In our everyday lives we give language for granted and don't really pay attention to the deeper meanings of words. Yet, if we stopped and pondered about certain terms, we'd realise that quite often one single word contains a universe of references, associations and ideas.
Take for example the word "colour": most of us may think about their favourite shade; others about the palette behind a particular painting, while the most scientific minds among us may link the term with the refraction of light.
It must have been the richness of meanings behind this word and the wide range of inspirations behind the ideas prompted by colours that inspired the latest exhibition at the TextielMuseum in Tilburg.
"Colour & Abstraction – Generations in Dialogue" (until 3rd March 2019) is a celebration of abstract textile works spanning more than half a century, from the 1960s to the present, and including different generations of artists and designers who used colours – from bright to subtle shades, in imaginative and innovative ways.
As the title suggests, all the works included in this event are characterised by an explosion of colours, but there are obvious differences: older generations explore indeed colours and abstractions through the medium of textile, while in many cases the younger generations seem more interested in looking at the same themes through a variety of different mediums.
Films, sketches and samples illustrate therefore the creative process behind some of the pieces on display while different artists are juxtaposed one to the other to allow visitors to spot similarities that produced completely different outcomes.
Born in 1939, Peter Struycken is considered as the Dutch master of colour experimentation for his textiles infused with a strong sense of dynamism and musicality.
In 1969 Struycken turned to computer generated art and explored the possibilities that this new technique could give to his textiles. He eventually became one of the first artists and pioneers at the TextielLab to experiment and explore the colour possibilities of computer-aided weaving.
New York-based Dutch-Brazilian artist Rafaël Rozendaal is considered his youngest heir: in "Abstract Browsing" (2017), Rozendaal turned the Web into a collage of squares and stripes rendered in bright red, pink, light blue, turquoise and lemon yellow shades.
The digital sphere as we know it is therefore destroyed by the artist who turned it with the help of the TextielLab artisans into a tangible five-metre-wide woven colour-coded tapestry.
Like Struycken other artists belonging to the older generation such as Ria van Eyk and Lam de Wolf, tended to employ bright colours to express an emotion or a personal and spiritual experience.
Reinoud van Vught, Bertjan Pot and Eindhoven duo Raw Color employ instead more subtle and muted colours – at times borrowed from nature – and more traditional techniques. In the case of van Vught, the artist's choice of colours comes from the large-scale drawings in which he experiments with paint and water.
There is obviously also a strong tactile component in the works on display: as the decades passed the lab at the TextielMuseum developed new creative and ambitious possibilities that materialised in three-dimensional textile works.
The latter include woven sculptures, fabrics dipped in latex and experiments with synthetic yarns, metal wire, sisal and hemp, all of them resulting in an unusual, visual and physical experience.
In the Netherlands, Désirée Scholten-van de Rivière and Loes van der Horst, Harry Boom, Lam de Wolf and Marjan Bijlenga were the first to explore the structural possibilities of textiles.
Scholten's "Rood" (1975) is a fascinating composition of vertical threads in soft dégradé colours, while Ria van Eyk's rainbow banners broken by black and white squares (1977-1978) is characterised by a simple linearity and a visually striking juxtaposition of colours.
Computer technology is currently helping new artists to produce complex textile structures: "High Twist Wool / Silver Ellipse" (2016), an elegant drapery made of multiple layers in which yarns and bindings play with each other designed by Berlin-based artist Ursula Wagner, is just among the best examples, while Italian design duo Formafantasma meticulously studied the components of light – reflection, shadow, colour and space – and the use of optics, mirrors and glass in their interior design objects.
In between complex patterns, warped effects, coarse or elegant treatments, strong geometrical shapes, delicate yarns or stronger polyester-based ones, the designs included in this event welcome visitors and invite them to read into the universal language of colours, an idiom that speaks to all cultures without the need for any interpreter or translator.
Image credits for this post
1. "Abstract Browsing 17 08 10X (Google Docs, Feedly, iMore, Top Ten Reviews, Waze, Reviews, Amazon, Nerdwallet, Google Drive, Twitter)" by Rafaël Rozendaal, 2017. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Tommy de Lange/TextielMuseum.
2. Exhibition Overview. Works (wall left to right): Rafaël Rozendaal, "Abstract Browsing 17 08 10X"; Peter Struycken, "Boulez – 22 – 30 mei 04 – 06 maart 05 – 03.bmp"; Ria van Eyk, "Untitled". Foreground: Heleen Klopper, "3d carpet". Photo: Josefina Eikenaar/TextielMuseum.
3. "Abstract Browsing" by Rafaël Rozendaal on the loom in the TextielLab. Photo: William van der Voort/TextielMuseum.
4. Rafaël Rozendaal inspects the wall hangings in the TextielMuseum. Photo: William van der Voort/TextielMuseum.
5. Exhibition Overview. Works (foreground): Fransje Killaars, "Canopy Bed". Background (left): Jacky van Dessel, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue"; Harry Boom, "Untitled, after a landscape". Photo: Josefina Eikenaar/TextielMuseum.
6. Exhibition Overview. Works (foreground): Jacky van Dessel, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". Wall (left to right): Wil Fruytier, "Untitled"; Rafaël Rozendaal, "Abstract Browsing 17 08 10X"; Peter Struycken, "Boulez – 22 – 30 mei 04 – 06 maart 05 – 03.bmp"; Ria van Eyk, "Untitled". Background: Heleen Klopper, "3D carpet". Photo: Josefina Eikenaar/TextielMuseum.
7. "Boulez – 22 – 30 mei 04 – 06 maart 05 – 03.bmp" by Peter Struycken, 2004-2005. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Joep Vogels/TextielMuseum.
8. "Amoeba" by Studio Bertjan Pot, 2015. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Moooi Carpets.
9. Exhibition Overview. Works (foreground): Raw Color, "Blend 2". Wall (right to left): Reinoud van Vught, "Untitled", Studio Formafantasma, "Halo" and "Corner". Photo: Josefina Eikenaar/TextielMuseum.
10. "Blend" (detail) by Raw Color, 2017. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Raw Color.
11. "High Twist Wool / Silver Ellipse" by Ursula Wagner, 2016. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Josefina Eikenaar/TextielMuseum.
12. "Cirkel rood-blauw" by Madeleine Bosscher, 1985. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Joep Vogels/TextielMuseum.
13. "Untitled" by Wil Fruytier, 1979-1980. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Tommy de Lange/TextielMuseum.
14. "Rood" by Désirée Scholten, 1975. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Josefina Eikenaar/TextielMuseum.
15. "Untitled" by Ria van Eyk, 1977-1978. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Josefina Eikenaar/TextielMuseum.
16. "Untitled" (detail), by Ria van Eyk, 1977-1978. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Victor E. Nieuwenhuys.
17. "Untitled", by Heringa/Van Kalsbeek, 2013. Collection TextielMuseum. Photo: Heringa/Van Kalsbeek.
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