21 January 2005 The San Francisco Tribal Art Fair (11 – 13 February 2005) precipitates exhibitions across the city to draw buyers out from the events taking place at Fort Mason Center. This year there are two such shows that dominate the calendar put on by two prominent Bay Area dealers: Sandra Whitman and Tony Kitz.
From 4 February, Sandra Whitman alongside The Textile Gallery from London will show at her Oak Street gallery Chinese textiles from the Yuan to mid-Qing period in 'Flora & Fauna, Birds & Beasts: An exhibition of Chinese Textiles From Han to the Ching' until 4 March 2005.
Visitors will be able to see a cross section of textile weaving techniques, including embroidery, gilt-thread couching, samite, lampas, kesi, and brocade. The pieces range from a fragment of Han under-robe embroidered to a beautiful small Tang brocade fragment to a large group of Ming textiles of virtually every weave including two examples of needle-looping. Of the 60 textiles displayed, the latest will date to the first half of the 18th century.
In addition, M. Sutherland Fine Arts will also hold an exhibition of Chinese landscape paintings at Sandra Whitman's gallery, and both Sutherland and Whitman will give talks during the course of the exhibition.
Tom Cole writes: The 1990s might be remembered as the period during which the public's awareness of tribal art was raised and understood to be entirely in keeping with the modern art aesthetic. Berlin's Galerie Neiriz and the art of south Persian gabbehs, the presentation of pre-Columbian art in major art fairs, and the lavish publication of the Guido Goldman's Central Asian ikat collection helped the textiles to transcend the particular culture from which the art emerged and to be judged as a woven statements in colour and form. Tony Kitz in his Clay Street gallery will dedicate his winter exhibition to such abstract textile art to coincide with the Caskey Lees Tribal Art Show.
His interest in textile art may seem unusual to those who are not familiar with his history. The gallery was at one time operated by Arky Robbins as Bakhtari Gallery, and Kitz has worked hard to maintain his place as one of the premier dealers in high end antique decorative rugs. The decorative rug segment of the oriental rug market is large and the gallery is well placed to serve the needs of the well-heeled clientele who inhabit the exclusive Pacific Heights neighborhood of the city. The dot.com phenomenon treated all the high end dealers quite well, but with that bubble burst, it is hard work to maintain a viable presence in such a high profile, and high rent, neighbourhood. But by networking throughout the country in order to present this extraordinary collection of rugs and textiles.
But the idea behind the exhibition comes from his heart. Abstract textile art requires a leap of faith combined with some vision for his regular clients to embrace as home décor. He hardly expects an immediate reaction among his more conservative clients but the timing is right, with the 'art crowd' in town for the Caskey Show.
The exhibition knows no cultural or geographic bounds, with examples of American hooked rugs, Ewe patchwork textiles from West Africa, the striped aesthetic of the wandering Shahsavan tribes to the barbaric aesthetic of the Anatolian tulu. Another major segment of the exhibition will feature contemporary American quilts, made by the well-known Debbie Anderson whose work has appeared in prestigious venues such as the Textile Museum in Washington DC. Her presentation is unique, combining aspects of traditional quilting with modern technology: using a special cloth, she has transferred photographs of classic examples of textile art onto cloth, and combined these patches of material within the tradition of patchwork quilting. The 'look' she has achieved is original and extremely satisfying.
Opening for one month on the night of 11 February 2005 with a jazz trio, this event could be a landmark event on the San Francisco textile art landscape. In an effort to shed the dour circumstances of the political and economic landscape, this exhibition is a real statement of optimism.
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