What's Red and White but Pure Gold All Over?

Details of quilts.

On March 30, Jay and I drove down to the Park Avenue Armory, in Manhattan, to view "Infinite Variety," a special quilt event coordinated by the American Folk Art Museum. This six-day-only installation featured 651 red-and-white quilts from the collection of Joanna S. Rose. It was worth the drive; indeed Jay compared it to Christo's 2005 "The Gates" project as a spectacle not to be missed. This was even better, though, as the quilts were comfortably indoors, and, instead of endlessly repeated orange banners, each and every quilt was an individual creation. As one online commenter said in a post at the New York Times website, it was like being hugged by 651 women at once, http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/finally-mrs-rose-and-the-public-can-see-all-her-rugs/

Park Avenue Armory.

Exhibit banner outside the Armory.

Thinc [sic] Design, which master-minded the installation, deserves kudos for the dynamic way in which the quilts inhabit the cavernous Armory drill hall. A unique free-span space, the hall is reminiscent of a state fairgrounds barn, but right in Manhattan. Learn more about the Armory's history, and current programming, at http://www.armoryonpark.org/index.php/

The quilts were hung in circular groups called pavilions, which enclosed the viewers, creating an immersive experience.

The central pavilion featured a spiral of quilts.

Another view of pavilions.

Check out the quilt with woman at spinning wheel.
Shades of Wallace Nutting.

Tubes are suspended using cable and cable stays.

Quilts are hung using paper tubes and paper clamps.


Quilts hung using cables.

Viewers of all ages documented their experience.

Visitors silhouetted in front of quilts.

Their strong graphic quality allows quilts to be "read" even from a distance,
allowing a vertical presentation.


Quilts rising up.

By limiting herself to red-and-white quilts for this exhibit, Mrs. Rose created a group show whose impact is greater than the sum of its parts. By holding color constant, the variability of pattern became that much more powerful.

Many traditional quilt patterns are represented - Drunkard's Path, Burgoyne Surrounded, Schoolhouse, just to name a few - but also quilts of idiosyncratic design and execution. Even the classic pattern quilts display much individuality in borders and bindings. Additionally, the quilting - mostly by hand - shows up beautifully on the solid fabrics.

Detail, hand quilting.

Photographer with red and white patterns on her jacket.

We were at the installation on the last day, which was packed with viewers in every age, shape, size and degree of mobility, with men well-represented, a bit unusual for a quilt show.

Technology assisted with audio descriptions of select quilts accessed by cell phone; viewers could also borrow iPads with special apps. A cafe and the inevitable gift shop made the experience complete. We stayed until the exhibit closed at 5 pm, just savoring the presence of so many quilts and the spirits of their makers.

Op art, before Bridget Riley or Victor Vasarely.

Salley Mavor's book illustrations

Cover, Salley Mavor's delightful new book.

Massachusetts is full of surprisingly good local museums and in January my husband and I drove to one of them, the Danforth Museum of Art, in Framingham. We enjoyed an exhibit of original children's book illustrations by Falmouth artist Salley Mavor, all from her new volume of nursery rhymes. The exhibit ended January 23, 2011; however many of the works will travel through 2013. It's worth the trip, and the remaining schedule, and much additional info about this artist, can be found at Ms. Mavor's website http://www.weefolkstudio.com/

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

We read Ms. Mavor's earlier works with our children while they were growing up, and enjoyed the books very much. In the latest volume, though, Ms. Mavor has exceeded herself, achieving results with her unique low relief fiber techniques that are better than ever.

I have always liked low-relief sculpture, whatever the specific medium. One highlight of my Italian honeymoon, many years ago, was viewing Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise doors in Florence.

Detail, Adam and Eve panel, Gates of Paradise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AdamEveGhiberti.jpg#filelinks

It took Ghiberti twenty-one years to make his panels. It took Ms. Mavor about one month to make each illustration for her book, which should be at least nominated for a Caldecott prize.

Detail, The Cock Crows in the Morn.

She deftly manipulates materials on the surface layer and then introduces other elements which just break free of the surface, creating depth that is all the more profound for the slim margin between the second and third dimensions.

Miss Muffet, with bowl of curds.


A spirit sheltering from the rain,

beneath a beautifully hand-dyed felt toadstool.


Old King Cole, with fiddlers.

Blanket stitch and felt create a stone castle.


A collage of cottages.

Pretty maids all in a row in contrary Mary's garden.


Ms. Mavor uses many found objects,

including driftwood and acorn caps.

If you have any excuse at all - a friend or relative with a new baby, for example - to buy this book, you'll be delighted with it. Just enjoy the book yourself for a while before giving it away. ISBN 978 0 618 73740 6.

Ms. Mavor signs my books, at the

New England Quilt museum, December 10, 2011.

This just in: Back in 2010, when I first published this post, Jay and I were not able to attend the book-signing at the Danforth. But life gives second chances, and to my delight the NEQM hosted Ms. Mavor in December, 2011. Hie we to Lowell, with our books, and I purchased another copy too. Ms. Mavor graciously signed them all and sat for her picture.

Sheila Hicks at the Addison Gallery

Right, Trapeze de Cristobal, 1971. Left, Lianes Nantaises, 1973.

A blurry photo of Tresors et Secrets, 1990-1995.

Ms. Hicks calls these "soft stones."

In February, Jay and I drove to the Addison Gallery, on the campus of Phillips Andover Academy, to see the first-ever major retrospective of work by textile artist Sheila Hicks.

Nebraska-born Ms. Hicks, now in her eighties, works and lives in Paris. She studied at Yale, formally with Josef Albers and informally with his wife, weaver Anni Albers. Ms. Hicks’ education continued through travels in South America on a Fulbright. Later journeys to India influenced her palette; her saturated colors might be direct from the dye vats of Goa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_pigments.jpg

Much has been written suggesting that her woven and wrapped wool creations are some kind of soft, feminine counterpart to the harsh, masculine materials of modern architecture – glass, steel and concrete. More interesting to me though, is the fact that she obtained large scale commissions from institutional and corporate clients, including entities as disparate as Air France and Target, as well as commissions for public art installations. The studies for some of these monumental works were in the show – for example, a mock-up of a large installation for a Ford Foundation conference room.

2.60 x 103 meters, five tons of linen thread

The Four Seasons of Fuji, 1999

Fuji City Cultural Center, Japan

 To create these large scale pieces, Ms. Hicks developed and managed teams of assistants; this aspect of her process is only touched upon in the videos accompanying the show and it would have been instructive to have learned a bit more about this aspect of her process. In largely ignoring the implementation of her ideas this show wasn't that different from most monographs of the famous architects who are Ms. Hicks' mentors and colleagues. When the work of a star architect is presented, the design and office staff are seldom credited in any way for their role in implementing the vision of the maestro. Museums perpetuate the cultural trope of the visionary genius with this approach. Were curators and biographers to sufficiently credit the management abilities and practical application exercised by designers in realizing their visionary concepts, we 'd have to recognize the teams of people whom the artists indirectly or directly supervise. Somehow, artist as supervisor is less romantic or impressive than artist solely as innovator. The "great man" - now expanded to include the "great woman" - approach to art history continues, and this approach doesn't feel particularly modern.

While I admire the large scale works, I wanted to see the small weavings Ms. Hicks has made throughout her career on a compact portable loom, and which she calls "minimes." In scale these weavings are like manuscript pages, narratives in warp and weft. These are exquisite, and prove that a soaring idea doesn't have to be three hundred feet long.

Olympic Bravery, 1979.

I wasn't able to satisfactorily photograph the small works, but more examples can be seen at http://www.davisandlangdale.com/Pages/SheilaHicks.html

There are also two recent books about Sheila Hicks, including the companion to this exhibit, Sheila Hicks 50 Years, ISBN 978-0-300-12164-3, and an award-winning book from a Bard Center exhibit, Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor, ISBN 978 0300116854.

Colonial schoolgirl samplers at MFA Boston

1. Sampler, detail.

When I was twelve, I was doing my homework in front of "Gilligan's Island", and trying to survive middle school. Twelve-year-old Boston girls in the 18th century made better use of their time, learning necessary stitching skills while composing delightful exercises in color and pattern. Museum-goers are more conditioned to appreciate oil paintings and monumental sculpture, but interest in samplers often perks up at the news that a Boston schoolgirl sampler fetched an auction record price of $465,750 in 2009.

http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/AuctionWatch/2009-09-22__13-27-37.html

Another wonderful attribute of these items, unlike so much work done by women, is that most are signed and dated. That said, during my somewhat rushed visit to this gallery, I didn't have time to note the artist of every sampler I photographed, so I apologize to our schoolgirls for the lack of authorship. (I will amend this entry if I have a chance to return to the show.)

2. Sampler, Hannah Storer.

The stitched message sternly admonishes: In prosperity friends will be plenty, but in adversity not one in twenty. (White spots on image are glare from overhead lights.)

3. Detail, sampler, Hannah Storer.

The samplers were all made by girls living in Boston, and studying with women who often developed distinctive styles of stitching. The samplers usually feature an alphabet, bands of decorative geometric and floral motifs, often some kind of adage or proverb, perhaps a Biblical scene, and are finished with a border as well as name and date.

4. Detail, sampler, Sarah Erving, 1750, age 13.

I especially like the samplers worked primarily in cross-stitch, with occasional use of satin stitch, such as in these strawberries by Miss Erving.

5. Detail, sampler, Sarah Erving.

A popular figural motif, used in many samplers, depicts Biblical scouts Joshua and Caleb returning from Canaan with their haul, as recorded in Numbers 13: 23. "And they came to the Wadi [stream] Eshcol, and cut down there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them." The symmetry inherent in this literary motif - two men on either side of fruit - lends itself to the technique of counted cross-stitch, as the young artist can repeat the pattern of the first figure for the second.

6. Sampler, Sarah Erving, overall view.

7. Detail, sampler, Sarah Lowell.

Sarah Lowell also illustrated the exploits of Joshua and Caleb in her sampler, with bright red grapes. Her sampler also featured some lovely, spikey foliage.

8. Detail, sampler, Sarah Lowell.

9. Detail, sampler, Sarah Lowell.

10. Detail, sampler.

Adam and Eve, with snake and fig leaves, were another popular theme for the figural part of a sampler (see also the first image in this blog.) Again, the figures tend to be mirror images of each other, with Eve perhaps having more hair.

11. Detail, sampler.

The colors of the samplers have faded over time, and I kept wishing there was some way to see the backs of the samplers, as viewing photographs or scans of the reverse side might give us an idea of the original colors. Images of the reverse sides accessible on some kind of portable screen would have been a good use of technology. Any curators listening out there?

12. Detail, sampler.

Leaves are outlined in buttonhole stitch.

13. Detail, sampler.

14. Crewel embroidery flowers

emerge from a cross-stich basket.

15. Detail, sampler.

The needlework teachers were from Great Britain, and it would be interesting to compare these samplers with contemporaneous items created by girls in England. This last sampler definitely has a unique New England flavor, however, with its bird-watching moose.