Joyce Kozloff: Cradles to Conquests

Joyce Kozloff’s debut solo exhibition in New Jersey, which references imagined and historical military events through the veil of decorative arts, begins the new year at Rowan University Art Gallery. Running from January 21 through March 15, the exhibit is welcomed with a gallery talk by the artist and reception on Wednesday, January 29 at 5 pm.

Cradles to Conquests: Mapping American Military History is a selection of Kozloff’s work completed between 2000 and 2010, curated by gallery director Mary Salvante. The intention is to dramatize and make poignant the militaristic emergence and growth of the United States through the lens of its military engagements and exploits in the name of expansion and national interests.

The works utilize collage, cartography and mapping as an extension of Joyce’s decorative arts sensibilities and her work as a feminist and anti-war activist. The artist adds an ironic twist by employing approaches widely viewed as “gender-specific” (appliqué, weaving, pattern, decorative) in order to challenge and question the authority of a patriarchal culture.