Destiempo
Embroidery and Feminism

10.10.12 30.10.12

Out of time is a collection of works made by female artists who took part of the embroidery workshop lead by Guillermina Baiguera in the neighbour gallery “Formosa”. The exhibition is part of the Fundación ´ace para el Arte Contemporáneo’s goals that seek to provide opportunities for Argentine artists to exhibit their production under a curatorial project in “dialogue” with guest artists-in-residence, in this case Peregrine Honig.

In 1984 when Rozsika Parker published The subversive stitch: embroidery and the making of the feminine, the main works of the Feminism North American Temprado had already been made, amongst them, the famous “Dinner Party”, Judy Chicago’s monumental installation (rejected at her time and today with the whole room designed specially for her exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum). Nevertheless, the book was the first and – perhaps the best research – reflection on the use of the embroidery (traditionally considered as a feminine “craft”) in a context of feminist art and on its appropriation as a cultural and political instrument. Parker did this by throwing light on a long history of “taste” guided by gender stereotypes (women that paint vs men that paint) and more radically, indicating the complexity of gender stereotypes to look-classify the technologies / crafts used in the construction of the work of art.

When I approach a group of women who use embroidery to express I ignore this beginning of the use of the embroidery in the contemporary art as expression of a gender speech. Nevertheless, it captures my attention that, in our chat before the exhibition, none of the artists (who come from the fields of the graphic design, architecture and dance) identifies with these speeches and they all speak about the time of embroidery as an “Out of time”: a time out of the time in the positive sense of the term, a moment of introspection for the one that makes it as well as for the histories that are narrated. Unlike the exhibition of Peregrine Honig (for which a “dialog” with local artists was searched) the beauty of the embroidered surface (thinking of a “Printed” Peregrine) does not produce concern in the spectator (or does it?) and takes us to intimate, subtle, tiny, oniric, natural worlds in which the technique is exquisite and through which this young women generation- 50 years after their antecessors opened these ways- do not need to justify themselves and apologize for working and feel delighted by threads, silks and stitches.

-ALICIA CANDIANI

Leonor Barreiro She takes part on the Project Rita Smirna, in that different works develop exploring the technology of the embroidery, beside taking part of collective and individual samples showing his works. From 2011 the Workshop dictates of Basic in Room Formosa.

Laura Morales She is a graphical designer. She did workshops of drawing with Mariana Sissia, illustration with Silvia Mato and painting with Cora Mayer. It took part of samples and collective projects of embroidery. Nowadays she is investigating new stitches and realizing different textile projects to which it applies his own embroideries.

Andrea Servera She is an artist of dance. She dances, directs scenic, experimental projects and video dance. She coordinates projects of art and social transformation. She is a director of the Festival of the City of Buenos Aires. For three years it embroiders, and has realizing individual samples and collective work.

Adriana Torres She studied Architecture and Graphical Design at the UBA, Drawing and Painting in Villa with Rodolfo Bianglino, Illustration with Silvia Mato. She realized diverse workshops at the IUNA, between them Facilities with the Architect Clorindo Testa and Sculpture with Raúl “Bird” Gómez.