The Ailist – Issue Five

The Ailist – Issue Five

Posted on by Ailish Henderson

Ailish Henderson shares her view on the world of embroidery - it's the Ailist!Lets talk summer….exhibitions.

Every year I try to visit the Summer Exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts.  I love to investigate the ratio of Textile Art compared to what is deemed to be ‘Fine Art’.  This year I’ve had to work from a distance, but I was extra curious as Grayson Perry was co-curating and it was a special year, the 250th…would Perry lean towards the fabric?

Grayson Perry opens the exhibition in his colourful style.

There are quite a few Textile related pieces this year, for example this showstopper of a piece………….

Joana Vasconcelos’s sculpture, entitled ‘Royal Valkyrie’.

It could be said that this really dominates the show, a definite bang for the Textile v Fine Art debate 😉

A tapestried pearly king with a beehive in his beard (Renata Adela, Map Mundi I)

The show is famed for the random and the embroidered piece above definitely gives a nod to the obscure.  It is definitely worth a visit to the show, to get a understanding of the size of some of these pieces; the computer screen doesn’t really do them justice.

What I love about this exhibition, is that technically, if you get through the proposal process and get your art into the show, your work could be sitting next to any old artist……….it takes the pretentiousness out of the frame.

Tracey Emin gets a seat in….’There’s a Lot of Money in Chairs’ (1995)

The show overall is so colourful this year, so whether you like Paintings, Mixed Media, Sculpture or Textiles you wont be disappointed.

Okay, so there will always be a lot of paint surrounding this exhibition, yet a definitely think Perry has made moves towards getting more of a mix shown.  Lets just see what happens next year..! (The show is on till mid August this year so don’t miss your chance!)


Ailish Henderson

Editor in Chief at Mr X Stitch
As a freelance artist, designer, lecturer and tutor (how do I narrow down that description?!)I have been contracted by numerous arts organizations to provide Talks, Workshops’ and Masterclasses’ in Textiles, Print Making and Fine Art subjects.  These include branches of the Embroiderers’ Guild, Textile Study Groups and The Women’s Institute.  Every year I teach at The Knitting and Stitching shows and exhibit with the Artist in Action stand.Currently I am building up to my exhibition at The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia, London this spring; having also written articles or had work illustrated in Stitch, Inspired, Embroidery, Selvedge, Daphne’s Diary, Prima (online), Cloth Paper Scissors and the Batsford book ‘Be Creative with Textile Art.'

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