The Gas Hall of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery has been transformed. Gone are the gloom, skulls and devil horns of the previous Home of Metal exhibition to be replaced with something lighter and shimmeringly softer.
Lost in Lace is an exhibition of works by 20 international artists, exploring the relationship between textiles, specifically lace, and space. Large-scale lace installations have been created within the Edwardian exhibition hall, with the works complimenting and challenging the neoclassical grandeur of the surroundings.
Upon entering the hall, eyes are immediately drawn to the tumbling swags of crystals in Atelier Manferdini’s Inverted Chandelier. 1,000 lengths of steel cables and 40,000 crystals have been used to create the chandelier. The overall effect is that of an enchanted spider’s web.
It quickly becomes apparent that the exhibition isn’t about the lace of delicate doilies or antimacassars. The installations honour the tradition of lacemaking whilst pushing the boundaries of the textile.
More traditional pieces, such as Lacing Space by Piper Shepard are tributes to historical lace. The large black lace panel is based on a precious piece of point de gaze lace from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery’s collection. The intricate hand-cut vellum hangs between two pillars, with a cut-out “door” providing an entry point to other areas of the exhibition
On the opposite side of the hall, Moucharabieh by French artist Annie Bascoul follows a similar vein in establishing harmony between art and architecture. Her panel of cream net-like lace is made in the Alençon style – a traditional French needlelace technique. The screen references country gardens and incorporates a doorway through to Bascoul’s other work Jardin de lit, lit de jardin. This piece places the erotic poetry of Béroalde de Verville beneath a suspended bead of feathers and cotton.
Forty Eight by Nils Völker is perhaps the piece furthest removed from lace as we know it. The wall of “breathing” bags of polyethylene fibre is controlled by a custom built circuit board. The effect of watching the bags gently inflate and deflate is oddly mesmerising, prompting the viewer to consider the similarities between the interconnected lines of both lace and electrical circuitry.
Tamar Frank’s A thin line between space and matter takes place within a pitch black enclosed cube. Delicate phosphorescent threads have been woven into 3D parabolic curves that glow and shift colours.
The ordered geometry of Frank’s work contrasts with the chaotic black web spun in Chiharu Shiota’s installation After the dream. White dresses are encased in the random scrawl of the artist’s characteristic woven strings
The ability of lace to conceal and reveal is also explored in Liz Nilsson’s The latticed eye of memory. Laser cut panels of viscose satin hang in front of each other, creating a piece that can be viewed in 360 degrees. Peering through the holes provides new perspectives on the layers of swirls, splashes and stitching.
Japanese artists Reiko Sudo, Naomi Kobayashi and Suzumi Noda have also provided large installations. Kobayashi’s 12 hanging columns, Cosmos series, are placed directly in front of the exhibition entrance – again illustrating how lace can obscure, whilst referencing the building’s neoclassical columns.
Juxtaposition by Reiko Sudo combines origami, laser-cutting and mirrors in a piece inspired by Japanese folklore. The soothing lightness and brightness of this piece is in the shadow cast by Tanabata lace by Suzumi Noda. This dark hanging panel is made of discarded Jacquard loom punch cards, lacquered and stitched together.
Lost in Lace is an opportunity to enter a dream-like world. A world of the fanciful; where craft collides with technology and tradition teeters on the edge of the unknown. Curator, Lesley Millar MBE, set out to challenge artists to “move beyond their usual margins of practice”. The exhibition does not tell a story, rather it encourages visitors to create their own.
The exhibition has been produced in partnership by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Crafts Council. It runs until 19th February 2012 and is free to visit.
Visit www.lostinlace.org.uk for more information
Images provided by Lost in Lace & Jenny Evans.