Ot painting `enbroidery`
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
"Fasateen -Slamot " , paint their `embroidery` !!!
Some on self made paper , some on cloth , some on cardboard.
I see this as a way to attract more Gallery owners attention.
As they can `show` it as `more art related` than they would show plain
embroidery. Although Fiberart has been acceptedin many places and is
shown, There are still those curators , who are `uneasy` about showing
fiberart, thus the Painted Embroidery pieces are their `excuse` ,,,,
:"we show embroidery !!! they say to me .... when i ask why they don`t
show more fiberart? " . I hears that Radda Ammar showed FIBERART in
Venice Biannala , but in museums i saw only her Painted Embroideries =
there were embroidered stiches , but she Painted over it with pencils
and paint ,,,, what a pity that this is used as a `face saver` for
some curtaors .
mirjam
wooly...@earthlink.net
Your post caught my interest....what do you mean by "painted"
embroidery? Does this mean the person paints an illusion or imitations
of embroidery stitches on fabric or paper?
There are also printed or painted pictures where one would embroider
over specified areas to create texture.....this technique seems popular
for silk ribbon embroidery (SRE) and Stumpwork pieces.
Also in quilting, there is a quickie technique where the quilter can
draw lines to imitate blanket stitches on fused applique
designs.....I've also seen this used in paper crafts to create the look
of stitched applique designs.
The part that sounds intriguing to me is the artist who paints over her
embroidery stitches? I'm not sure what to think of this yet since I've
not seen the results......but for the moment, I think it's odd to paint
over perfectly nice stitches but maybe the artist was going for a look
or making a statement with such a technique.
However, I understand your point about the curators making claims that
they are showing contemporary fiberarts without sticking their necks
out too far to do so! So, in this case, they should title such
exhibitons as pseudo-fiberarts!
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
http://www.shamashandsons.com - see my NEW fabrics!
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
>embroidery?
colors] a Look of Xst and other embroidery stiches. So yes it is an
illusion of stiches. sometimes on cloth sometimes on paper.
somerimes they also glue some real old embroideries here and there to
enhance the `Authentic` feel of the work [i.e as if they use old
clothes that belonged to somebody ..
sometimes i used a pieceof cloth that has some print [not aimed for
embroidery as this are commercial textiles meant for clothing or
upholstery] And than as the artwork requires i can enhance a part with
any embelished technique.
Ps i have misspelled Rada Amar , forgot ythat she would rather Use a
transliteration of her name ,, try and Google
Ghada Amer , you will see what i mean
somre of her works say ,,, Acrylic And Embroidery on canvas ,
Embroidery and gel medium on canvas etc.
It is a pity that curators see her adding paint to her work as
`advancing ` her work .....
>for silk ribbon embroidery (SRE) and Stumpwork pieces.
without the added painting.
>draw lines to imitate blanket stitches on fused applique
side by side with 4 real fiberart exhibitions,during an international
convention for fiberartists.
The curator indeed showed , paintings that showed wovenpieces , or
painted embroidery even on Blankets. All those painters were EXTREMELY
agitatted to see our REAL fiberart , and had on their side a curator
/art criticwho wrote an extremely unkind article about us, calling us
Girls, saying we played with being artists, While she highly praise
artists who Use cloth to clean their brushes.
But things have changed, and exhibitions like "Mapressions Loci`
broke through. We found some Curators or Museum directors who accepted
us as equals, in the artworld, and accepted us as we are ...
There were times when the painters Using Imitation stiches wouldn`t
show with us ,,, now we have a new generation , using imitation
stiches we have no problem that they will be shown with us. Each
technique if done from the gut feelings is ok.
But i still feel sad when i see how curtaors get `confused` by paint
over thread/cloth as a more accepted art form .
>embroidery stitches?
have a feeling that she did it , to gain more or easier `acceptance`
While the youger ones doing it , here and now , do it more as way.
to show Originality etc... And it is not easy to discuss it with a
young artist who believes [from her experience with THOSE curators]
that this is the key to her success. Thus it is up to us to stand on
our opinions and feelings.
>over perfectly nice stitches but maybe the artist was going for a look
>or making a statement with such a technique.
Curators, and from them it Engraved in the Young fiberartists minds.
Painting is more male`s art work , embroidery a Female`s artwork ...
As if nothing changed since 1943 [ my birth year ] when ANNIE ALBERS
wrote in her articles the enigmatic question:" Why a man painting an
apple is an artist while a woman embroidering one is a craftman?''
If you read her Articles in her book
On Designing , you see that some things changed, but too many haven`t.
In openings and exhibitions whenever a fiberartist says ;"I paint with
threads ! " i correct her to say the correct technique!!" While
whenever a painter points out to me the `Texture` of the canvas under
his color , i get `needles` in my back ,,,
I was very lucky in findind Curators who dared and even love to show
OUR FIBERART , not because of it`s techniques [ which of course have a
Bearing on the Content and artistic message] But mainly because they
feel it is GOOD ART .
I always find it amusing that Fiberart exhibitions Draw much more
public than other exhibitions.
For some curators it is a new look, They need a refference,i.e. , if
they can say ,,"This work" or "a similar work" , has been shown in
this and that museum ,,,, they feel safer.
A year ++++ ago , i submitted some fiberart to a certain museum , they
told me , it was not in their `trend` to show it , imagine my surprise
when several months later they showed an exhibition with , waht you
and me would call imitation fibers,,, , but whta really ANNOYED me was
reading their descriptions of those artworks with FIBERISTIC terms ,,,
I am very lucky to have been able to break through some of those
barriers and i am always taking some other fiberartists with me.. It
is HARD work.
One of the ways to break those barrieres was when i joined the Group
of `conventional` artists "Workshop 24/ Beth HaYotzer". Many of them
wouldn`t admit at first that my fiberart qualed their painting /
sculptering , Than the `usual` step happened , some of them started to
Glue cloth onto their painted pictures. Some did it even to mock my
work, but slowly they opened up to the Common problems i had as
ARTIST. Many were Jeaous or anoyed when i got a serious art critic to
write about my work. I never agreed to my work being called 'Soft
Sculpture" .. i called it WHAT IT WAS ,,, I am not painting , nore
sculpturing I am weaving ' sewing , embroidering , knitting,appliquing
and crocheting my ART. And that is that ,,,,
>However, I understand your point about the curators making claims that
>they are showing contemporary fiberarts without sticking their necks
>out too far to do so! So, in this case, they should title such
>exhibitons as pseudo-fiberarts!
One of my examples to changes in Curators` attidtude is photography .
It used to be Artistic , first Photographers signed their photos as if
they were paintings,. Than it became more common , they stopped
signing , than ,, Vidio and filming became ART , Every photographer
who used Stills or film parts many of which he collects frojm TV, or
newspapers , is accepted as ARTIST , many of those works are [costly]
lab products ,,,,, but they are ART without hesitation ,,,, But we
Fiberartist who Spend HOURS working on our art, our heart beats ,
moods all make their marks on our ART works ,,, we are not equal ???
why not .... Thus we have to loby , sometimes , speak sometimes, and
not agree to some Hibrid Make belief or imitation work.
mirjam
wooly...@earthlink.net
> Ghada Amer ou will see what i mean
> somre of her works say ,,, Acrylic And Embroidery on canvas ,
> Embroidery and gel medium on canvas etc.
> It is a pity that curators see her adding paint to her work as
> `advancing ` her work .....
I looked up Ghada Amer's work and biographical info.....after looking
at the pictures of her work, my thoughts are similar to
yours......maybe by incorporating "fibers" into her work was to make a
statement as well as to be more accepted by the mainstream artworld as
an artist (painter) rather than as a bona fide fiberest who wouldn't
get as much respect by critics or buyers.
Collage or multi-media art seems to be very popular again......Amer's
work would fall into this catergory very neatly.
Some of Amer's paintings look interesting to me for the textures but
the majority of her work doesn't look much different from other
contemporary artists using threads & fibers.....there are artists who
include bits & pieces of old or recycled needlework to make statements
often about the plight of women in today's world.....
> Painting is more male`s art work , embroidery a Female`s artwork ....
> in 1943, ANNIE ALBERS wrote the enigmatic question "Why a man painting an
> apple is an artist while a woman embroidering one is a craftman?''
In general terms I write the following......
This all goes back to gender bias! The way most of our societies
evolved....where survival was often dependent on greater physical
strength.
Male offspring were preferred for many reasons, much having to do with
economics....there was a need for strong sons especially in hunting and
agricultural societies......this insured male offspring would have the
most advantages, better food, care, being educated and so on.
Females were secondary, often thought of as liabilities in that the
family were actually raising females for another family when married
off, not to mention having to provide dowries in many cases.
Bottomline.....male offspring was a more worthwhile investment compared
to a female!
These types of attitudes have enslaved females for centuries and
affected & touched every part of our female lives.
An elderly male friend made the comment that he noticed (post WW II)
any type of job that employed mostly females was guaranteed to be low
paying!
Any type of creativity women achieved were considered mere hobbies as
no worth was attached to these pastimes....afterall, Mom, Grandma,
etc., always stitched on something....they did "busywork" as idle hands
were frowned upon!
During courtship, young women would show off, basically compete against
other females in the "marriage market".......these young women would do
dainty, lady like hobbies, playing the piano, a little watercolor
painting, dainty, decorative needlework in order to look even more
charming, decorative and accomplished (useful) to potential suitors!
How many of us have heard the remark and even guilty of thinking or
saying....."I can make it myself (cheaper)" upon seeing a beautifully
done piece of needlework or any other artistic endeavor? That women
themselves never thought what they created to be worthwhile......that
most women wouldn't dream of spending good money on another woman's
creations since they could make it themselves?
It's too bad womens' handiwork, artistic creations is still low on the
economic scale.....today, there seems to be a divide amongst women
too......where some women have attitudes superior to other women, such
as the world of fiberarts........ironic isn't it?
---
Lula
http://www.woolydream.com
http://www.shamashandsons.com - see my NEW fabrics!
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
that was what she showed in Venetia ,,
On the 23rd we rea going to have a Gallery Talk in Um-El -Fahem , and
amongst other discussed matters i think we might touch that
question/dillema , about mixed thread with paint or the paint with
threads , in order to gain more attention and be more accepted by the
main strean art establishment.
Your Historical writing is very detaioled and to the point. And what
Bugs me is that many of the younger `fiberartists` = mainly the ones
painting embroidery , as well as `conventional` painters who now ,
`smelling the trend` , start to add a thread here and bead tthere to
their painted work , and use it as a laddeer to jump over the
authentic fiberartrists. Realy Harm the fiberart as well as many other
Hard Earned finnaly accepted ideas, about Female work about fiberart ,
about what is Authentic , true and comes from the heart. Working about
something because it is a trend, makes it easier , but eventually will
jump into their faces . this works won`t last over time. I am also not
happy with some people`s ideas that this is a transitional kind of
art. At least with the girls i know , part of the problem is that
there were /are more [male] painter teachers in the system.
The few male teachers in the system are more into Fashion or Design ,
They are not thinking Female Fiberart. Somehow the fewer Female
Fiberartist Teachers were less influential. Some of my colleagues say
it is because of ecomnomic pressures i think it is because deep down
the culture still puts men in a higher position than women.
Other problems are Semantic problems. Both in Hebrew and Arabic.
As they are in Other languages.
When Mr J`amil Ghanayim translated my Catalog to Arabic , he said the
langugae missed many Textile and Art terminologies, Thus he the
translator into English and me had long discussions. Every time he
misses a term, i would Explain the technique to him in accurate
details, from first to last step. Not having proper terminologies
reduces the capeability to make it more respectful in it`s own
culture. Thus the young artists tend to Paint their Embroideries ,
thinking they make it more respectful. It is also very hard for women
to make a techniques that is mostly thought of as Female work, into a
More generaly respected technique, if their society hasn`t given them
an equal position, it will come , but it is still in it`s first steps.
Thus Using the supposed male techinque to portray the supposed Female
technique , might seem to many the way to make changes... I am not
sure about that . But what works in one culture = Judy Chicago`s
decision to use Needle Work when she could not compete with the man
who worked in wood , becuase she got needle skills as a girl, and thus
she said Let`s Use my Strong Ability {see "through The Flower " My
struggle as a woman Artist , By Judy Chicago] .Might not work in our
local Culture[s].?? i wonder.
I have refused several invitations to show my art `under any other
name but Fiberart, and manged to do so. But i understand artists who
want to exhibit, and won`t wait. each should do her own.
mirjam