Last week, I visited the Barbican Centre London to see a large exhibition of contemporary textiles.
The Barbican’s description of the exhibition is as follows:
Using textiles, fibre and thread, 50 international artists challenge power structures and reimagine the world in this major group exhibition.
Here is a ‘poster’ (displayed on lift doors) for the exhibition, showing one half of two distinct pieces in the exhibition an outlining the important subtitle for the show ‘The politics and power of Textiles in art’.
This made for an exhibition with wide-ranging themes, submitted by artists from all over the world. The pieces ranged from a small fabric sculpture, not much bigger than a hand to a room-sized installation. It would be impossible to do the whole exhibition justice, so here I will just share some of the pieces I saw.
Below is the small sculpture I referred to earlier. It is a reddish, female form lying horizontally whose shadow is cast onto the base beneath the piece. The figure is clearly formed from wrapped fabric and its back is arched. It looks vulnerable and isolated hanging in space. The artist is apparently exploring the idea of ‘hysteria’ once thought to be a particularly female complaint and of which an arched back was felt to be a symptom.
This is the room-sized installation mentioned above. It is difficult to show it well in a single photograph. It comprises areas of fine threads arranged in cloud-like shapes hung with glass and pearl beads and metal charms.
Here is a closer look at one area.
According to information provided by the artist, the work is an exploration of ‘desire lines’ (worn-down pathways) in post-Apartheid South Africa. He is portraying the idea of sincere prayers somehow being caught up in clouds and so remaining unanswered. A mysterious and beautiful artwork.
A collection of ‘arpilleras’ from Chile was on display. These are appliquéd and embroidered pieces, made by individuals and groups (who remain anonymous) depict scenes from daily life and at times express political resistance. This piece shows a group making arpilleras:
Faith Ringgold’s colourful piece below tells a narrative of a young girl and her family living in Harlem, New York. The girl shown lying on her mattress is also shown flying away into the sky with her brother.
Another piece depicts the lives of Roma people in a sympathetic and positive way. The artist uses found fabrics; the colours and the composition are decorative and attractive.
This piece by Tracey Emin, an exploration of her own feelings in 1977 as a teenager aged 13. Made 22 years after the year in question it is still full of anguish and rage – a powerful artwork.
The exhibition runs until Sunday 26th May 2024.
You can see more information on the Barbican website: www.barbican.org.uk
Here are two pattersns for single-bed quilts. This is ‘Starstruck’ – buy the pattern here
This is ‘Seaweed’ – find the pattern here
Thank you for reading my blog. Quilt Patterns are here, Fabrics are here, Classes are here
Click the ‘Follow’ button to get a blog-post by email each Monday and click here if you would like the monthly newsletter with design and colour inspiration, etc.
Amanda Jane Textiles 