Sabi Westoby
  • Home
  • About me
    • CV
  • News
    • Sabina Lovibond
    • "Poppies Sown in Thread"
    • Surface Design
    • "Coming Home" comes to Olympia
    • BAR Affordable Art Fair
    • London Quilters - 'Coming Home' Show
    • The Quilting Book - Dorling Kindersley
    • Threaded Together
  • Uprooted
  • Galleries
    • The Georgics
    • Quilts
    • Art quilts
    • Poppies
    • Monochrome series
    • Sketchbook series
    • Journal Quilts >
      • 2022
      • 2021
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2016
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • 2013
      • 2012
      • 2011
    • Vessels
    • Books
  • Blog
  • Works
  • Contact

Losing the Compass

4/11/2015

0 Comments

 
I was delighted to learn that White Cube, one of the world's most prestigious and well known commercial galleries, was exhibiting textile works, including Amish and Gee's Bend quilts, as well as modern conceptual pieces, at it's Mason's Yard venue.  A visit to the show didn't disappoint.

The exhibition is in two parts - the historic pieces in one display and the modern ones in another. 

Seventeen old quilts and two pieces by Alighiero e Boetti are shown together.  Three of the quilts are hanging on the wall in an unconventional way, as if draped on a hook, with a spotlight on each of them.  The other quilts were laid out against a long wall, on blocks creating a step, each overlapping another or being overlapped.

It was frustrating not to be able to see the full quilts, especially those from Gee's Bend.  One in particular, Geraldine Westbrook's Housetop, was tantalisingly worn and dirty, which made me want to see the rest of it.  It was also alarming to see that the quilts had been fixed in place with large staples.  And several trailed across the floor, ready to be trodden on.  I feel that this display should have been laid out in such a way that the full quilts could be seen.  Hanging them against a wall would have enabled a full view without damaging the textiles.

Complaints finished!  The quilts were a moving display of women's creativity, ingenuity and skill.  Scraps of fabrics, worn and grubby, made up a large part of the Gee's Bend quilts, many with asymmetrical piecing that appeared to add to their spontaneity.  One of the oldest pieces, Coxcomb Flower, was beautifully appliqued and quilted; Log Cabin, described as third quarter 19th century, had an unusual half square triangle centre.  And the mariner's compass, also attributed to the same period , was stunning.
The second part of the exhibition had some very interesting pieces.  Danh Vo's cochineal-dyed rug was ablaze with colour, almost hurting one's eyes with it's brilliance.  Mona Hatoum's 4 Rugs (made in Egypt) had images of skeletons, reminiscent of burial  plots.  I loved the idea behind Mike Kelley's Carpet #5 - (probably cheap) acrylic carpet painted with acrylic and mounted and framed to create an artwork.  Likewise, Sergej Jensen's hand knitted pieces were bold minimalist pieces, bringing knit into the world of art.  There were many canvas embroideries by the Italian conceptual artist, Alighiero e Boetti, cleverly using text in his work.

So, one can hope that this exhibition might help bring textile artworks into the mainstream art world.  We wait and see.
0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    All Threaded Together
    Andreas Gursky
    Artists
    Boiling Pages
    Bookwraps
    British Museum
    Brother ScanNCut
    Colombia
    Contemporary Textile Fair
    Exhibitions
    Fabric Dyeing
    Festival Of Quilts
    Knitting And Stitching Show
    London Quilters
    Lowry
    News
    Open Studios
    Paintsticks
    Poppies Sown In Thread
    Quilts
    Red Earth
    Royal Academy
    Silk
    Sketchbooks
    Somerset House
    Stitched Exhibition
    Taking The Rough With The Smooth
    Tate
    Unseen Waterloo
    Victoria And Albert Museum
    Weaving
    Work In Progress
    Workshops
    WW1

    Archives

    July 2021
    October 2020
    June 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    July 2019
    May 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012