Fiber at the Pompidou 1

I am always on the lookout for mainstream artists who use fiber in their work, and found lots of examples in the Centre Pompidou in Paris.  I'm always wrestling with the eternal question of where "fiber art" stops and "art that happens to incorporate fiber" starts, and who makes that decision.  Still not sure what the answers are, except that I bet none of these artists would call their own work "fiber art."

Jean-Pierre Pincemin, Hexagones collés, 1969 (detail below)

The hexagons are cut out of painted canvas and glued together.  The whole construction hangs loosely, with no apparent support behind it.  Pincemin was part of a French art movement in the early 70s called the Supports/Surfaces group, which rejected the traditional stretchers.

Claude Viallat, Bâche kaki, 1981 (details below)

Viallat also was part of the Supports/Surfaces group and liked to paint on varied fabrics such as sheets, mattress ticking, tablecloths, or here, military surplus tarps.

Piero Manzoni, Achrome, 1961 (detail below)

Manzoni, one of the stars of the Arte Povera movement in Italy (and who famously canned his own excrement as "art"), liked to work with everyday materials.  This piece has loose fiberglass, bound with very thin wire into fat ropelike strands.

Lots more fibers coming in future posts.