TEFAF New York: The Subversive Stitch | Room 205, 2nd Floor

Inspired by Rozsika Parker’s influential book from 1984, The Subversive Stitch is a two-part exhibition that frees stitch-work from its traditional domestic setting and places it in the realm of fine art, weaving together works by female textile pioneers Magdalena ABAKANOWICZ (1930–2017), Olga DE AMARAL (b. 1932), Jagoda BUIĆ (1930–2022), Barbara LEVITTOUX-ŚWIDERSKA (1933–2019) and Erin MANNING (b. 1969).

The exhibition unfolds across the gallery’s stand at TEFAF New York (Room 205) and its nearby Upper East Side location and coincides with the landmark exhibition Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction on view at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (previously at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, Washington and the National Gallery of Canada). 

The Subversive Stitch showcases works by two prominent members of the revolutionary Polish Textile School, Magdalena Abakanowicz and Barbara Levittoux-Świderska, whose practices emerged during the 1960s and 1970s in response to the repressive ideology of their country’s then-communist regime. Both artists are now widely recognised for having elevated the tapestry tradition—long associated with femininity and domesticity—into the realm of fine art. Abakanowicz’s iconic sculptural reliefs on view, rendered in deep, flesh-toned sisal threads and horsehair—one of her signature materials—exude a raw, bodily sensuality, as seen in her recent retrospective at Tate Modern in London (2023). 

Levittoux-Świderska’s dynamic, architectural textile pieces from the 1970-80s act as an ethereal counterpoint to Abakanowicz’s dense reliefs. Known for her large-scale, cascading fibre installations that take possession of light and space, we will exhibit for the first time in America, Organic Space, a five-by-three-metre undulating net-like form, which weaves through space. Her main interest, in her own words, lies in exploring ”... the interdependencies between real and depicted space.(...) I want to achieve clarity of composition, lightness and rhythm, without losing the nobility of the material along the way. I want to show what is inside and in between.”

Similarly to the socio-politically embedded works of Abakanowicz and Levittoux-Świderska, Colombian artist Olga de Amaral’s shimmering, golden textiles incorporate local techniques and materials, drawing on her South American heritage. One of the few artists from the region to gain international recognition during the Post-war period, she had a major retrospective at Fondation Cartier in Paris earlier this year. 

Jagoda Buić’s tapestries often recall the serene, undulating motion of the ocean waves that surrounded her studio on the Croatian coast. Informed by her Balkan heritage and its folk art traditions, vernacular landscapes and the sea play a key role in the artist’s works as they’re evocatively translated into her large-scale installations. Included in the TEFAF NYC presentation will be one of her most important early works, Tapisserie Widow, 1968 – contrasting and interweaving sheep’s wool, sisal, and hemp, this is a highly emotive and theatrical work that reflects Buić’s background in costume and set design, its woven elements cascading down into space.

Finally, the exhibition features sculptural hand-tufted reliefs by contemporary Canadian cultural theorist, political philosopher, and artist Erin Manning from her Tactile Series. Manning’s primarily textile-based practice is often participatory and relational, with a strong pedagogical focus. The Tactile Series stems from her ongoing work with the deafblind community, born out of a project in which she produced a series of hand-tufted carpets designed to facilitate tactile communication.

Location: 

New York
Park Avenue

643 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065
United States

Opening hours:

Collectors Preview (by invitation only):

Thursday, May 8

General Admission:
Friday, May 9, 11am - 7pm
Saturday, May 10, 11am - 7pm
Sunday, May 11, 11am - 7pm
Monday, May 12, 11am - 7pm
Tuesday, May 13, 11am - 6pm

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