Textile art
Feminisms and Other Engagements
01.02.2018 | Julie Sabau
Browse by Themes
Sheila Hicks, Palitos con Bolas, 2008-2015, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Gift by Itaka Martignoni and Cristobal Zañartu in 2017, © Centre Pompidou, 2017 © ADAGP, Paris
“Needlework, in other words sewing, embroidering, lacework, tapestry and knitting, are a historical part of the lives of women.” Aline Dallier-Popper, art historian and critic, 1976.
In the late 19th century, needlework distanced itself from the domestic sphere and gradually entered the world of art – first in the Arts and Crafts movement, then in the European avant-gardes. Mainly used by women artists, it would come to inspire much of their artistic output. Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Sonia Delaunay incorporated it into their works, progressively deconstructing the boundaries between applied arts, design and fine arts. Anni Albers and Sheila Hicks then reappropriated traditional techniques and/or materials to weave links between art and handicraft. Thus freed from its utilitarian or decorative function, textile became an artistic medium in its own right.
Its use in art became truly established in the 1970s in response to feminist movements. By repurposing the uses of needlework, artists created works that raised the issue of the status of women and of the roles traditionally assigned to them: Raymonde Arcier (Au nom du père [“In the Name of the Father”], 1977) denounced domestic servitude; Annette Messager (Ma collection de proverbes [“My Collection of Proverbs”], 1974) criticised gender stereotypes. The medium and its techniques became a tool of expression and of feminist awareness. The use of textile by artists is not a movement per se, but a heterogeneous practice: Ghada Amer combines painting and embroidery (Ma lune noire-RFGA [“My Black Moon-RFGA”], 2016); Françoise Janicot creates performances using string (L’Encoconnage [“The Cocooning”], 1972); Milvia Maglione uses fabric as mounting material (Dédicadé à L. [“Dedicated to L.”], 1973). Whether they be an expression of protest (Hessie, Grillage [“Grid”], 1972-75) or of something more personal (Louise Bourgeois, Needle (fuseau), 1992), textile practices are akin to a language with its own codes, which artists have made their own.
1899 — Germany | 1994 — United States
Anni Albers
1943 | France
Annette Messager
1936 — Jamaica | 2017 — France
Hessie (Hessie Djuric, née Johnston, dite)
1939 | France
Raymonde Arcier
1934 | United States
Sheila Hicks
1889 — 1943 | Switzerland
Sophie Taeuber-Arp
1911 — France | 2010 — United States
Louise Bourgeois
1963 | Egypt
Ghada Amer
1930 — 2017 | Poland
Magdalena Abakanowicz
1925 — Switzerland | 2015 — France
Eva Aeppli
1963 | India
Rina Banerjee
1939 | France
Bernadette Bour
1926 — 2018 | Romania
Geta Brătescu
1931 — 2019 | Lebanon
Huguette Caland
1969 | Vietnam
Tiffany Chung
1932 | Colombia
Olga de Amaral
1963 | United Kingdom
Tracey Emin
1942 | United States
Jann Haworth
1908 — Ukraine | 1958 — Poland
Maria Jarema
1944 | Australia
Yvonne Koolmatrie
1892 — Poland | 1966 — France
Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss
1958 | Ireland
Kathy Prendergast
1929 | Japan
Takako Saito
1961 | China
Lin Tianmiao
1942 | New Zealand
Maureen Lander
1907 — 2007 | United States
Lenore Tawney
1966 | Zambia
Agnes Buya Yombwe
1940 | Argentina
Delia Cancela
1971 | New Zealand
Ani O’Neill
1928 — Palestina | 2010 — Israel
Ruth Zarfati Sterenshuss
1897 — Germany | 1983 — Switzerland
Gunta Stölzl
1892 — 1976 | Germany
Benita Koch-Otte
1894 — Sweden | 1970 — Norway
Hannah Ryggen
1903 — Poland | 2000 — Germany
Gertrud Arndt
1930 | Croatia (before Yugoslavia)
Jagoda Buić
1926 — 2011 | Spain
Aurèlia Muñoz
1944 | United States
Harmony Hammond
1889 — Iceland | 1966 — Denmark
Júlíana Sveinsdóttir
1964 | China
Qing Lu
1834 — 1910 | United States
Harriet Powers
1970 | Brazil
Lídia Lisboa
1964 | Argentina
Nicola Costantino
1908 — 2000 | Turkey
Hripsimeh Sarkissian
1960 | Argentina
Mónica Millán
1897 — 1978 | Mexico
Lola Cueto
1949 — United States | 2004 — Israel
Pamela Levy
1948 | Brazil
Sonia Gomes
1957 | United States
Cheryl Ann Bolden
1906 — 1985 | Canada
Jessie Oonark
1928 — 2017 | France
Pierrette Bloch
1958 | France
Cécile Bart
1930 — 1998 | Canada
Joyce Wieland
1964 | Martinique, France
Valérie John
1968 | Haiti
Myrlande Constant
1970 | Mexico
Natividad Amador
1962 | Peru
Lastenia Canayo García (Pecón Quena)
1970 | United States
Teri Greeves
1967 | Uzbekistan
Dilyara Kaipova
1965 | Peru
Gaudencia Aquilina Yupari Quispe
1967 | United States
Marie Watt
1945 | Norway
Elisabeth Astrup Haarr
1875 — 1949 | Japan
Shōen Uemura
1957 | Argentina
Claudia del Río
1940 | Senegal
Younousse Seye
1755 — Great Britain | 1845 — United Kingdom
