The seventies. Utility of Beauty
From Fold:
"The exhibition «The Seventies. Utility of Beauty» at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design demonstrates the most essential trends in the development of Latvian applied arts in the 1970s. This period of time is characterized by a new upcoming formal artistic direction, when aesthetic value prevailed over governing functionality indicative of the 1960s. Functionality was more or less rejected and replaced by aesthetic qualities accentuating "decorativeness" of art, as well as the rich and diverse imagery embodied in the artworks. Artists searched and found inspiration in nature studies, travel notes, cosmic visions, and in cultural history.
The themes selected by artists and the emotional rendering of them through the artworks show an obvious trend of the time — applied art is gradually coming closer to the basic principles of fine art and manifests its potential to transcend disciplinary boundaries. Opposite to fine art that was acting under ideological restrictions, applied art served as an option for artists to speak in the language of contemporary art by creating abstract compositions and sculptural objects. At the same time innovative application of materials and experimentation with techniques and three dimensional structures came to the fore.
Textile artists were fascinated by the idea of tapestry as a means for organizing the space and this desire materialized into life — textiles in three dimensions were created. Alongside application of classical weaving techniques one artwork in itself could combine also various handicraft techniques such as embroidery, knotting, knitting, crochet, applique, and individual techniques elaborated out by the artists themselves. Textile art experienced the influx of new, unconventional materials to weaving such as sisal, synthetics, string, rope, and metallic threads."
70- ties was the time I was growing up and soaking all the culture we had around. The works in this exhibit are the ones I had seen before and was fascinated with. Now, forty years later, this exhibit in some ways was a return to my youth, and I love these works even more. I am sorry the world does not know much about Latvian artists represented in this exhibit:
More artists are listed on Association of Latvian Textile Artists page.
The following pictures are from my walk through the exhibit:
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| Edite Pauls- Vignere |
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Inese Jakobi |
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Georgs Barkāns |
More artists are listed on Association of Latvian Textile Artists page.
The following pictures are from my walk through the exhibit:
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