Adaptation: Artists Respond to Change Exhibition

An art show that explores the ways artists’ work adapts to major life changes.

Founded in 1987 in Wilton, Connecticut, by husband and wife team Tom Grotta and Rhonda Brown, browngrotta arts has been curating and exhibiting contemporary artists from the US and around the world for over 30 years. With a focus on fiber art, technical mastery, and aesthetic values, browngrotta arts showcases mixed media and sculptural artworks from more than 100 international artists. The gallery has placed works in the collections of many renowned museums; they include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum. Yearly, the couple opens their home (an 1895 barn modernized by David Ling) for the Art in the Barn exhibition. In 2021, the show explores the different ways artists respond to major changes. More specifically, how the impact of a global pandemic or life-altering events can affect creative work.

The Adaptation: Artists Respond to Change exhibition features work from dozens of artists from all over the world. While many of them explore the ways the pandemic has put normal life on hold, others explore different life-altering moments. For example, the aftermath of a natural disaster, a move to another country, or a change in physical abilities. Other works delve into the availability of new materials, while some artists look to nature for inspiration.

Adaptation: Artists Respond to Change showcases from Adela Akers (US), James Bassler (US), Sara Brennan (UK), Pat Campbell (US), Włodzimierz Cygan (Poland), Ane Henriksen (Denmark), Kazue Honma (Japan), Tim Johnson (UK), Nancy Koenigsberg (US), Yasuhisa Kohyama  (Japan), Irina Kolesnikova (Russia/Germany), Mariette Rousseau-Vermette (Canada), Heidrun Schimmel (Germany), Karyl Sisson (US), Jin-Sook So (Korea/Sweden), Gizella K Warburton (UK), Grethe Wittrock (Denmark), and Carolina Yrarrázaval (Chile), among many others. The show lasts from May 8 to May 16, 2021. Photographs© Tom Grotta.