Commune Shows:
Steven Johanknecht & Niles Wertz

September 30-October 15, 2023

Blunk Space is delighted to host 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 features paintings by Johanknecht and rugs and blankets based on those paintings, alongside sculptures, furniture, and 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 Marshall. 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.

Blunk Space will also launch the newest edition of Blunk Cups in a cobalt blue and black glaze. The blue was inspired by Blunk's VW flatbed pickup truck, which he painted with cobalt house paint in the 1960s. The Blunk Cups are an ongoing collaboration with Commune, which designs the packaging for the cups and carries them in their online shop.