On the surface the seemingly mundane world of fabric may be far removed from that of fine art, but throughout the 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: