Last week I visited the new Anni Albers exhibition at Tate Modern. This was always going to be a must see for me but with my recent new thing for weaving I wanted to get down there as soon as posible!
Anni Albers Eclat 1974, Silkscreen on woven fabric, 3000 x 450 mm, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation © 2018 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and Knoll Textiles / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
Anni Albers was a student of the Bauhaus, who as a woman was discouraged from painting and enrolled in the weaving workshop instead. Albers pioneered innovative uses of woven textiles in art, architecture and interiors, and the exhibition shows a very wide range of her work.
Anni Alberts in her weaving studio at Black Mountain College 1937
Anni Albers Intersecting 1962, Pictorial weaving, cotton and rayon, 400 x 419 mm, Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop © 2018 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
I visited late in the day and felt that it was a little overwhelming for one visit, so I’m glad it runs until late January as that should give me the chance to go and see it again. I did however leave with a burning desire to get out the graph paper and my little hand loom!
Anni Albers Wall Hanging 1926, Mercerized cotton, silk, 2032 x 1207 mm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Everfast Fabrics Inc. and Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1969 © 2018 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London
When I return I’m planning to spend more time studying the individual weavings and small sample pieces. I did spend quite some time trying to work out how she’d produced some of the examples there - so very far beyond my skill level, but inspiring nevertheless!
Anni Albers TR II 1970, Lithograph, 50.5 x 55.6 cm, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany CT © 2018 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/DACS, London, Photo: Tim Nighswander/Imaging4Art
Anni Albers is at Tate Modern until 27 January 2019. Find our more about the exhibition here.