On the surface the seemingly mundane world of fabric may be far removed from that of fine art, but throughout th centuries artists have often turned to fabric in order to express themselves. Simply think of how many precious paintings have reached us on canvas, a plain and unheralded fabric. But the question remains: can fabric be more than functional?
A brief look at art over the past century reveals that many artists have used fabric as an integral part of their aesthetic language. For instance, the collaboration of Christo and Jean-Claude has seen the artists create massive projects using fabric and nature as their primary media. Among the couples' celebrated works are:
Wrapped Coast: Created in 1969, Christo and Jean-Claude used thousands of yards of synthetic fabric to wrap Little Bay in Sydney, Australia.
Valley Curtain: In 1970 the artists draped a cloth over 400 yards long across a valley in the Rocky Mountains near Rifle, Colorado.
Running Fence: In 1976 they used over 200,000 yards of nylon to create this 24.5 mile long fence running through the properties of 59 families in California.
Surrounded Islands: Beginning in May of 1983, the artists used over 6,500,000 square feet of pink polypropylene fabric to surround eleven islands in Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida.
The Gates: Possibly the couples' most well known work to date is The Gates from 2005, consisting of 7,503 gates covered in saffron colored fabric wending throughout New York's Central Park.
At J&O, besides finding fabrics that you can use to create your own projects, you will also be able to find works created and inspired by some of the greatest 20th century artists. Fabrics featuring design by such design luminaries as George Nelson, Alexander Girard, Verner Panton, Gio Ponti, and Charles and Ray Eames can all be found at our online fabric store. We also carry fabrics inspired by Frida Kahlo and other artists.
Small Dot Black by Charles and Ray Eames
Perhaps creating a work of art isn't your ambition or you don't have the means to indulge in thousands of yards of fabric. Nevertheless, working with fabric can afford you a medium for expressing yourself in a personal way while at the same time providing an outlet for your creative impulses.
Labels: artwork, fabric-art, fabric-project, Frida-Kahlo
"For those who walked through the walkways, the saffron-colored fabric was a golden ceiling creating warm shadows. When seen from the buildings, it seemed like a golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees and highlighting the shape of the meandering footpaths."
-Christo on The Gates (1997-2005)
If you had over 116,389 miles of nylon thread specially woven into over one million square feet of recyclable rip stop fabric, what would you do with it? Artists Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon had it cut into an assortment of 7,503 fabric panels for what would one day become an awe inspiring display of commanding and sculptural vinyl poles supporting saffron colored nylon panels lining the serpentine walkways of Central Park in New York City. On February 12, 2005, this 25 year long labor of artistic love and devotion was revealed as The Gates, and revelled over for sixteen days straight by awestruck visitors and leaving a lasting impression on their minds forever.
"The branches of the "Wrapped Trees" pushing translucent fabric outward created dynamic volumes of light and shadow, moving in the wind with new forms and surfaces shaped by the ropes on the fabric."
-Christo & Jeanne-Claude, on Wrapped Trees (1997-98)
Starting on Friday, November 13, 1998, 178 trees were wrapped with over 592,000 sq. ft of woven polyester fabric and 14.35 miles of rope in Switzerlands Berower Park. The wrapping was completed on November 22. The result, a serene yet beautifully haunting landscape from one season to the next.
"The luminous pink color of the shiny fabric was in harmony with the tropical vegetation of the uninhabited verdant island, the light of the Miami sky and the colors of the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay."
"Surrounded Islands was a work of art which underlined the various elements and ways in which the people of Miami live, between land and water."
-Christo & Jeanne-Claude, on Surrounded Islands (1980-83)
If you could paint an island any color, what color would it be? On May 7, 1983 Christo and Jeanne-Claude added the last installation of floating pink woven polypropylene fabric around a total of eleven islands situated in Biscayne Bay in Florida. Simply titled Surrounded Islands, over 6.5 million sq. ft and 79 patterns were used to complete the contours of the islands. For two weeks the public enjoyed this splash of pink from air, land and sea.
And I thought 100 yards of fabric was alot!
Inspiration or intimidation? We would love to hear what you think.
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Labels: artist, christo, fabric-art, jean-claude, surrounded-islands, the-gates, wrapped-trees