E-flux Announcements : Examination of a Case: Pop and Politics in Contemporary Textile Arts
Kunstmuseum Ravensburg
The investigation of the material, fabrics and new textiles is currently being conducted by artists of various generations and backgrounds from all continents. Curtains, tapestries and rugs are being rediscovered as the pictorial carriers of contemporary depictions. Fabrics, textile decor and clothing are giving rise to fresh narratives and elucidating the backgrounds of historical, pictorial and global interconnections. This rediscovery of traditional techniques is complemented by an enthusiasm for new digital technologies: in the current era, digital technology controls the looms or spins the threads in an expanded reality.
Fabrics and their patterning frequently function as symbols of cultural identity as well. In the context of the mass production of textiles and with respect to ecological sustainability, artistic research regarding materials opens up new perspectives and possibilities. The exhibition establishes a dialogue between the different positions of internationally acclaimed artists who explicitly turn their attention to textile materials and simultaneously explore their social-political significance. Many works and pictures encode concepts of social and aesthetic order that they simultaneously put to question. The exhibition endeavors to show how textile materials are currently being used in an explicit and multifaceted manner to give expression to pop culture, post-feminism and the political issues of the moment.
With works by Nevin Aladağ, Alexandra Bircken, Tim Berresheim, Shannon Bool, Edith Dekyndt, Parastou Forouhar, Kyungah Ham, Tobias Hantmann, Erika Hock, Magdalena Kita, Helen Mirra, Laure Prouvost, Yelena Popova, Sara Sizer, Oliver Sieber, Heidi Specker, Roland Stratmann, Rosemarie Trockel
The exhibition was planned and realized in 2020/2021 for the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz; because of the lockdown, however, it was never opened. A collaboration with the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Dr. Sabine Maria Schmidt, curator at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz; Kristina Groß, curator at the Kunstmuseum Ravensburg
Accompanying program
Thursday, September 15, 6pm
In Dialogue with Julia Höner
Joint exhibition tour
Artistic director, KAI10, ARTHENA FOUNDATION, Düsseldorf, and curator of the textile exhibition Current Threads (2021)
Thursday, October 20, 7pm
Lecture by Dr. Sabine Maria Schmidt
“Creative Strategies in Textile Art between Pop and Politics”
Curator, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
Article published on https://www.e-flux.com