SFMOMA | Exhibitions | Structure and Surface

Structure And Surface: Contemporary Japanese Textiles



	on view: March 17, 2000 - June 27, 2000 Organized by the Museum of Modern Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum, this exhibition features works of astonishing beauty and complexity that reassert the artistic potential of textiles. Contemporary Japanese textile artists and designers -- such as world-renowned fashion designer Issey Miyake and traditional artisans Chiaki and Kaori Maki -- are combining traditional techniques with modern industrial methods to yield unique new expressions that reverberate in cutting-edge textile design, interior design and fashion worldwide.

  Reiko Sudo
  Shutter
  1997
  Nylon

		Textiles are among the oldest and most pervasive art forms. Beauty, tactility, and technical sophistication contribute as much as utility to their status as vital artifacts of our material culture. Purveyors of information, textiles can help to reveal the economic and social profile of a particular society at the same time that they stand as distinct cultural symbols. Their uses range from the decorative -- for residential and commercial interiors or fashion -- to highly specific practical applications, such as tire reinforcement or fishing nets. For centuries Japan has been associated with a rich textile tradition and was a leading center of cotton and silk production. In recent years, it has reemerged as an influential and dynamic force in this industry. Artists and designers working in Japan are combining ancestral techniques with contemporary tools and technology to create some of the most inventive examples of late twentieth-century design. Using both natural and industrial materials -- feathers, soil, paper, and silk to stainless steel, polyester, silicone, and polyurethane -- the fabrics in this exhibition redefine our notion of what textiles can be.

	Koichi Yoshimura Iridescent Satin 1994 Polyester monofilament and cotton

Issey Miyake and Makiko Minagawa
Prism Series: Coat
1997
Wool, polyester chiffon, and batting

The works are organized into six categories that describe the predominant characteristics of each: transparent, dyed, reflective, printed, sculpted, layered. The grouping of a textile into one category does not preclude its relevance in another. Some of these fabrics, for example, may rely on a printing technique to achieve a three-dimensional relief or a layering process to produce a shimmering metallic surface. The divisions serve only as a structure enabling alternative journeys of discovery and a guide to creative processes that have transformed flat planes into incredible inventions in cloth.

Matilda McQuaid, Associate Curator Department of Architecture and Design
Museum of Modern Art, New York

Cara McCarty, Curator Decorative Arts and Design
Saint Louis Art Museum

For further information on this exhibition, please refer to any or all of the following sources:

SFMOMA press release:Technology and Tradition Woven Together in Contemporary Japanese Textiles at SFMOMA

Structure and SurfaceWeb feature: produced by the Museum of Modern Art,
New York

Exhibition catalogue: Structure and Surface: Contemporary Japanese Textiles available for online purchase in the SFMOMA MuseumStore

The exhibition is organized by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in collaboration with The Saint Louis Art Museum, and is made possible by the AT&T Foundation and the Contemporary Exhibition Fund of The Museum of Modern Art, established with gifts from Lily Auchincloss, Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, and Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder. Additional generous support is provided by Toray Industries, Inc., Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., the Pola Art Foundation, Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., S.G.F. Associates Inc. and Urase Company, Ltd.

The San Francisco presentation is supported by the Carole and Robert McNeil Volunteer Award in honor of Nina Cohen, 1999 award recipient.