It’s safe to say that materials fascinate us. How they’re made, how and why they’re used and what potential uses they may have, are questions that we ask ourselves whenever we come into contact with materials, new or old.
Judging by the current exhibition at the Turner Contemporary , it’s a mindset that we share with the curation team there.
Entangled: Threads & Making is a group exhibition that explores the impact of female artists and designers who have worked with fabric, yarn and thread within their practice.
With pieces spanning the last 100 years or so, the exhibition brings together 40 international female artists who have expanded the possibilities of these materials and with it, our expectations of the role that women play in creating with them.
There is a rich offering of pioneering sculpture, installation, tapestry, textiles, and jewellery, with some curious materials including skeletal plant structures, bird quills and horsehair included in the mix.
Blurring the boundaries between fine and applied arts, the works on show utilise and celebrate handcrafted processes and underline a strong desire to question the relationships between materials and processes.
Victoria Pomery OBE, Turner Contemporary Director, comments: “At a time when women’s rights across the world are under threat, this is an extremely timely exhibition. Inventive, curious and experimental, all of the artists in this exhibition demonstrate innovation and creativity.
"The pioneering steps taken by several of the 20 th century women artists in this exhibition have had huge influence on the work of successive generations, allowing contemporary artists to challenge boundaries even further.”
Entangled: Threads & Making is on until 7 May 2017 at the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate. Artists include: Caroline Achaintre, Anni Albers, Ghada Amer, Paola Anziché, Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter, Phyllida Barlow, Marion Baruch, Karla Black, Margrét H. Blöndal, Regina Bogat, Louise Bourgeois, Geta Brătescu, Sonia Delaunay, Laura Ford, Ximena Garrido-Lecca and Sonia Gomes.
All images courtesy of Stephen White
