Asia Week, New York, 10-19 March: Textile Art at Gail Martin Gallery

March 6, 2016

A special (by appointment) exhibition at Gail Martin Gallery during Asia Week New York, 10-19 March 2016, will focus on Asian and Central Asian textiles along with the work of contemporary textile artist Polly Barton, who creates abstract images using the ancient technique of ikat dyeing. Barton learned the technique during a year spent in Japan in the early 1980s and weaves on a narrow 200-year-old Japanese loom.

BABY CARRIER, SW CHINA, GUIZHOU PROVINCE (Jianhe County), MIAO PEOPLE early 20th century. Cotton appliqué with silk embroidery; 34” X 28”; mounted size: 34” X 28½”. A bit older than most of what is available on the market these days.

WOMAN’S WEDDING HEADDRESS CLOTH, SOUTHERN CHINA / NORTHERN THAILAND, YAO PEOPLE c. 1920. Ccotton; appliqué and embroidery; 36” X 35 ¾” mounted. This textile was worn draped over a wooden headdress used during the wedding ceremony.

POLLY BARTON, Persephone , 2008. Silk warp and weft ikat and dye painted warp; 34” x 72” mounted. Persephone was the Greek Goddess of innocence and the underworld.

QUR’AN COVER, UZBEKISTAN, SHAHRISYABZ c. 1890. Silk cross stitch embroidery; 14¼” x 20”; mounted size 18” X 23½” (on double stretcher). Some areas of embroidery show signs of wear but that does not detract from the overall imagery; used to cover a section of pages from the Qur’an.

WALL DECORATION (ILGITSH), UZBEKISTAN, LAKAI PEOPLE, c. 1890. Fine silk chain and ladder stitch embroidery on (rare) green wool field; 23” x 21½”; 24” x 22½” mounted; collected in Afghanistan in 1971. This is an outstanding example because of the rarely seen green ground colour, the finesse of the stitching and more importantly because of the wonderful movement of the embroidered motifs and the overall composition as well.