|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
Has Fiber Art Come of Age?
| Article
# : |
16510 |
|
|
Section : |
THE ARTS
|
| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1989 |
2,182 Words |
| Author
: |
Mavis Guinard
Mavis Guinard, a writer on the arts, lives in Switzerland. |
In 1962, when Jean Lurcat roped in fifty-seven artists from seventeen countries for Lausanne's first Biennale de la Tapisserie, critics wondered how a show of tapestry could be held every two years. Weaving being a notably slow process, could artists meet a deadline every two years and renew their art at such a pace? Fourteen Biennales later, the organizers who have seen fiber art energized by the brilliant silk and wool cascades of Sheila Hicks, the provocative, all-enveloping wool sculptures of Magdalena Abakanowicz, the monumental rope structures of Aurelia Munoz, or the rugged textile murals of Jagoda Buic continue to wonder. What challenge remains?
"Each time, our nightmare is to have nothing to show," says Diana de Rham, who, as executive secretary of the International Center of Modern and Ancient Tapestry, has set up the last three Biennales. "But, when the jury met last November to review the entries, we realized how great the legacy is of the early artists, how much it has stimulated others." Lausanne's successive Biennales have chronicled the evolution from tapestry to fiber art. The fourteenth--no set theme, no holds barred--arrives after heroics with freewheeling freedom and confidence.
Solid Quality
Has fiber art simply come of age? Erika Billeter, a member of the jury and head of the spacious Musee des Beaux Arts where the show takes place, calls this "a Biennale of solid quality: no great surprises, no exceptional explosiveness, yet some unexpected revelations." With Billeter, a jury that included sculptor Peter Jacobi, fiber artist Gerhardt Knodel, textile industrialist Jorg Baumann, and the curator of the Berlin
... (1996 of 12723 Characters)
Read Full Article
|
|
