1 col.

Nancy Grossman (b 1940), “Vom Ertrunkenen Mädchen (Concerning a Drowned Girl),” 1974, mixed media collage assemblage on canvas, 81½   by 54 by 2½  inches, signed.

MUST FOR 6/20 Michael Rosenfeld Gallery (un)common threads May 23-July 31, 2008 w/1 cut

AK/cd set 6/10 #741997

NEW YORK CITY — Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is hosting a group exhibition, “(un)common threads,” featuring 14 female artists: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Hannelore Baron, Lee Bontecou, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Lesley Dill, Nancy Grossman, Faith Ringgold, Yayoi Kusama, Annette Messager, Anne Ryan, Betye Saar, Mimi Smith, Lenore Tawney and Claire Zeisler.

On view through July 31, “(un)common threads” presents two- and three-dimensional works where fiber and fabric — new and recycled — are the predominant media, and have been knotted, layered, drawn, woven, sewed or collaged. Despite disparate styles, influences and intentions, the 14 artists included in this exhibition share a heightened sensitivity to the history and expressive possibilities of textiles.

Juxtaposing extremes like Baron’s intimate box assemblages of distressed remnants or Ryan’s sensitive paper collages with the aggressive wall constructions of Grossman and Bontecou, “(un)common threads” offers the versatility of a medium once reserved to craft and dismissed because of its associations with the home.

This “taint” of domesticity has been explored in the pioneering work of Smith, using knotted string and other media to portray women’s clothing as well as furniture that evokes the heart of the home — the family table. But Smith’s work shares with all of the pieces in this show a keen awareness of texture, and like Abakanowicz’s “(Backward) Standing Figure,” 1987, what remains absent in the representation is just as important as what is physically present.

Overall, the works in “(un)common threads” confound preconceived notions about women’s art and/or textile as a medium, offering unexpected combinations like the polished bronze that rests on a base of raw silk in Chase-Riboud’s “Untitled: Pushkin,” 1985.

Over the years, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery has consistently championed many of the artists and sensibilities represented in “(un)common threads.” Two landmark exhibitions organized by the gallery were “Fiber and Form: The Woman’s Legacy,” 1996, and “True Grit,” 2000.

Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is at 24 West 57th Street, seventh floor. For information, www.michaelrosenfeldart.com or 212-247-0082.