The Poetics of Cloth: African Textiles/Recent Art

The opening reception for The Poetics of Cloth: African Textiles/Recent Art was held at the Grey Art Gallery on October 6th, 2008. The art exhibition juxtaposes a selection of the finest examples of modern and classic 19th-century textiles from Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Madagascar, with works by a number of Africa’s leading contemporary artists. Comparing and contrasting tribal fabrics with contemporary paintings, sculptures, and photographs by African artists, the exhibition not only draws attention to textiles, a medium previously overshadowed by traditional African sculpture but also illuminates the connections and continuities between past and recent modes of expression.