Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art, presented by the Met Fifth Ave - Lenore G. Tawney Foundation :: Lenore G. Tawney Foundation

Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art, presented by the Met Fifth Ave

Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art, presented by the Met Fifth Ave

Close up of knit weaving

Anni Albers. Pasture, 1958. Mercerized cotton. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1969 (69.135). © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, 2023. Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, photo by Peter Zeray.

Description

The process of creating textiles has long been a springboard for artistic invention. In Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art, two extraordinary bodies of work separated by at least 500 years are brought together to explore the striking connections between artists of the ancient Andes and those of the 20th century.

Featuring more than 50 works, including major loans and new acquisitions, this cross-historical exhibition offers new insights into the emergence of abstract imagery. Each of the four modern artists featured developed innovative approaches to an ancient medium through deep study of Andean techniques. Shown together, these ancient and modern weavings reposition the place of textiles in global art history.

The exhibition displays textiles by four distinguished modern practitioners—Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney, and Olga de Amaral—alongside pieces by Andean artists from the first millennium BCE to the 16th century.

Details

On display from March 5–June 16, 2024
The Metropolitan Museum Of Art –Gallery 913 [website link]
1000 Fifth Avenue
at 82nd Street
New York, NY, 10028
[map link]

Publication

This exhibition is accompanied by an issue of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin: Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v.81, no. 2 (Fall, 2023).

Curation Credits

The exhibition is made possible by: The Modern Circle.

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