Commune Shows

Opening Reception:
* Saturday, September 30, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Exhibition Dates:
* September 30 – October 15

Blunk Space presents Commune Shows, an exhibition of new works by Steven Johanknecht and Niles Wertz, curated by Roman Alonso.

Johanknecht & Alonso are the co-founders and principals of the LA-based design studio Commune, known for its holistic and collaborative approach to design and architecture. The show will feature paintings by Johanknecht and rugs and blankets based on those paintings, alongside bowls by Wertz, made from salvaged wood sourced from local sawyer Evan Shively.

Johanknecht draws formal inspiration from the work of artists around the Bauhaus school, among others, but also emulates their mode of engaging unconscious decision-making by imposing restrictions on their practice. The paintings follow an internal logic of color & form, and then act as springboards for the repeated patterns of the rugs and blankets.

Wertz, a frequent Commune collaborator, has worked with wood since he was nine years old, and spends his summers sourcing wood and repairing lathes and mills for Shively’s enterprise, Arborica, in Mill Valley. The salvaged wood lends its own internal logic to his work; the nesting bowls in the show are turned from the same piece of wood, so that the grain is continuous across all four or five pieces.