Ed Rossbach, Damask Waterfall, 1977. Cotton welting cord, commercial fabric, plastic, satin damask, wrapped.

Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction [National Gallery of Art, Washington]

On view at the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction foregrounds a robust if overlooked strand in art history’s modernist narratives by tracing how, when, and why abstract art intersected with woven textiles (and such pre-loom technologies as basketry, knotting and netting) over the past century. Although at times unevenly weighted, the diverse exchanges, alignments, affiliations, and affinities that have brought these art forms into dialogue constitute an ongoing if intermittent narrative in which one art repeatedly impacts and even redefines the other. In short, the relationship between abstract art and woven textiles can best be described as co-constitutive, and their histories as interdependent. With more than 150 works by an international and transhistorical roster of artists, this exhibition reveals how shifting relations among abstract art, fashion, design and craft shaped recurrent aesthetic, cultural and socio-political forces, as they, in turn, were impacted by modernist art forms.

Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

 

Ed Rossbach, Damask Waterfall, 1977. Cotton welting cord, commercial fabric, plastic, satin damask, wrapped.

Ed Rossbach, Damask Waterfall, 1977. Cotton welting cord, commercial fabric, plastic, satin damask, wrapped. LongHouse Reserve. Photo © Charles Benton, courtesy The Artists’ Institute

 

 

Date

Sunday, March 17, 2024 Sunday, July 28, 2024

Location

National Gallery of Art, Washington
Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20565
United States

On Tour

Los Angeles County Museum of Art
17 September 2023 – 21 January 2024

National Gallery of Art, Washington
17 March – 28 July 2024 

National Gallery of Canada
8 November 2024 – 2 March 2025

Museum of Modern Art, New York
Dates to be announced