Modern textile art - Private Pleasures of Washingtonian collectors
24 Jul '07
3 min read
An upcoming exhibition at The Textile Museum, Private Pleasures: Collecting Contemporary Textile Art, provides unique insight into why Washingtonians collect contemporary textile art and what objects they are inspired to collect.
The reasons people acquire fiber art are as individual as the collectors themselves, but all would agree with collector Marc Grainer: “These works have everything a collector seeks. They combine technical virtuosity with interesting, challenging ideas.” Private Pleasures is on view September 28, 2007 through February 17, 2008.
The exhibition explores both the individual preferences of the Collectors and showcases the textiles on view as outstanding examples of the art form. Drawing from the personal worlds of Washington area art lovers, the exhibition highlights the various approaches taken to collect objects.
Some collectors acquire and display art in order to replicate the museum setting. Others expand their collecting worlds, accumulating objects that vary from African textiles to contemporary fiber art.
Still others collect as a continuum of their lives, juxtaposing inherited family heirlooms side-by-side with cutting-edge textile art.
Despite their individual strategies, the collectors share a passion to collect and live with textile art. “Acquired and displayed to create a retreat from the stresses of everyday life, these private collections are usually seen only by family and friends,” said exhibition curator Rebecca A.T. Stevens. “Private Pleasures gives visitors entrée into an otherwise unseen world.”