{"id":35743,"date":"2017-12-01T22:13:18","date_gmt":"2017-12-02T04:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=35743"},"modified":"2025-11-10T21:30:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T04:30:37","slug":"anna-betbezes-primal-wool-rug-abstractions-saturate-the-senses-at-umoca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/anna-betbezes-primal-wool-rug-abstractions-saturate-the-senses-at-umoca\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna Betbeze’s Primal Wool Rug Abstractions Saturate the Senses at UMOCA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Anna Betbeze\u2019s hide-like abstractions in Dark Sun <\/em>cling to UMOCA\u2019s gallery walls, sagging slightly as they loom over the viewer with a deranged, yet mysteriously beautiful presence. Betbeze\u2019s irregular painting surfaces are wool rugs that the artist burns, tatters and douses with ink and industrial acid-dyes. Vibrant colors bleed and stain each grisly surface, which seems to undergo a powerful transformation of either regeneration or decay.<\/h4>\n

The artist alludes to the latter in \u201cAll That\u2019s Left,\u201d as bright red dye pops through consuming shades of purple; the last remnants of a preexisting life. The piece\u2019s ragged holes seem to have deteriorated naturally rather then been intentionally torn or torched by the artist. \u201cSpring Hole,\u201d on the other hand, emits renewal with hot pinks, blues, greens and yellows that mingle against a neutral fibrous background. Purple dye lines the top of the vertically rectangular rug, holding the abstraction in a structurally sound composition. While the artist\u2019s materials and process are primal and unpredictable, her abstract \u201cpaintings\u201d are well balanced and complete. Hues are layered and blended with purpose, even when the unpredictability of Betbeze\u2019s medium resists any precise control.<\/h4>\n

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\u201cAll That\u2019s Left\u201d (left) and \u201cMimosa\u201d (right)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While Betbeze\u2019s rugs are visually appealing, her creations are anything but comforting and cozy. Intriguing and exciting, yes, but each piece maintains a sense of grit, leaving us recoiled at the thought of curling up among its acid-dyed shag. \u201cMimosa,\u201d for example, is a layered yellow composition reminiscent of a woolly Rothko color field with a bit more grime. Its browned and yellowed threads seem dirtied and coarse, and it\u2019s the only piece in the show that drapes onto the floor rather than over a white pedestal. Betbeze\u2019s rugs also seem too conscious to be consoling \u2014 like a Nick Cave soundsuit that\u2019s been skinned and hung out for drying but could resume movement at any moment. \u201cAll That\u2019s Left\u201d also reminds us of a Wild Thing that\u2019s been de-robed or under-the-bed monster that\u2019s been debunked. \u201cFog Bottom\u201d has an equally fantasized appearance while offering a reverse perspective, which further denotes Betbeze\u2019s process as a symbol of time passing or of nature\u2019s primordial cycles. When viewed in opposition, we can see the effect Betbeze\u2019s pooling medium has on her rug\u2019s porous surface, which visually references water as another natural element of eroding change. Dyes bleed through the woolly fibers and permeate their smooth backing in uneven glazes. For this patchwork piece, the artist crudely stitches and layers her textile scraps together, bringing them into an assemblage that reassures us of its manmade existence. Manic fluffs stray from the edges of each fabric square, a recurring shape throughout the exhibition, leaving a distressed and crazed quality to the work.<\/h4>\n

With her decimated and re-contextualized wool rugs, Betbeze is \u201cusing destruction as a force of creation,\u201d as the curatorial notes suggest, for a conceptually riveting and visually engaging body of work. Beginning with the exhibition\u2019s juxtaposed title, the artist offers metaphorical dichotomies through her process and presentation that relate to death\/life, abandonment\/care, beauty\/dejection and more, allowing the viewer to interpret the show through many lenses. Each tactile piece bridges a relationship between painting, sculpture and architecture.<\/h4>\n

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\u201cSpring Hole\u201d (left) with a few of \u201cUntitled (Holes, Heads, Bowls)\u201d (right)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Betbeze also includes a new series of works on paper in Dark Sun<\/em> that complements her large-scale wool abstractions. Curated in a single row that curves across the back three walls of the gallery, these raw, saturated sketches provide insight into Betbeze\u2019s painting process and keen sense of color relationships. The individual artworks are not nearly as riveting as their dominating wool counterparts, but when viewed as studies they allow for illuminating observation and contemplation of the artist\u2019s techniques and experiments in color. The pieces are meant to be taken as a whole, however, as they are collectively named Untitled (Holes, Heads, Bowls).<\/em>Watercolor is the dominant medium, illustrating the artist\u2019s fascination with pervasive painterly effects. While Betbeze\u2019s works on paper command a less imposing and visceral response than her signature wool rug paintings, they offer a visual appeal and further intrigue within the context of the exhibition.<\/h4>\n

Betbeze aims for a multisensory experience in Dark Sun<\/em>, which she achieves through a process evocative of 20th<\/sup>-century gestural abstraction, likening herself to a modern-day Helen Frankenthaler with a bit more edge. Based in New York, N.Y., the Alabama-born artist received her BFA from the University of Georgia and her MFA from Yale University School of Art. Betbeze\u2019s solo exhibition is a result of the artist\u2019s honor as recipient of The Catherine Doctorow Prize for Contemporary Painting, awarded every two years by The Jarvis & Constance Doctorow Family Foundation in collaboration with UMOCA to an innovative contemporary painter residing in the United States.<\/h4>\n

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\u201cAll That\u2019s Left\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAnna Betbeze: Dark Sun,\u201d UMOCA<\/a>, Salt Lake City, through Jan. 13, 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n