Monday, October 18, 2010

Who knew these guys were fiber artists?

It has always amused me that Real Artists (aka painters and sculptors and those with MFAs from Yale) can use fabric in their work without critical repercussion, while we middle-aged ladies who have been known to make quilts are relegated to the lowest circles of Art Hell.  So I am frequently moved to take pictures of fabric in museums, and I don't mean canvas.  Just my little way of saying "see, using fabric doesn't automatically turn artists into wimps and sissies."

Here are a bunch of fabric sightings from my recent museum visits in Germany. 


Robert Rauschenberg, Mine, 1984 (with detail) -- the big piece of fabric with the little thread work is smack in the center of the canvas

Anselm Kiefer, Lilith am Roten Meer (Lilith at the Red Sea), 1990 (with detail)  -- actual garments with paint or medium over them

Joseph Beuys, Osiris, 1970-79 -- pieces of felt affixed to a support





























Michael Buthe, Stoffbild (Fabric Picture), 1969
(with detail)





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5 comments:

  1. Quilt or DyeOctober 18, 2010 at 1:09 PM

    I had to laugh at an artist's piece in our gallery last year. It was a badly painted picture on plain paper but she had used a sewing machine with variegated thread to accentuate a small piece of it. OOOOOOOH! That just made it sooo lovely and special. ***rolling my eyes***

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  2. Terry Jarrard-DimondOctober 18, 2010 at 6:44 PM

    Thank you Kathy for sharing these "sightings". It's what drives me nuts to the max.

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  3. BarbaraOctober 18, 2010 at 10:27 PM

    I am so with you on this one!!!
    Very best wishes,
    barbara

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  4. AnonymousOctober 20, 2010 at 2:52 PM

    I decided when writing an art history paper about a piece on display at the Speed Museum that Sam Gilliam is a fiber artist too. And he is in fact cited as one in the Constantine/Larson fiber art books. This may be exactly the opposite of your point.....
    Debby

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  5. kathyOctober 20, 2010 at 3:50 PM

    isn't it interesting that you can put paint on canvas and depending on how you hang the canvas, it determines if you're a painter or a fiber artist??

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