David H. Kaye: Engaged Reliefs

Patricia Vervoort is an assistant professor of art history at Lakehead
University.

David H. Kaye: Engaged Reliefs is the catalogue of an exhibition organized by Lynn Barbeau of the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre in Guelph, 23 December 1982 to 6 February 1983. Throughout 1983, the exhibition circulated in Ontario. This is the first major exhibition of Kaye’s fiber structures by a public art gallery.

Kaye states that he is exploring the “sculptural possibilities of the woven textile plane.” He explains his technique, which produces relief lines raised from the surface, and the method for achieving a fabric having four finished selvedges, an element that aids “achieving visual and conceptual completeness.” The geometric character of the patterning has been influenced by African Kuba cloths and Egyptian architectural reliefs. Some works combine textile and paper panels to evoke a tension between “actual woven relief and the illusionary drawn relief.” Seventeen works by Kaye are exhibited with four Kuba cloths (two illustrated) from Kaye’s collection. Illustrated in black and white are eight of Kaye’s works, entire or details, plus a view of the artist at work and his studio. Kaye (b. 1947) is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and the University of Guelph. The biographical material includes a list of Selected Exhibitions, Works in Collections, Publications, and Awards. The exhibition was organized to “make the work of this outstanding young artist better known”: the catalogue makes this aim permanent. Fiber works have traditionally been considered feminine crafts; Kaye’s reliefs may aid in eliminating this barrier.