I just got back last night from Lille, France (oh, how I wish we had high-speed trains in the US) where I attended the opening of "Sur le Fil" a huge group show of "deviant textiles" that included three of my pieces, along with mind-blowing works by artists from all over the world. Representing the US were artists:
Orly Cogan,
Richard Saja,
Elaine Bradford,
Mark Newport,
Ray Materson and
Andrea Deszö.
One of the most interesting things about being there was staying in the artists' residences and learning about their history. Lille used to be the center for manufacturing thread (poetically fitting, don't you think?). The museum (called Maison Folie de Wazemmes or, "crazy house of Wazemmes") and the residences, two buildings that face one another a long alleyway, are housed in the former factory buildings. The significance of the venue was not lost on any of us.
I will be blogging about works by individual artists from this show, many of whom I was previously unfamiliar with. And, as if that weren't exciting enough, there are two more group shows of contemporary needlework coming up (one curated by yours truly) and I'm gonna blog separately about those. Because hey, don't you want to go see my pictures from my trip?
