PHILADELPHIA — “Beyond Boundaries: Contemporary Fiber Art,” which opens at the University of Pennsylvania’s Arthur Ross Gallery on Jan. 19, presents six artists whose works are rooted in traditional textile studies but are far from traditional weavers: Lanny Bergner, Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz, Nancy Koenigsberg, Rebecca Medel, Warren Seelig and Tsuguo Yanai.

These artists share a visionary use of industrial and synthetic materials. Bobrowicz weaves monofilament into dancing cosmic glory; Bergner twines industrial screening to create futuristic cocoons; Koenigsberg has manipulated wire mimicking folded fabric; Medel creates monolith suspended forms, resembling ancient portals; Seelig explores the ideas of light and shadow, void of any organic material; and Yanai, renowned Japanese paper maker, has created portraits of famous 20th-century figures. At first glance, these portrait busts resemble lava rock, but they are actually hand-made paper over wire structures.

“Beyond Boundaries: Contemporary Fiber Art” runs through March 16. Organized by guest curator Bruce Hoffman, director of the Snyderman Works Gallery, the exhibition is part of a city-wide fiber show and international symposium March 6-8 at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Arthur Ross Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and weekends from noon-5 p.m.
Additional information is available at www.upenn.edu/ARG/ or 215-898-2083.