By Steve Kupferman

Lou Reed as Christ, (2009).

Jenny Hart, an Austin, Texas–based artist, has been working in the medium of hand embroidery for 11 years, but this February was the first time she’d ever had work of hers vanish without a trace. Two pieces went missing in an apparent theft, and the last place either of them was seen was at the Drake Hotel, where they were both hanging as part of an exhibition.

The two works were both hand-embroidered on fabric. One depicted Lou Reed as Jesus Christ, and the other was a portrait of John the Baptist, modeled on the face of Hart’s design company’s shipping manager.
“They were my most recent and some of my best work,” said Hart, over the phone from Los Angeles. “I’m sick over it.”
She made the situation public on her blog earlier this week, after waiting months in the hopes of some kind of resolution. The story was quickly picked up on Boing Boing, an influential aggregator of internet curiosities.

St. John the Baptist (Jordan Lee), (2009).

The two pieces, Hart says, represented months of effort, and had monetary value. Work of hers has been displayed in prestigious galleries (she’ll be showing some pieces at the Smithsonian next year) and typically sells, she says, for anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 per item.
“I don’t care about the money,” she said. “I mean, I do want the Drake to compensate me and take responsibility for it.”
The Drake, for its part, is staying relatively quiet. The hotel issued a short statement through its PR agency, saying little more than: “The works are in fact missing and the Drake Hotel is currently investigating the matter with their insurance company.”
Hart doesn’t know exactly how or when the works disappeared, but believes the apparent theft took place while the show, a textile exhibition entitled “Wrap Your Head Around This,” which ended on February 7, was being dismantled.
Bizarrely, this is only one of several recent instances of art disappearing from semi-public places in Toronto. In January, someone stole a valuable poster from a wall inside The Hideout, a bar on Queen Street West. Enoteca Sociale, a restaurant on Dundas Street West, has experienced a string of similar thefts over the past year. A Yorkville art gallery lost three paintings during a break-in in April.
Coincidental or not, four’s a trend.
Be that as it may, Hart is hoping that whoever has her work will see reason. Not knowing where the pieces are makes it impossible for her to use them in other exhibitions.
“It’s heartbreaking when this happens,” she said.
Hart will accept any information about the works’ whereabouts, no questions asked. Contact her through her website.
Photos courtesy of the artist.