|
Current
Exhibitions Home
|
|
Hiroyuki Shindo, Shindigo Space 07 (detail),
2006. 'Shindigo shibori'-dyed cotton and hemp and Shindigo
balls (polystyrene wrapped with hemp and dip-dyed).
Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Joel Chester Fildes.
Kain
panjang (long cloth, hip wrapper) detail, Indonesia,
Yogyakarta (in the style of Ceribon), Chinese-Indonesian,
20th century. Commercial cotton, resist patterning.
The Textile Museum 1998.11.16. Gift of Beverly Deffef
Labin Collection.
|
BLUE
April
4 - September 18, 2008
The
human perception of color is a complex sensory phenomenon
filtered through the eyes, brain, language and multiple layers
of social experience. While shades of red (examined in the
2007 Textile Museum exhibition RED)
quicken the pulse and increase blood pressure, blue induces
a calming effect and is widely perceived as a “cool,”
tranquil color.
BLUE
explores the creation and meaning of the color blue on textiles
produced across time and place, with particular emphasis on
contemporary artists’ use of natural indigo dyes. Until
the invention of chemical dyes in the late 19th century, peoples
worldwide relied largely on indigo-bearing plants to achieve
blue-colored garments, household furnishings, artworks and
even body paint. Many cultures attributed talismanic properties
as well as health benefits to indigo, and the mysterious transformation
of this temperamental dye has long been steeped in myth and
magic.
The exhibition features blue textiles ranging from Greco-Roman
and pre-olumbian tunic fragments to installations by internationally
renowned artists. Hiroyuki Shindo, a Japanese artist who grows
and processes his own indigo to produce innovatively patterned
textiles, as well as Maria Eugenia Davila and Eduardo Portillo,
who raise silkworms and dye threads with natural dyes in Venezuela,
highlight the ways that artists around the world are embracing
this ancient dye to create works that speak to their own experience.
BLUE
is curated by Lee Talbot, Assistant Curator, Eastern Hemisphere
Collections, and Mattiebelle Gittinger, Research Associate,
Southeast Asian Textiles.
Generous
support for the exhibition is provided by 
Back
to Current Exhibitions Home
|
|
|
