization, according to the press release, which continues: "It’s a metaphor for racism, slavery, colonialism, and run-amok capitalism. Jason Polan's Life-sized Kong has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any of that." The artist wrote,

"I initially made this as a little drawing in my sketchbook during a Taco Bell Drawing Club meeting. Then I decided I wanted to make King Kong ‘life size.’ I thought the idea of making a full size version of something that wasn't even real in the first place was kind of fun, but also I, like a lot of us, like to think King Kong is real. I measured the proportions of the face to when he was holding Fay Wray and made it (in proportion to her height) as close as I could to the size I thought he was. I made it as a pencil drawing and it took up a large portion of a big wall. I also made a t-shirt (literally one) and silkscreen print of the drawing because I like King Kong a lot. I thought if it was a rug it might make it a more successful piece than the other iterations—you can feel the texture of King Kong's fur. I also like the idea of people in New York hanging this on their wall, turning the rug into a big window, with King Kong looking in." 

Jason Polan (middle) at a Taco Bell Drawing Club meeting in 2017. (Photo: Aaron Adler for Observer)

A long-time fan of BravinLee programs’ approach to showing art in diverse media—from paintings, installations, sculptures to one-off artist books, the rug program, and more—I spoke with John Lee about their approach to showing art. He began, “My wife Karin Bravin and I have had our art gallery in one form or another since 1991, and it was about 12 years ago when we re-imagined the conventional art gallery model as a platform for all the types of activities related to art that interested us beyond the obvious one of mounting exhibitions. The name-change to ‘BravinLee programs’ articulated this idea by omitting the word ‘gallery’ and replacing it with ‘programs,’ to imply that we are content creators not just some white walls with art for sale.

“A few years after the change in our thinking,” he continued, “by 2008, the rug program was launched—and here we are today ten years later, having made over 20 rugs and with more in production all the time.“

I asked John about working with artists not represented by BLp, and he spoke of the partners' interest in helping artists work in new, unfamiliar ways, and in the process, creating new income streams. Some of the artists who participate in the rug program, he said, have representation with fine galleries the world over, but haven’t yet had the opportunity to make today’s version of a tapestry [I'm thinking,here, of the Picasso tapestries commissioned by the Rockefeller clan].

As a presenter of art, John said, “we want to focus not simply on the noun but more on the verb. It’s a privilege to work with amazing talented artists and assist them in the creation of a rug. So-called Decorative Arts may not be part of their studio practice, but the rugs are a fascinating extension of it.”

BravinLee programs, 526 West 26^th Street, NY, NY Info King Kong by Jason Polan Info 

BravinLee editions rugs are made in Nepal by highly-skilled weaver/artisans.
We have collaborated on designs with Christopher Wool, James Welling, Jonas Wood, Thomas Nozkowski, Walter Robinson, Charline von Heyl, Keltie Ferris, James Siena, Jennifer Wynne Reeves, Philip Taaffe, Deborah Kass, Julio Le Parc, Natalie du Pasquier, Ugo Gattoni, Shara Hughes, Brian Calvin and Wangechi Mutu. BravinLee editions is a proud member of GoodWeave.  The GoodWeave label is the best assurance that no child labor was used in the making of a carpet.
goodweave.org