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Hawthorne & Heaney visits ‘An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik’ at the Wallace Collection

August 21, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery‘A Girl Threading a Needle by Candlelight’ by G. Schalcken

The Wallace Collection is a hidden gem in London’s art history crown, which even this museum buff and lifelong Londoner has only just discovered. Set in a stunning 18th Century building on Manchester Square (just off Oxford Street) it is hard to believe it has taken this long to come across it. Housing some very famous works of art such as Hals’s ‘Laughing Cavalier’, Boucher’s ‘Madame De Pompadour’ and many Gainsborough’s there is plenty to see if you fancy a bit of an oppulent afternoon in the city. For keen stitchers, there are some stunning tapestry works as well as these 17th century wall hangings from Italy featuring lots of goldwork techniques. Now, until the end of August they have upped the ante a bit further by adding stunning couture shoes into the mix.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand EmbroideryWall hangings, Italian, c. 1650, maker unknown

For a limited time the Wallace Collection is also displaying a selection of footwear superstar Manolo Blahnik amongst their artworks. Unlike many other fashion exhibitions, this is more of an intergration of the shoes in amongst the other art, they sit alongside the permenant collection (sometime on them!) in carefully arranged bell jars. This makes the exhibiton much more intimate as you feel you can get up close to all the pieces on display and all are treated with equal respect.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

The selection of shoes in each room has been themed to compliment the artworks they are among. A particular favourite of mine was the oval drawing room where the most decadent shoes Blahnik designed for Sofia Coppola’s film ”Marie Antoinette” are shown amongst the sweet coloured room featuring Fragonard’s ‘Swing’ and Boucher’s ‘Madame de Pompadour’.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand EmbroideryHawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

From an embroidery perpective there are a few pieces that standout as particulally beautiful. These boots ‘ Lepanto’ (Davee) 2003 look to be a combinations of hand painting and embroidery to a very rich effect.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

These pink petal encrusted pair called ‘Amir’ 1997 look like they belong with some of the dresses from the ‘Designer of Dreams’ Exhbition which is still on at the V & A Museum

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

Of course, there are beads so we couldn’t not mention ‘Zarina’ 2015 which are the very definition of encrusted.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

Downstairs is a wall of the original sketches for shoes on display upstairs, showing Blahnik’s distinctive style and flare.

Hawthorne & Heaney visits 'An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blankik' at the Wallace Collection London Hand Embroidery

Overall it has all been very respectly done. It is clear from the selection that Blahnik is passionate about beauty and craftsmanship with many skills shown in his designs and revisited throughout the years. There is not much information on each of the pieces, a simple sticker of each one’s name and year leaves you with a few questions perhaps, but lets you enjoy them uninterupted.

 

‘An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blahnik at the Wallace Collection’  is on until the 1st Sept 2019, Entrance is free.

Filed Under: Embroidery, Fashion, Interior Design, London Tagged With: beading, Collection, couture, design, Designer, drawing, embrdoiery, exhibition, inspiration, London, Manolo Blahnik, Museum, now on, sewing, shoes, textiles, things to do, wallace collection

Hawthorne & Heaney on the World Illustration Awards 2019

July 15, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

The Association of Illustrators (AOI) have partnered with the Directory of Illustration to bring another year of the World Illustration Awards. With over 3,600 entries, the judges have whittled them down to the final shortlisted 200, showcasing some amazing and diverse up and coming talent. The show has been held annually, in various forms for over 40 years now. Categories range from children’s books to experimental designs. 

 

Full of clever, quirky designs and powerful messages. Important and popular themes such feminism, gender equality, environmental change and the power of technology were all covered throughout the art shown. As well as a broad range of subject matter and mediums, with works in graphics, embroidery and even plasticine! 

 

Hawthorne & Heaney on the World Illustration Awards 2019 London Hand Embroidery

 

If These Walls Could Talk by Astrid Jaekel, 2019.

One of my favourite pieces, shown below, Karolina Miękisz has focused her work based on a New York Times article “CSI: Earth” by Gavin Schmidt, where the idea that fingerprints can be traced to find out who and what is responsible for climate change. In the small but effective little artwork, the image slowly moves to show the finger prints moving and spreading into the sky, like smoke out of a factory chimney. Hopefully this gets more of us thinking about our own environmental fingerprints and encourage us to do something to reduce them and help tackle the huge problem of climate change. 

Hawthorne & Heaney on the World Illustration Awards 2019 London Hand Embroidery

Who is to blame? By Emilia Karolina Miękisz, 2019. 

 

Hawthorne & Heaney on the World Illustration Awards 2019 London Hand Embroidery

Modified Man by Tim Easley, 2019. 

Tim Easley’s brief was to design an album cover for the band Modified Man. Taking into account the bands electronic sound, his vision to create a circuit board visual has come to life. Using plasticine and hand techniques to create the intricate work, piece by piece of plasticine layers,  the overall effect looks quite something. A really original way of creating this circuit board pattern, Easley shows there are other ways to take illustration. 

Hawthorne & Heaney on the World Illustration Awards 2019 London Hand Embroidery

(Left) Stand design for Freda at Stylist Live by Hazel Mead, 2019. (Right) Alphabets: Phenomenal Women by Elen Winata, 2019.

Gender equality and the promoting of female empowerment were other strong themes within this years exhibition. I was especially drawn to these two based on the bright colours, cool layout and little female icons covering both. In Stand for Freda, the message ‘Period products for all.’ as one of the many slogans within promoting a no shame policy when it comes down to the topic of periods and that free sanitary products should be a basic human right. 

 

Alphabets: Phenomenal Women, show a different branch to female empowerment through capturing our most famous and treasured female icons through time in these fun, stylistic illustrations. The idea that this could educate and teach girls to look up to these kind of role models and inspire them to achieve greatness.

 

Hawthorne & Heaney on the World Illustration Awards 2019 London Hand Embroidery

 

Under the Skin of Endangered Animals by Under the Skin (Duo, Ed and James Harrison), 2019. 

Of course, in the current state of the world, issues of the environment, ocean plastics and our endangered species have been another strong topic I’ve seen. Duo Ed and James Harrison are brothers and have teamed as designers to make ‘Under The Skin’, who donate 20% of print sales to charities that specifically work to protect the animal within the print.

 

Under a UV light, the beautiful animal illustrations show the inner skeleton of the animal is seen, “all that remains if a species falls into the darkness of extinction”. This thought provoking and clever way of incorporating design, activism and unusual materials is a fun way of getting across a strong message and a lot of people stopped to have a go with the UV torch! 

 

Overall, the finalists this year have impressed me. A range of entertaining, interesting and thoughtful works. An exciting exhibition and one to definitely have a visit too. 

All images from:

Association of Illustrations, World Illustration Awards 2019: https://theaoi.com/world-illustration-awards/

 

By Abi Tominey-Smith

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, London Tagged With: art, embroidery, exhibitions, illustration, London, textiles, things to do, visit

Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery

February 7, 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

It is safe to say that there are not that many places around that can say that they are a gallery dedicated to embroidery, but The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery is one of those few. Located in the very quaint Lower Sunbury in Middlesex, this collection of traditional embroidery makes for a highlight in an already lovely bit of the world. Only 3 miles down the river from Hampton Court (where the Royal School of Needle Work is) makes this area a bit of the stitching hotspot.
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
The gallery is situtated within a historic walled Garden, displaying a collection of work celebrating the local area and commemorating the Millennium. All the work was completed in the year 2000 by 140 local embroiderers taking around 100,000 hours, all overseen by Pam Judd.
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
In the body of the village panel, a great variety of thread and stitches have been used to build up the effect. Silk shading and french knots are widely used, with some parts stitched separately and applied on later in a stumpwork style giving the piece more depth.
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
Hawthorne & Heaney visits the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery London Hand Embroidery
On either side of the village panel are 120 tent stitched community logos showing the supporting organisations such as Spelthorne council. Along side the permenant embroidery exhibit, they have temporary exhibits from other artists such as the current exhibit Jason Hart: A Passion for Wood and Carol Naylor: A Stitched Timeline which goes on display from 26th Feb 2019. Though the gallery may be small, it is a lovely example of community spirit in the form of traditional embroidery. Open Tuesday- Sunday 10am-4pm, admission is free though donations are welcome as it is run by volunteers. The Sunbury Gallery, Walled Garden, Thames Street, Sunbury on Thames, Middx, TW16 6AB

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, London Tagged With: hand embroidery, logo, middx. embroidery, panel, sunbury millennium embroidery, sunbury on thames, the sunbury embroidery gallery, things to do, visit

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up – Exhibition Visit

September 5, 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Frida Kahlo in blue satin blouse, 1939, © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives

The exhibition Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up is currently at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and we recently took the chance to visit. This unique show gives a detailed overview of Kahlo’s life: her family and heritage; her politics; her relationship with mural painter Diego Rivera; the near-fatal accident that caused her a lifetime of pain; and most importantly, how she constructed her image and the way in which she lived her life.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Kahlo’s home in Mexico, La Casa Azul (The Blue House).

Upon Kahlo’s death in 1954, her husband Rivera locked up her most valuable possessions in the bathroom of the Casa Azul (The Blue House, their home in Mexico) and instructed that it not be opened until 15 years after her death. In 2004 this bathroom was opened, and the contents of the room went on display at the Casa Azul as a museum dedicated to her life. These objects are what now fill the exhibition space at the V&A, carefully shipped thousands of miles to be shown outside of Mexico for the first time.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Frida Kahlo and Family, 1926, photograph by Guillermo Kahlo.
Kahlo challenges gender stereotypes by wearing a suit.

The exhibition begins with old photographs of Kahlo and her family, some of which are adorned with Kahlo’s handwritten notes. Some simply label family members, whereas others are more personal: for example, on the back of Kahlo’s Communion photo she has scrawled “¡IDIOTA!” as she renounced Catholicism later in life.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Pre-columbian jade beads, possibly assembled by Frida Kahlo. Museo Frida Kahlo.

The show continues through a series of rooms to Kahlo’s accessories: heavy jade necklaces; crescent earrings featuring paired birds, which are traditional of Mexican jewellery; and hand-woven ‘Rebozo’ shawls and ‘Morrale’ sack bags. These items highlight Kahlo’s pride in her Mexican heritage.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Revlon nail varnishes, compact and lipstick in Kahlo’s favourite shade, ‘Everything’s Rosy’.

We then move on to Kahlo’s possessions, perhaps one of the most personal parts of the exhibition. Intimate items are on display such as used lipsticks and empty medicine bottles accompanied by letters to and from her various doctors.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Plaster corset, painted and decorated by Frida Kahlo. Museo Frida Kahlo.

Kahlo’s suffering due to childhood polio and a car accident at the age of 18 lies at the foundation of some of these objects. For most of her life she wore uncomfortable corsets to help support her back and alleviate pain, some of which were made of plaster and decorated with painting as Kahlo used them like a canvas.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Left: Cotton Huipil with chain stitch embroidery, cotton skirt with printed floral motifs.
Right: Guatemalan cotton coat worn with Mazatec Huipil and plain floor-length skirt.

Finally, the main feature of the exhibition is a stunning display case of Kahlo’s clothing. Kahlo is renowned for her combinations of indigenous garments from different regions of Mexico, and she was photographed in such outfits many times. To see them up close in real life is breathtaking.

Detailed embroidery is present in most of the outfits, from complexly shaded flowers and birds to cross stitch to traditional Chinese embroidery (due to Kahlo’s fascination with Chinatown when she moved to the USA with Rivera). The exhibition gives details of her most striking outfits, describing how she was followed by children when in the USA, who asked “Where is the circus?”.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Self Portrait with Monkeys, 1943. Oil on Canvas, 81.5 x 63cm.

There are some of Kahlo’s paintings – mainly self portraits as she used herself as a subject when painting from her bed – but the exhibition mainly focuses on Kahlo’s items and how she presented the complex layers of her identity within her life. It states that her wardrobe was not staged: she dressed up even when she wasn’t expecting visitors, and even when she was in bed rest.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up - Exhibition Visit London Hand Embroidery
Frida Kahlo on the Bench, 1939. © Nickolas Murray Photo Archives.

Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up is a bewitching and intimate exhibition. The items on display are fascinating, and through them the personal details of how Kahlo naturally lived an artistic life – despite her misfortunes and pain – are revealed. A must-see for anyone interested in textiles, and anyone interested in Frida Kahlo’s complex and inspiring life.

Purchase tickets at the V&A website here.

Written by Laura Hill

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, Embroidery, Fashion, London Tagged With: artist, clothing, embroidery, exhibition, fashion, floral, flowers, frida, frida kahlo, herself, inspiration, jewellery, kahlo, London, make up, making, making herself up, Museum, painting, photography, review, show, textiles, things to do, up, V&A, victoria and albert, visit, weaving, woven

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton

January 25, 2018 by Eleanor Rowlands

The Fashion and Textiles Museum, London, has just opened an exhibition dedicated to Louise Dahl- Wolfe, an American photographer who is credited with modernising fashion photography. The exhibition spans the the whole of the long gallery as well as part of the upper area. It looks at Dahl-Wolfe’s early works and how she defined the image of the post war women. It has over 100 photographs on display which some contain the work from various designers such as Chanel, Balenciaga and Dior.

Located in the long gallery, you must first pass a room on the left which currently has a small display of work from Wallace Sewell, who designed the upholstery fabric for Transport for London, continuing on you walk through a corridor of Dahl-Wolfe’s colour Harper’s Bazaar covers and enter a large open space full of beautifully framed photos. The airiness of the room allows the work to breath and gives you space to enjoy it.

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Louise Dahl-Wolfe exhibition//Fashion and Textile Museum,London//Highly recommend . . . . #london #thingstodoinlondon #fashionandtextilemuseum #louisedahlwolfe #exhibition #fashion #fashionphotography #inspo #mustsee #textiles #designer #museum #blackandwhite #photographs

A post shared by Charlotte (@c_textiles) on Oct 27, 2017 at 4:14am PDT

The gallery displays mainly black and white image from Dahl-Wolfe’s career as well as a selection of coloured work. Dahl-Wolfe trained in San Francisco’s Art Institute in 1914, and it was here that she took classes on anatomy, composition and colour theory fundamentals. These proved to aid her later in life when starting out in photography.

Dahl-Wolfe’s first photo to be published, Mrs Ramsey, was in Harper’s Bazaar’s November 1933 issue. Mrs Ramsey was Dahl-Wolfe’s neighbour when her and her husband moved to Tennessee. As with a lot of Dahl-Wolfe’s photos there is an element of calmness about them whilst simultaneously displaying the soul and character of her subject.

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton London Hand Embroidery
Mrs Ramsey,Tennessee-Smokey Mountians,USA,1931

Dahl-Wolfe started working at Harper’s Bazaar from 1936 until 1958. During this time they published 600 coloured photographs, 3,000 black and white images and 86 front covers taken by the artist. During her Hollywood period, 1938-1946,Dahl-Wolfe shot on her Rolleiflex camera using natural lighting and had her models posing outside, providing an alternative to the “clever lighting and retouching”1  that was already apparent within the industry.

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton London Hand Embroidery

Even within the black and white photos Dahl-Wolfe took, the texture and material of the clothing still stood as as one of her key focal points. This was achieved by clever set dressing and good use of composition within the photographs.

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton London Hand Embroidery

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton London Hand Embroidery

Continuing through the exhibition it looks at Dahl-Wolfe’s era within Fashion photography, 1938-1949. When Dahl-Wolfe started, fashion photography was still among its early stages, this meant that there was room to develop and evolve the practice. Took in a variety of settings including Arizona, California Desert, North Africa and Mexico Dahl-Wolfe’s photos erd towards simple compositions that compliment the Dior and Balenciaga dresses.
Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton London Hand Embroidery

Dahl-Wolfe had a knack for capturing her subjects unaware and in seemingly natural movements. Mary Jane Russell, who was one of the most successful fashion models of her time, worked with Dahl-Wolfe for over 12 years, producing 8 Bazaar covers and 100’s of editorials and adverts.

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton London Hand Embroidery

The exhibition has a good amount of information spanning Dahl-Wolfe’s early career and through to her retirement as a photographer. It is running from 20th October- 21st January 2018 at the Fashion and Textiles Museum, London. Prices are £9.90 for adults, £7.70 concessions and  £6 for students (Remember your Student ID).

Hawthorne & Heaney Visits the Louise Dahl-Wolfe Exhibiton London Hand Embroidery

All images and videos courtesy of Charlotte Pearson (@c_textiles) unless otherwise stated.

[1] Louise Dahl-Wolfe- A style of her own, Fashion and Textile Museum. Pamphlet pg.3. 2017.

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, Fashion, London Tagged With: art, embroidery, fashion, fashion and textiles museum, fashion photography, ftm, high fashion, London, louise dahl wolfe, Museum, photography, photogrpahy, things to do, visit, Vogue

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