In the fall,Japan Society Gallery explores a new art that is emerging from a remarkable fusion of Japanese artisanal and industrial textile-making.Coaxed from materials as age-old as hemp and newly developed as microfilaments,a varied array of more than 35 large-scale works will be on view in Fiber Futures:Japan's Textile Pioneers from Friday,September 16 to Sunday,December 18,2011.
While the spirit of a Japanese sensibility and a technical virtuosity hewn over centuries is everywhere evident,what best characterizes the work on view is a thirst for experimentation,whether it be in the search for the unconventional material or in the fusing of seemingly opposing extremes of old and new.One also sees the medium of fiber used to express ideas about nature and sustainability and personal and cultural identity.
"These works remind us that important art need not always be about rebellion or subversion,"notes Joe Earle,Director of Japan Society Gallery and curator of the exhibition."For most of the 30 artists represented here,it is the material that tells them what to do next,in the spirit of tariki,originally a Buddhist term meaning the'power of another.'"
