ARMORY SHOW 2023

16 September 202316 September 2023 Maurita Cardone

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Al recente ARMORY SHOW (8 al 10 settembre 2023), storica fiera d’arte di New York, l’arte morbida è stata protagonista. In una fiera che, dopo qualche anno di uniformità estetica, sembrava aver finalmente riscoperto la ricchezza del panorama artistico contemporaneo, tra le tante nuove tendenze, quella che più saltava all’occhio era proprio l’arte realizzata con tessili e tessuti. Girando tra gli stand delle oltre 200 gallerie tra le più importanti al mondo (anche se all’edizione di quest’anno si è fatta notare qualche diserzione illustre), si incontravano tanti lavori realizzati con stoffe, filati e tessuti, nei più diversi stili e tecniche.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”95515″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][vc_column_text]Alcuni lavori evocavano la tessitura tradizionale delle popolazioni indigene al continente americano, come i sacchi da pugile trasformati in totem dell’artista nativo americano, Jeffrey Gibson o come i tappeti di Arleene Correa Valencia che usa questo medium per parlare di immigrazione.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95557″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95554″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Di immigrazione parlano anche gli arazzi che Consuelo Jimenez Underwood crea con pezzi di stoffa che riproducono il segnale stradale che, al confine con il Messico, avverte gli automobilisti del rischio “attraversamento migranti”, tenuti insieme da spille da balia.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95509″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95512″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In altre opere il tessile diventa veicolo di astrazione e contemporaneità, come nelle intricate composizioni minimali di Analia Saban o come nel “sasso morbido” creato da Sheila Hicks ed esposto dalla galleria Massimo Minini – Francesca Minini o ancora come nelle soffice sole riprodotto da Zhao Zhao nel suo A Long Day 10Am.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95518″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95533″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Il materiale non è tessile, ma lo sono le tecniche e l’effetto finale, nel lavoro di Moffat Takadiwa i cui arazzi creati con plastiche di scarto erano esposti negli spazi della galleria Nicodima.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”95521″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95527″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95524″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Anche negli spazi centrali che accoglievano i progetti speciali della sezione Platform, l’arte morbida non è mancata, con l’installazione di Pae White che, attraverso una serie di pannelli sospesi dal soffitto, lancia una critica all’industria tessile[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”95530″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95545″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95548″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Focus On

ARMORY SHOW 2023

16 September 202316 September 2023 Maurita Cardone

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]At the recent ARMORY SHOW (September 8 to 10, 2023), the historical art fair in New York City, soft art took center stage. In a fair that, after a few years of aesthetic uniformity, seemed to have finally rediscovered the richness of the contemporary art scene, among the many new trends, the one that jumped out most was precisely art made with textiles and fabrics. Wandering around the booths of the more than 200 of the world’s leading galleries (although a few illustrious defections stood out at this year’s edition), one encountered many works made with fabrics, yarns and textiles, in the most diverse styles and techniques.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”95516″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][vc_column_text]Some works evoked the traditional weaving of indigenous peoples to the American continent, such as the punching bags turned into totems by Native American artist, Jeffrey Gibson or like the rugs by Arleene Correa Valencia who uses this medium to talk about immigration.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95558″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95555″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Immigration is also the subject of the tapestries Consuelo Jimenez Underwood creates with pieces of cloth reproducing the road sign at the Mexican border warning motorists of the risk of “migrant crossing,” held together by safety pins.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95510″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95513″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In other works, textiles become a vehicle for abstraction and contemporaneity, as in the intricate minimal compositions of Analia Saban or as in the “soft stone” created by Sheila Hicks and exhibited by the Massimo Minini – Francesca Minini gallery or again as in the soft suns reproduced by Zhao Zhao in her A Long Day 10Am.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95519″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95534″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The material is not textile but the techniques and final effect are, in the work of Moffat Takadiwa whose tapestries created from discarded plastics were on display in the Nicodima gallery spaces.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”95522″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95528″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95525″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Even in the central spaces that housed the special projects of the Platform section, there was no shortage of arte morbida, with Pae White’s installation that, through a series of panels suspended from the ceiling, launches a critique of the textile industry[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”95531″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95546″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”95549″ img_size=”800×800″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row]