From – April 22, 2010
In the review about the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Quilts exhibition – Quilts 1700-2010 in London, Julia Kollewe writes a little about the ten works specially commissioned for this show as she describes the contemporary additions to the exhibit.
“Ten works specially commissioned for this show are dotted around the exhibition, for example a video quilt by Clio Padovani, entitled Quilting Point, and Box I and II by Diana Harrison, shaped like boxes that have been unfolded. Unlike the older quilts, they have no practical use.”
My reaction may be defensive but I thought that this piece has “no practical use” as Andy Warhol’s Turquoise Marilyn has no practical use.
A description by Diana Harrison of the process, motivation and inspiration for this quilt can be found at:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/quilts-1700-2010/videos/diana-harrison/index.html
Julia explains several other of the contemporary inclusions but, I think, completely misses their point. Diana was expressing a passage of her life. Jennifer Vickers made a statement regarding the Iraq War. Michele Walker’s contribution spoke of her mother’s battle with Alzheimer. Grayson Perry expressed his views on the Right to Life question and Kirsty Fenton demonstrated her views on child labor in her quilt as examples.
The point is not that we are making blankets (and expensive blankets at that). This is an art form. I agree with some of the views expressed and disagree with others, but that can be said of just about any other art platform. That Box I will never grace a guestroom bed has nothing to do with the value the artist gives her creation. The usefulness of the Mona Lisa and the value of that masterpiece can be debated but it cannot be claimed that they do not exist.
The subject matter of the contemporary quilts is probably not what I would choose. Julia calls them dark. I agree with her on that count. That, however, is a function of the creator of this particular exhibit and the artists. The darkness of subject matter in the quilts do not suggest anything more about contemporary quilting than the violence in a Scorsese and Tarentino movie represent all of film making in the early 2000s.
To read Julia’s article in its entirety, go to
http://www.t5m.com/julia-kollewe/art-review-the-vas-quilts-show-has-got-it-all-sewn-up.html?fmt=news
She talks about the early pieces as well as the more contemporary.
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Karen Dennison
Learn, Grow, Share – And most of all – Create!
