General contact: Stephanie Sun, Marketing Manager
ssun@contempoarycraft.org | 412.465.1637
www.contemporarycraft.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Swoon Exhibition Opens Contemporary Craft’s New, Permanent HomeInternationally acclaimed street artist’s “The Heart Lives through the Hands” isContemporary Craft’s inaugural exhibition from April 25 through August 21, 2020
PITTSBURGH, PA – March 3, 2020 – Swoon’s work is in thepermanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and in
the Tate Museum in London. Her exhibitions and projects are seenaround the world: Brussels, Melbourne, Miami, Munich, Paris, Prague,Russia, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, and Tunisia. Now, Swoon
comes to Pittsburgh to present a free exhibition.
Contemporary Craft’s inaugural exhibition in its new, Lawrenceville
home - The Heart Lives through the Hands, will be Swoon’s first solo
exhibition in Pittsburgh. This free exhibition will open on Contemporary
Craft’s Grand Opening Day, April 25 and be on view through August 21.
Swoon is the first woman to gain large-scale recognition in the maledominated world of street art. Her cut paper and hand printed works
marry the whimsical to the grounded, weaving in fairy tales, myth, anda recurring motif of the sacred feminine. Tendrils of her own family
history—and a legacy of her parents’ struggles with addiction andsubstance abuse—recur throughout her work.
Swoon believes that art can ignite change. In The Heart Lives throughThe Hands, her large-scale paper and mixed media artworks and an
immersive sculptural installation will address relationships between
people and their built environment, as well as exploring how creativity
can positively impact communities in times of crisis and change.
Through visual storytelling, this exhibition takes a look at the impact ofcommunity and how art can support and heal people affected byviolence and addiction.

Swoon. Braddock Steel.
Photo courtesy of the artist.

After 33 years in the Strip District’s historic Produce Terminal Building, Contemporary Craft has recently relocatedto its new, permanent facility in the artistic Lawrenceville neighborhood at 5645 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA
15201. Following a year of renovation and preparation, Contemporary Craft will open its new home to the public
on Saturday, April 25, 2020 with the awe-inspiring Swoon exhibition and celebrate creativity and the handcraftedspirit with artist demonstrations, hands-on art activities, and the new Contemporary Craft Store and Studios.
For more high-res images and information on The Heart Lives through the Hands, please contact Stephanie Sun
at 412.465.1637 or ssun@contemporarycraft.org.

Swoon. Nicole, Mandala (Details), 2016. Photo courtesy of the artist.

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ABOUT SWOON
Caledonia Curry, whose work appears under the name Swoon,
is a Brooklyn-based artist and is widely known as the firstwoman to gain large-scale recognition in the male-dominatedworld of street art. Swoon took to the streets of New York while
attending the Pratt Institute of Art in 1999, pasting her paper
portraits to the sides of buildings with the goal of making art andthe public space of the city more accessible. In a moment whencontemporary art often holds a conflicted relationship to beauty,
Swoon’s work carries with it earnestness, treating the beautiful
as sublime, even as she explores the darker sides of hersubjects.

Photo Courtesy of Bryan Derballa

While much of Swoon’s art plays with the fantastical, there isalso a strong element of realism. This can be seen in her myriadsocial endeavors, including a long-term community revitalization
project in Braddock, PA and her efforts to build earthquakeresistant homes in Haiti through Konbit Shelter. Her non-profit,
the Heliotrope Foundation, was created in order to further
support these ventures.

ABOUT CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
Presenting contemporary art in craft materials by regional, national, and international artists since 1971, Contemporary Craft
offers cutting edge exhibitions focusing on multicultural diversity and contemporary art, as well as a range of artist-led studioworkshops, community outreach programs, and a store. Located at 5645 Butler Street in the Upper Lawrencevilleneighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA, Contemporary Craft’s exhibition and Drop-In Studio art activity are always free to the public.
For questions related to accessible accommodations, please contact us at info@contemporarycraft.org or visit
www.contemporarycraft.org.
FUNDERS
General operating support for Contemporary Craft is provided by Allegheny Regional Asset District, The Heinz Endowments,
Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Elizabeth R. Raphael Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts,
and JENDOCO Construction Corporation. The Heart Lives through the Hands media sponsors are NEXTpittsburgh, 90.5
WESA and 91.3 WYEP.

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