John Garrett

"Composition in Black and White", Cotton Wall Tapestry, Thread, Textile, Fiber

2023

John Garrett was raised in southern New Mexico by parents who were both educators. They instilled in him an appreciation for the handmade with their collections of Native American arts and crafts.

Garrett moved to Claremont, California, to attend college at Claremont Men’s College (now Claremont McKenna College). Following his desire to make things by hand, he enrolled in a weaving class taught by Marion Stewart at Scripps College in 1970. His intrigue with the tools, systems and materials involved in weaving and other textile constructions led him to take other courses with Neda Al-Hilali a year later, also at Scripps. He did graduate work at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied with Bernard Kester and Vasa Mihich.

Garrett has exhibited throughout the United States for over thirty years in hundreds of shows, as well as in Europe, Africa and Asia. He has worked simultaneously with two- and three-dimensional formats to create his textile forms with a variety of materials. Visually unpredictable, his work may be woven, wrapped, plaited, riveted, painted, rusted, twined, nailed, stitched or tied. With an expansive repertoire of materials, each work of art is meticulously crafted, while achieving an energetic complexity; he moves gracefully from constructing wall pieces to baskets, breathing new life into discarded objects.

Currently a full-time studio artist, Garrett teaches workshops on creativity and experimental basketry at schools nationwide. He was awarded National Endowment for the Arts fellowships in 1983 and 1995, and was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2010. His work is held in the collections of the Albuquerque Museum, the Museum of Arts and Design, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and elsewhere.

Find original John Garrett sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Duane Reed Gallery)