Choosing Textiles for the Exhibition

November 15th, 2009 at 12:06pm jeannine

Jeannine Falino here. Part of my job as exhibition curator is to meet with artists and collectors who may know of important works that may be tucked away — just waiting for their moment in the curatorial sun. One good way is to give a lecture on the topic to an interested group. So, on November 18th, I will be speaking to the Textile Study Group of New York, a highly respected and very active organization of fiber artists, writers, and conservators.

The title of my talk is Fiber and the Curatorial Process: Selecting Textiles for ‘Making it Real: The American Studio Movement 1945–1969.’ (More info here http://tsgny.org/MONTHLY.htm) I’ll be discussing trends and topics of the period, along with the artists whose works we are considering for the show. I’ll be showing the works of Ed Rossbach who traveled the world to study basketry techniques

Ed Rossbach, 'Basket,' 1966 (Click on the image to learn more about this piece in MAD's online collection database)

and Helena Hernmarck

Helena Hernmarck, "Talking Trudeau-Nixon Tapestry Triptych," 1969 (click on the image to learn more about the piece in MAD's online collection database)

who translated political photographs into woven panels. Printed and woven textiles that emulate the hand-made will also be featured, so I will be showing some of the possibilities for this category, too. One of them is China Shop, designed by Irving Harper for George Nelson. We found an example of the fabric online

[it appears here along with some interesting information on the designer, Irving Harper, but the image is upside-down http://www.metropolismag.com/html/content_0601/har/index.html]

One of the chief reasons for my lecture is to locate some terrific late1960s garments and accessories that will express a Summer of Love /Haight-Ashbury / Woodstock sort of look. Fingers are crossed that something marvelous will come my way. . .

Entry Filed under: crafting modernism,from the curators