Overview of Exhibition
Visual artist Anne Wilson has been at the forefront of artwork connecting conceptualism and handiwork, activism and aesthetics, investigating new possibilities for what has been called "relational aesthetics."
Wilson's practice extends the relational in terms of labor, collaboration, and identity construction, blending pedagogy with aesthetic production. Her work has been exhibited extensively including exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and as part of the 2002 Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
About the Exhibit
Wilson’s practice extends the relational in terms of labor, collaboration, and identity construction, blending pedagogy with aesthetic production. Her work has been exhibited extensively including exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and as part of the 2002 Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Anne Wilson: Wind/Rewind/Weave is an exhibition organized by the Knoxville Museum of Art, installed by Wilson to investigate the crisis of production and skill based textile labor. Included is Rewinds, a new work created entirely in glass; video documentation of Wind-Up: Walking the Warp, a 2008 performance in Chicago; and a large site-specific project, Local Industry, that takes the form of an active weaving/winding factory set up in the museum space. Run over the course of several months, this project will involve the Knoxville community in the collaborative production of a unique bolt of cloth.
For more photos of weavers around the world, click here.
For more photo’s of women’s woven, textiles click here.
For more photo’s of Anne Wilson’s process, click here.
Additional Resources
Exhibition Research
Anne Wilson and studio interns research utilizing libraries, the Internet, studio practices, interviews, and conversations. Kimberly Pence is the research lead. This is an in-process compilation of information, never intended to be comprehensive.
Additional Resources
Bibliography
Experienced weavers from Knoxville and surrounding states, as well as a “Chicago to Knoxville” group of weavers, are invited to take turns weaving a continuous bolt of weft-faced, selvedge-to-selvedge, striped cloth. Once one weaver has completed a passage of stripes, the next weaver responds to that passage and continues weaving. Proceeding this way, although abstract, relates to the Surrealist exercise of “exquisite corpse” drawing. The completed cloth bolt will be given to the KMA collection with an archive of all who participated.
Additional Resources
Woven Stripes + Bands
This log presents a diversity of woven textiles showing warp stripes and weft bands from various countries and time periods. Libby O’Bryan was the primary researcher of images. Emily Nachison added material, color corrected, and formatted the images with text. Olivia Valentine worked from this image bank to create the flat screen display in the exhibition.
Additional Resources
Working Weavers
These logs present a diversity of locations of working weavers from various countries and time periods. Libby O’Bryan was the primary researcher of images. Emily Nachison added images, color corrected, and formatted the images with text. Emily Nachison worked from this image bank to create the display in the exhibition. This compilation will continue to grow.
How to Weave
Section Photo Gallery
Additional Resources
