Carole P. Kunstadt’s ‘Between the Lines’

Clare Gallery at the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry and the Charter Oak Cultural Center present Between The Lines: Works by Carole P. Kunstadt, an exhibition of works by the New York artist, B.F.A., Hartford Art School. The partnership presents two exhibitions from September to December, 2014, providing a survey of the artist’s past and current work.

The first takes place Sept. 8 through Oct. 10 at Charter Oak Cultural Center.  It showcases works from Kunstadt’s Sacred Poems Series and Markings Series. The opening reception is 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11. On Wednesday, Oct. 1, noon to 1 p.m., Kunstadt will discuss her work, describing her materials and concepts.

Kunstadt’s works reference the material of books, deconstructing paper and text, and using it in metaphorical ways. Her devotion to books is inspired by the ability of the written word to take the reader to other places through stories, poems, and prayers. 

Years ago in an antique store she bought an 1844 Parish Psalmody, containing psalms meant to be sung in a worship service.  She transformed the book by slicing its pages into strips, then sewing and weaving them together, layering fine tissue paper and leaves of gold. She creates new images that reference spirituality, and the temporal quality and vulnerability of life.

Kunstadt’s process  reveals how language can become visual through re-interpretation. Her images have a meditative quality enhanced by her manipulation of the aged text, being respectful of the materials and subtle tones. Though the words may not be visible, the spiritual essence of the sacred text remains.

Charter Oak Cultural Center is located at 21 Charter Oak Ave., Hartford, CT.  Gallery hours are: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Charter Oak office hours are Monday–Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  The gallery is open during events and performances. Parking is the lot across the street from Charter Oak at 330 Main Street after 5 p.m.,  and after school hours  at Betances School.  Street parking is free after 6 p.m. Information:  860-310-2588 and  charteroakcenter.org

Carole Kunstadt - King's Old testament

The second part runs at the Clare Gallery from Oct. 23 to Dec. 28, 2014. It showcases two-dimensional work from Kunstadt’s Revelations Series and recent creations from the Sacred Poem Series.   A reception, panel discussion, and Sacred Harp concert will be held Thursday, Nov. 13, from 6:30 to 9 p.m.  The panel includes Kunstadt, Sacred Harp singer Ellen Lueck, Yale University music professor Ian Quinn, and St. Patrick-St. Anthony director of Music Ministry Gabriel Löfvall.  The concert is presented by the choirs of St. Patrick-St. Anthony with Sacred Harp musicians and audience members.

The Clare Gallery features exhibitions that emphasize world religions, interfaith themes and social justice locally and globally. The Gallery is housed in the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry at 285 Church Street, Hartford, CT. The Center is part of St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church, a vibrant and active downtown faith community.  

The Clare Gallery’s hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  The Gallery and all related events are open to the public. Free parking is available directly across from the church, and the facility is handicapped accessible. More information may be found at spsact.org, click “Community Life” and then “Clare Gallery.”

Carole P. Kunstadt received her BFA, magna cum laude, from Hartford Art School, West Hartford, Connecticut, with a concentration in two-dimensional studies, and continued with postgraduate studies at the Akademie der Bildenen Künste in Munich, Germany. A tapestry designer, fiber artist, collagist, painter, and book arts artist, she often invokes other people's histories in the objects she uses which gives her work a metaphysical quality of timelessness.

The Museum of Biblical Art, New York, NY featured Kunstadt's Old Testament Series in the exhibition As Subject and Object: Contemporary Book Artists Explore Sacred Hebrew Texts. Recently exhibiting in the 1st International Santorini Biennale of Arts, Greece, the artist has also participated in numerous group exhibitions throughout the United States. Her work was featured in SLASH: Paper Under the Knife, Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY; The Book: A Contemporary View, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE; and The Art of the Book 2013, Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Recent solo exhibitions include, Carole P. Kunstadt - Sacred Poems, at the Interchurch Center, New York, NY, as well as Carole P. Kunstadt - The Poetics of Collage, at the Edward Hopper House Art Center, Nyack, NY.

The PBS/OFF BOOK Book Arts mini-documentary in the series on progressive arts, features Kunstadt in the segment, Transforming the Sacred:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC4fLk-XeeI

Her work is in the Book Arts Collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; The Permanent Collection of the Center for Book Arts, New York, NY; the Montclair State University Collection, Montclair, NJ and the Curt Teich Postcard Archives, Lake County Discovery Museum, Wauconda, IL.