Radical Threads

June 2021 – October 2021

Textiles have become a new language in today’s artworld, drawing from a radical re-thinking of ideas around gender, ethnicity, limitations and stereotyping in the world at large. Radical Threads brings together ground-breaking contemporary works that challenge the historical dominance of painting and sculpture in ‘high art’, reclaiming the visual language of threads which has typically been associated with craft, domestic, ‘ethnic’ and ‘feminine’ work. Whilst each artist uses textiles for their own unique reasons and ideas, all pointedly subvert tradition, responding to current times and the history and politics in art that went before.

We are grateful to the very special artists in this show who have agreed to take part, and the invaluable international galleries who champion their work: Fridman Gallery (New York, NY), Lawrie Shabibi (Dubai, UAE), Nicodim Gallery (Los Angeles, CA / Bucharest, Romania), Roberts Projects (Los Angeles, CA) Sfeir-Semler (Beirut, Lebanon / Hamburg, Germany), T293 (Rome, Italy) and The Third Line (Dubai, UAE). A special thanks also to collector and friend, Elie Khouri.

(featured work)

Dindga McCannon
Threads of the Past, Inspiration for the Future, 2000
Mixed media quilt
140 x 140 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Fridman Gallery,
New York