Through Sep 13
MoMA
Textiles are woven into the fabric of our lives and history, shaping how we perceive meaning and art. As Anni Albers insightfully remarked in 1965, “Threads were among the earliest transmitters of meaning.” Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction explores the profound relationship between textile art and the evolution of abstraction. The exhibition bridges traditional boundaries between fine art and craft by presenting basketry, apparel, and over a century of innovative textile works that challenge conventional categories.
Showcasing over 150 interdisciplinary objects, the exhibition spans from early 20th-century creations by artists like Sonia Delaunay, Hannah Höch, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, whose textile work runs parallel to their painting, through to mid-century pieces by Albers and Ed Rossbach, and contemporary contributions by Rosemarie Trockel, Andrea Zittel, and Igshaan Adams. This vibrant assemblage highlights how materiality—woven, knotted, and braided fabric—is essential to grasping modern abstraction.
Moreover, Woven Histories sheds light on themes of labor and identity interlaced with textiles, emphasizing weaving as a critical connective thread between lived experience and artistic expression.
