Anni Albers was a well known German textile artist and prominent printmaker. She is perhaps one of the most well-known print artists of the 20th century. Albers dared to go where no textile designer had gone before, which in part helped to launch her designs into popularity. Born in Berlin, Albers became a student of the Bauhaus in Weimar which is where she met and married Josef Albers. Albers sometimes with help from her husband managed to blur traditional boundaries that existed between craft and art. Albers blended her talent as a painter, designer, artist, and teacher to create a highly successful career that lasted over 60 years.
Michelangelo Pistoletto – Venus of the Rags, 1967, 1974, Marble and textiles, 2120 x 3400 x 1100 mm
Michelangelo Pistoletto’s (b. 1933) Venus of the Rags contrasts the life-sized statue of the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility. Pistoletto’s depiction stands with a large pile of vibrantly colored and discarded clothes that are mounded on the ground, positioned with her back to the viewers, her face and body rest against the pile of fabrics that upsurges before her, so her face is ultimately veiled.
Erin M. Riley – Self Portrait 2, 2015, Hand woven tapestry, hand dyed wool on a cotton warp, 182.9 x 121.9 cm
Is there a better reflection of a culture than the creatives living in it? From painters to photographers to poets, the voice of our moment is often told most aptly and timelessly through what they create. The same goes for Erin M. Riley. She has taken a look at both her own and the collective conscious of the individuals of today and laid what she sees for all to witness.