Natalie Denny

Tom Friedman's exhibit at the Fabric Workshop and Museum is tucked away on the fifth floor of the scaffolding encrusted Gilbert Building just off of Arch Street, accessible only by an elevator that virtually begs you not to exceed its weight limit. The incredibly spare presentation--a nearly-vacant expanse of white walls that still smell faintly of fresh paint--gives the unsettling first impression of being in the wrong room, or that perhaps you were mistaken, and the museum hasn't finished setting up the exhibit yet. The artwork, mostly spartan single-material pieces constructed from fabric, paper, string, or wire, demands that the viewer move in for a closer look.
June 21, 2001 at 12:00 am