Feminist By Design
EMPOWER SPACES WITH WALLCOVERINGS BY GROUNDBREAKING ARTISTS
By Linda O’Keeffe / Henry Magazine
Image: Judy Chicago. Photo by Collier Schorr.
A century ago this year, the passage of the 19th amendment granted women their hard-won constitutional right to vote. But in the early twentieth century, the fine arts were considered alpha disciplines, while the applied arts implied utility, and by association, domesticity. As a result, they were filed away as a subordinate, female activity.
Over time, the line between fine and applied arts has blurred, but it was clearly drawn in the early 1920s when Anni Albers joined the Bauhaus, hoping to study painting. As one of the ‘beautiful sex”—a classification assigned by the school’s founder, Walter Gropius—her options were limited to bookbinding, pottery, and weaving. Albers chose weaving, and transformed, in her words, “limp threads” into vivid, labyrinthine patterns and sculptural tapestries. Her bold, graphic work defied gender categorization—indeed categorization of any kind—earning her the descriptor textile artist, and ultimately, the status of icon.
In an ongoing collaboration with the Anni and Josef Albers Foundation, London-based studio Christopher Farr Cloth recreates a selection of her classic designs, enabling all of us to infuse our spaces with Albers’ bold, pioneering spirit. The collection is available through De Sousa Hughes.
Read the full story
Posted on Monday, February 8th, 2021 at 8:23 pm. Filed under: Commentator RSS 2.0 feed.
Feminist By Design
EMPOWER SPACES WITH WALLCOVERINGS BY GROUNDBREAKING ARTISTS
By Linda O’Keeffe / Henry Magazine
Image: Judy Chicago. Photo by Collier Schorr.
A century ago this year, the passage of the 19th amendment granted women their hard-won constitutional right to vote. But in the early twentieth century, the fine arts were considered alpha disciplines, while the applied arts implied utility, and by association, domesticity. As a result, they were filed away as a subordinate, female activity.
Over time, the line between fine and applied arts has blurred, but it was clearly drawn in the early 1920s when Anni Albers joined the Bauhaus, hoping to study painting. As one of the ‘beautiful sex”—a classification assigned by the school’s founder, Walter Gropius—her options were limited to bookbinding, pottery, and weaving. Albers chose weaving, and transformed, in her words, “limp threads” into vivid, labyrinthine patterns and sculptural tapestries. Her bold, graphic work defied gender categorization—indeed categorization of any kind—earning her the descriptor textile artist, and ultimately, the status of icon.
In an ongoing collaboration with the Anni and Josef Albers Foundation, London-based studio Christopher Farr Cloth recreates a selection of her classic designs, enabling all of us to infuse our spaces with Albers’ bold, pioneering spirit. The collection is available through De Sousa Hughes.
Read the full story
Posted on Monday, February 8th, 2021 at 8:23 pm. Filed under: Commentator RSS 2.0 feed.
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