Entangled: Threads and Making

Entangled: Threads and Making is an exhibition of over 30 British and international artists in which the hand and the processes of making take centre stage.

Developed in close collaboration with external curator Karen Wright, Entangled brings together a diverse group of artists, all female, who have broken down the standard delineations between art and craft. They are united by their fearless exploration of techniques and media traditionally associated with craft (textiles, tapestry, knitting, embroidery and weaving), which are pushed to the limit and combined with every day or more unexpected materials ranging from clothing and plant matter to human hair. The resulting exhibition reveals and celebrates the compulsion to make, which lies at the heart of many artists’ practices.

The idea for an exhibition examining the processes of making was inspired by Wright’s visit to Kiki Smith’s studio in New York. Here, she observed Smith cutting, drawing and collaging a cartoon for a tapestry (Sky, 2012), which is included in the exhibition. This experience, as well as numerous other studio visits conducted by Wright, led to her fascination with the compulsive nature of those artists who make. As such, the role of the studio is central to Entangled.

The exhibition brings together a group of pivotal 20th century artists including Anni Albers, Sonia Delauney, Louise Bourgoeis, Eva Hesse, Judith Scott and Hannah Ryggen, whose large-scale political tapestry TITLE has never been shown in the UK before.

Alongside these historical figures are contemporary artist/makers – established and emerging – who push the possibilities of tapestry, embroidery, textiles and other materials. These include Maureen Hodge, Elisabetta Benassi, Rivane Neunschwander and Anna Ray, whose expanded installation Knot (Margate) is fabricated in collaboration with local makers. One of numerous new works in the show is a commission by Ursula von Rydingsvard, a long-term experimenter with materials such as bronze, wood, pig’s intestines, thread and wire.

This bold and timely exhibition, which has making at its heart, will ask questions about the aesthetics of gender and the political status of women in the art world.