TextielMuseum Tilburg
a rainy day, a perfect day for a visit to the museum
in our case the TextielMuseum Tilburg, click here for link to the museum: there was so much to see, I must return and then show you more, for now I'll post about two temporary exhibitions:
Artist Textiles from Picasso to Warhol
A fascinating overview of 20th-century textile design from some of the world's most renowned artists. More than 200 home furnishings and clothing fabrics trace the history of textile design between 1910 and appr. 1975, with examples from Fauvism, Cubism, Constructivism, Modernism, Surrealism and Pop Art. Featuring work by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Raoul Dufy, Salvador Dali, Henry Matisse, Sonia Delauney, Marc Chagall, Henry Moore, Fernand Léger, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder, the exhibition shows how modern art became accessible to all. click here to see more on this exhibition
Highlights TextielLab: Kustaa Saksi 'Hypnopompic'
The Finnish graphic designer Kustaa Saksi has collaborated with the museum's unique textile lab (TextielLab) to produce 8 woven tapestries on the lab's jacquard loom; various threads have been used, both artificial and natural, such as viscose, alpaca, lurex, wool and mohair. The tapestries can be viewed on both sides, one becoming 'the negative' of the other; every pieces consists of three layers, as the un-used colours are in-between; it was an extremely difficult technical challenge for the TextileLab and developing the programme for the computer-operated looms lasted several months. The actual weaving of a single piece lasts only 45 minutes!
Kustaa Saksi's work, forgot to jot down the title:
in our case the TextielMuseum Tilburg, click here for link to the museum: there was so much to see, I must return and then show you more, for now I'll post about two temporary exhibitions:
Artist Textiles from Picasso to Warhol
A fascinating overview of 20th-century textile design from some of the world's most renowned artists. More than 200 home furnishings and clothing fabrics trace the history of textile design between 1910 and appr. 1975, with examples from Fauvism, Cubism, Constructivism, Modernism, Surrealism and Pop Art. Featuring work by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Raoul Dufy, Salvador Dali, Henry Matisse, Sonia Delauney, Marc Chagall, Henry Moore, Fernand Léger, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder, the exhibition shows how modern art became accessible to all. click here to see more on this exhibition
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| Andy Warhol with a melon slice dress |
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| Saul Steinberg (his site) |
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| stick 'm up! |
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| Zandra Rhodes (her site) |
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| Warhol |
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| ah, the letters are too small to be able to read: it mentions how childrens' drawings were used as the motif in this particular fabric |
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| Eduardo Paolozzi/Nigel Henderson 'Cowcumber' by Hammer Prints Ltd, Thorpe-le-Soken ca. 1955 'Cowcumber' was developed from photo-enlargements of 17th century herbal woodcuts (I've copied the titles and descriptions from the museum together with their English translations, I'm not sure if it shouldn't be cucumber instead of cowcumber...) |
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| I live the simplicity of these dresses and skirts (or maybe they aren't really simple, just seem that way) |
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| Pablo Picasso 'toros' screen-printed vinyl-coated cotton; White Stag Clothing Co, Portland Or. 1963 - I wonder if the company still exists - I found some info in Wikipedia click here |
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| Pablo Picasso 'fish' fabric by Fuller & Co. 1955 |
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| Ben Rose 'foliation' 1951; apparently this particular design was of great influence on contemporary pattern design in 1950s Britain; as I wasn't sure about this word 'foliation' I googled it and discovered it does exist and has several meanings, number 1 being: 'the process of forming into a leaf', which I like very much, click here for link to Merriam Webster online and here for the link to the Encyclopedia Britannica, where you find a different meaning as it is also a geological term referring to planar arrangement in rocks, ha! |
Highlights TextielLab: Kustaa Saksi 'Hypnopompic'
The Finnish graphic designer Kustaa Saksi has collaborated with the museum's unique textile lab (TextielLab) to produce 8 woven tapestries on the lab's jacquard loom; various threads have been used, both artificial and natural, such as viscose, alpaca, lurex, wool and mohair. The tapestries can be viewed on both sides, one becoming 'the negative' of the other; every pieces consists of three layers, as the un-used colours are in-between; it was an extremely difficult technical challenge for the TextileLab and developing the programme for the computer-operated looms lasted several months. The actual weaving of a single piece lasts only 45 minutes!
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| this lab is an extraordinary place, how come I haven't been here before.....?! |
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| two sides of the same tapestry, light and dark |
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| 'Arbor Vitae' Kustaa Saksi 2013 link to the site to see more of his work and video click here |
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| on the way back home, we avoided a traffic jam on the highway and chose to drive through the countryside to the river and cross it by ferry, for some reason this always makes me feel like I'm on holiday, a bit. |
Comments
and slowly have realized what
it is i am looking at...
which is a really ODD familiarity
with these prints/colors/designs
this morning i am just in wonder
about it all. Why do i have this
sense of familiarity? My mother
wore very plain things...so, not
there. People in our small town
wore plain things too. so not
there....
could it be things seen at rummage sales? growing up?
or maybe the cloth that i would cut into quilting pieces for my mother's church ladies sewing circle? or really as recently as in my late twenties early thirties when i was into vintage clothes?
but ... whatever, such a STRONG
sense to them...and some, uncomfortable...i think something about unconsciously looking for a sense of Feminine for myself....
The 50's, such an odd period of
time in my mind...
So what I saw in the museum was familiar but not overly so, it brought back memories, always a muddled business.
It's an amazing museum with a team of dedicated employees, steeped in textile tradition, with a nose for the future. So I am sure to return for more inspiration.