"Women have played a pivotal role in the production of artworks for centuries and yet, so often, their work has been regarded as of less importance than that of men. The histories of art have often made them invisible," Victoria Pomery OBE, Director of Turner Contemporary, states in the preface of the catalogue for the "Entangled: Threads & Making" exhibition (on until tomorrow at Turner Contemporary).
When she first started working with critic, curator and writer Karen Wright on this project, Pomery didn't intend to feature only women in the exhibit, but, as their research progressed, they came up with a surprising all-women line up.
The pieces included in "Entangled" are naturally very different one from the other and the exhibition comprises sculpture, installation, tapestry, textiles and jewellery from 1918 to 2016, by over 40 international female artists working in the most disparate techniques, from embroidery, weaving and sewing to other hand-made processes.
Wright became fascinated by the various methodologies of making that she witnessed during artist studio visits and she managed to pass her enthusiasm on in this selection of works made in the most disparate materials, including plants, clothing, hair and bird quills.
Rather than an exploration of the works in a chronological order, "Entangled" could be considered as a journey through juxtapositions of colours, themes and techniques.
Among the early 20th century pioneers of textiles and the handcrafted practice there are Anni Albers and Gunta Stölzl's geometrically mesmerising graphic pieces and Louise Bourgeois' "Hand" (2001), an iconic work in stitched up cotton, a material used to symbolise warmth but also vulnerability as the patchwork-like surface evokes feelings of fear and violence.
Hannah Ryggen's "6 Oktober 1942" (1943) tapestry introduces politics since it shows the execution by the Nazi of a group of ten political prisoners, among them theatre director Henry Gleditsch.
A costume for Fokine's ballet "Cleopatre" designed by Sonia Delauney in 1918 is shown in dialogue with Arna Ôttarsdottir's "Jacket with Tapestry", Aiko Tezuka's "Unravelled Fabric" a striking piece that creates a surreal optical illusion with the fabric looking as if it had melted and had formed a fluid pool on the floor, and Maria Papadimitriou's works. The latter produces garments for or with others, and the exhibition includes a collection of Roma coats in extraordinarily bold colours.
Eva Hesse and Susan Hiller represent painters who tried the experimental path in the 1960s and '70s: "Entangled" features Hesse's fragile forms in cheesecloth from 1969 and Hiller's "Painting Blocks" (1974-75), recycled canvases cut up and sewn together to form sculptural blocks.
More recent artists include Portuguese Joana Vasconcelos, with two of her painted ceramic glaze animals covered in handmade cotton crochet; Kiki Smith with her narrative tapestry "Sky" (2012); Norwegian Ann Cathrin November Høibo, who uses a loom to create abstract works, incorporating natural and synthetic materials found on her travels; Sonia Gomes, who draws on the traditions of indigenous cultures in her native Brazil for her colourful, abstract sculptures made by binding different fabrics around wire, and Phyllida Barlow (representing Britain at the 57th Venice Biennale), who recycles bits of timber, plywood and other discarded or everyday materials to create her colourful assemblages such as "Untitled: Broken Shelf" (2015).
"Entangled" also brings together 10 new works, created especially for the show, among them Anna Ray's multi-coloured "Margate Knot" (2017), a work produced by the artist and a group of local Margate makers; an installation ("Old Lake") by Samara Scott that covers in rich textures the museum's lift and that was made using carpets and rather unusual materials such as food colouring and yoghurt; German artist Christiane Löhr's sculpture made with locally sourced horsehair; Ursula von Rydinsgvard's "Thread Terror", a large sculpture in cedar, carved by the artist to suggest thick thread or reams of fabric and Paola Anziché's tubes in raffia, wool, jute and other natural fibres.
In her essay on the exhibition catalogue, Karen Wright highlights how this is a very timely exhibition, considering how women's rights across the world are under constant threat. And while misogyny is rife out there in the real world and on social media, the artists included in "Entangled" show us that liberation is possible via creativity and innovation and the battle for your rights can also be fought through threads and textiles.
Can't make it? Try and get the exhibition catalogue: it is packed with intriguing essays and interviews by Ann Coxon, Stina Högkvist, Siri Hustvedt, Kathryn Lloyd, Rosa Martínez, Marit Paasche, Frances Morris and Karen Wright, that will provide some wonderful insights on the work of some of the artists featured in "Entangled".
Image credits for this post
Installation view of Louise Bourgeois' "Hand" (2001) and Hannah Ryggen's "6 Oktober 1942" (1943) at "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of Samara Scott, "Old Lake", 2017 at "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. From left to right, Maria Papadimitriou, "Roma Coats", 2010, Anna Ray, "Margate Knot", 2016 and Joana Vasconcelos, "Eboli", 2013. Courtesy Turner Contemporary Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. From left to right, Laura Ford, "Penguins", 2012 and Paula Anziché, "Natural Fibres", 2016. Courtesy Turner Contemporary Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. From left to right, Arna Ôttarsdottir, "Tapestry Two Baseball Caps", 2016, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, "Una Gruesa de Chullos (Destajidos"), 2012, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, "Una Gruesa de Chullos", 2013 and Sonia Delaunay, Costume for Amoun in Fokine's ballet "Cleopatre", Diaghilev Ballet, redesigned 1918, 1909-1918. Courtesy Turner Contemporary Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. From left to right, Lucy + Jorge Orta, "Nexus Architecture",1 of 16, 1997 and Francis Upritchard, "Matisse Hats", 2015. Courtesy Turner Contemporary Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. From left to right, Arna Ôttarsdottir, "Jacket with Tapestry", 2013 and Aiko Tezuka, "Unravelled Fabric" (10m), 2016. Courtesy Turner Contemporary Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. From left to right, Rosemary Trockel, "Untitled (Amaca, red-white)", 2000, and Joana Vasconcelos, "Slash", 2011. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of Phyllida Barlow, "Untitled: Broken Shelf", 2015 at "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of Maria Roosen, "After David 2", 2015 at "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of Caroline Achaintre, "Bernadette", 2016 at "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of Kiki Smith, "Sky", 2012 at "Entangled: Threads & Making, Turner Contemporary". Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
Installation view of Ursula von Rydinsgvard's "Thread Terror" and Sonia Gomes at "Entangled: Threads & Making", Turner Contemporary. Courtesy Turner Contemporary. Photo: Stephen White.
Related articles
