Post by caterina on Mar 2, 2024 22:15:39 GMT
I have bought 'Women's Work. From feminine arts to feminist art.' by Ferren Gipson, Frances Lincoln publishers.
It is a book not only about textile artists, but also about fibre artists (seen as distinct from textile artists) and ceramists.
I must honestly admit that I am pretty confused about the difference between textile art and fibre art: I need to study more about it.
Anyway, the book is basically a collection of biographies, each one a few pages long.
For each of the 32 artists (plus 1 collective), there is a photo of the artist, a few photos of some of their works, and a description of their artistic career, with few mentions to their personal facts if relevant to their art, and a lot of reasoning about the meaning of their artworks. Some mention about their techniques, and why they are/were original, with also a few highlights of the artistic context from which their art springs up. Some anecdotes that may be useful to make a point about the artist's ideas or pathway to their art.
It is mostly good reading, apart from some overlong musings on abstruse artistic concepts.
The artists are mainly an older generation of women who helped define fibre art in the 50s and 60s and 70s,but there are also artists active right now.
I must say that this book is helping me understand more about textile art of the past, to understand better where we are today in terms of expectations by art critics. I kind of find a recurring theme in the descriptions of the earlier artists' vision: it seems as if all of them wanted to raise fibre art dignity by distancing themselves from the dreaded feminine crafts. I am not sure if this is the author's own perspective on the artists or really all those women's views. The whole book seems to imply that to give textiles a standing in the Fine Art world, they need cut ties with craft, and that is the main thing. The subtitle itself implies that you can't have feminine arts that are feminist art, but you need to distance yourself from the first to go toward the second. This idea kind of grated to me.
All in all, I am glad that I got the book, I like it as first reference book on who is who in the fibre art movement. It does not want to be a comprehensive review of fibre artists, though, so one will need to integrate it.
It is a book not only about textile artists, but also about fibre artists (seen as distinct from textile artists) and ceramists.
I must honestly admit that I am pretty confused about the difference between textile art and fibre art: I need to study more about it.
Anyway, the book is basically a collection of biographies, each one a few pages long.
For each of the 32 artists (plus 1 collective), there is a photo of the artist, a few photos of some of their works, and a description of their artistic career, with few mentions to their personal facts if relevant to their art, and a lot of reasoning about the meaning of their artworks. Some mention about their techniques, and why they are/were original, with also a few highlights of the artistic context from which their art springs up. Some anecdotes that may be useful to make a point about the artist's ideas or pathway to their art.
It is mostly good reading, apart from some overlong musings on abstruse artistic concepts.
The artists are mainly an older generation of women who helped define fibre art in the 50s and 60s and 70s,but there are also artists active right now.
I must say that this book is helping me understand more about textile art of the past, to understand better where we are today in terms of expectations by art critics. I kind of find a recurring theme in the descriptions of the earlier artists' vision: it seems as if all of them wanted to raise fibre art dignity by distancing themselves from the dreaded feminine crafts. I am not sure if this is the author's own perspective on the artists or really all those women's views. The whole book seems to imply that to give textiles a standing in the Fine Art world, they need cut ties with craft, and that is the main thing. The subtitle itself implies that you can't have feminine arts that are feminist art, but you need to distance yourself from the first to go toward the second. This idea kind of grated to me.
All in all, I am glad that I got the book, I like it as first reference book on who is who in the fibre art movement. It does not want to be a comprehensive review of fibre artists, though, so one will need to integrate it.
