I recently saw ‘Remembering’ at the Serpentine Gallery, London. It is a large exhibition of work from a sixty-year career by Indian artist Arpita Singh.
Although this was not a textile exhibition, it was very textural. Several pieces could be re-imagined as textile collages and several have remained in my mind because of their vibrance and visual impact.
The artist works in a variety of media. This painting ‘Homeward’ is done in oils. The mysterious boat on its sea of words suggests all manner of interpretations – and the artist leaves us to make our own decisions. This was my favourite piece in the exhibition.
This painting is much smaller, by contrast. and is painted in watercolour. Interestingly, there is a boat in this image too.
Aeroplanes often appear in Singh’s work too, as shown in the picture below. The image of the flower draws the viewer in to the apparent dialogue between the two figures but we have to imagine what they are speaking about and wonder whether there is a sea between them..
The patterns on the sofa, the tablecloth and the women’s garments drew me to this painting, which is done in watercolours. It reminds me a little of some of Matisse’s paintings of people and textiles. Once again, the interaction between the figures is unclear and a little mysterious.
This exhibition is at the Serpentine North Gallery until 27 July 2025. (NB there are two Serpentine Galleries, North and South) The address is West Carriage Drive, Kensington Gardens, London W2 2AAR The website is: https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/
This fabric design ‘Mermaids’ is one of many available in my studio on the Spoonflower site. You can get it here
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