Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art

Antonio Pichillá
2024
This exhibition catalog examines the transformative power of contemporary textiles and why textiles have been a fertile medium for artists to question regimes of power and hierarchies of value.
Bringing together more than 100 works by a diverse range of international practitioners, this eye-opening volume explores how textile art can be as discomforting and, at the same time, beautiful and how age-old materials and processes are being reimagined with boundary-smashing innovations. From intimate hand-crafted works to large-scale sculptural installations, this book celebrates the legacies of artists such as Pacita Abad, the artillerists, and José Leonilson. Also featured are works by living artists such as Igshaan Adams, Tracey Emin, and Cecilia Vicuña.
Featuring new essays by Julia Bryan-Wilson, Miguel A. Lopez, and Denise Ferriera da Silva, and texts by Michelle Adler, Diego Chocano, Wells Fray-Smith, Lotte Johnson, and Amanda Pinatih, this beautifully produced book features a collection of renowned artists from around the world. It reveals the extraordinary potential of textiles to confront fixed notions of history, race, gender, sexual expressions, and class—and how, ultimately, it can be a powerful force for resistance and repair.
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