Jess de Wahls

Last updated

Jess de Wahls
Born1983 (age 39–40)
Berlin, East Germany
Known forfeminist textile & embroidery
StyleRetex (recycled textile) sculpting
Website jessdewahls.com

Jess de Wahls is an East German-born textile and embroidery artist based in South London. [1] [2] [3] She received media attention in 2021 when the Royal Academy announced it would be removing her work following complaints of alleged transphobia, then days later apologised and retracted. [4] [5] Her work focuses on what she terms 'Retex (recycled textile) sculpting', [6] her art concerning itself with gender equality, as well as recycling. [7] [2]

Contents

Background

de Wahls grew up in East Berlin and moved to the UK in 2004. [7] [8] Her work features embroidery weaving together feminism and plant life. [9] In her art she explores subjects such as the environment, contemporary feminism, female liberation, [10] misogyny, gender inequalities and fetishism and employs creative textile recycling as part of her practice. [2]

She works to raise the profile of embroidery as an art form. She has said "embroidery or textile art in general has always been sidelined as women's work, and regarded as somehow less than mainstream art. I've been taking quite a stand over the years now to make a point that embroidery is just as much art as any other medium". [10] Her work is part of a movement to depict vagina and vulva in art. [11]

According to the Royal Academy of Arts, once in London de Wahls quickly established her name as the 'Enfant Terrible Of British Textile Arts'. [12] [13] The New Statesman called her a 'picture-perfect bohemian artist for our times', [14] and the Artichoke Trust said she is 'a bona fide lynch pin of the British textile art scene'. [15]

Career

Artist

de Wahls says there are two major themes she explores throughout her work. The first is intersectional feminism, gender inequalities as well as the civil rights aspects that are often closely aligned with one another. The second is what she refers to as 'waste culture' and recycling. [2]

de Wahls has exhibited her work in the UK, [16] [17] Australia [18] and the US. [19] [20] She mentors finalists for the Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery in London and also teaches her own contemporary embroidery style in national and international workshops. [12] [13] This has included embroidery workshops at the Soho Theatre, Laura Lea Design in London [21] as well as in Australia where she toured with her Big Swinging Ovaries project. [22] [18] [23]

In 2017 she created a feminist embroidery workshop project titled Big Swinging Ovaries. It ran out of the Tate Modern in London and also toured Australia. [11] [22]

She was involved in raising funds for the Vagina Museum in London. [6] On the topic of women's genitalia, de Wahls says: "I think it is very helpful to have this conversation, making people comfortable with saying vagina, vulva, clitoris and all that kind of stuff." [22]

Prior to 2019 she ran a small hairdressing salon out of the cabaret dressing room at the Soho Theatre. [24] [3]

de Wahls was commissioned by the Artichoke Trust in 2018 to create a work for PROCESSIONS' '100 years 100 Banners' together with Women for Refugee Women. [15] Her work remains on display in the 'Women Making History' exhibition as the Trust says the banners project is "notable for its diversity and inclusivity". [25]

Controversy

de Wahls's work attracted widespread media attention in 2021 when the Royal Academy of Arts removed her work from its gift shop following complaints of alleged transphobia by eight people, [1] before apologising and reversing the decision. [26] [4] [5] The incident became the focus of a wider discussion about freedom of expression in the arts. [27] [28] The Academy’s secretary and chief executive, Axel Rüger, later apologised to de Wahls, and the decision to remove the work from sale was described as a failure of communication. [28] The UK culture secretary, Oliver Dowden welcomed the apology, saying: "Freedom of expression is central to great art and culture and should always be protected." [26]

Following the apology her work went back on sale and The Royal Academy committed to reviewing its internal processes. de Wahls reported that her sales boomed following the controversy. [3]

Personal life

de Wahls was born in East Berlin in 1983. [8] Her mother worked as a secretary and her father in a radiator factory. After reunification both her parents took jobs as prison warders. [3] She has a 'gender non-conforming' father who enjoys dressing in women's clothing. de Wahls has said of him: "My father doesn't do labels other than sometimes jokingly calling himself a paradise bird." [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal School of Needlework</span> Embroidery school in Hampton Court Palace

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is a hand embroidery school in the United Kingdom, founded in 1872 and based at Hampton Court Palace since 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiber art</span> Artworks made of fiber and other textile materials, emphasizing aesthetic value over utility

Fiber art refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over utility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May Morris</span> An English artisan, embroidery designer

Mary "May" Morris was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' model, Jane Morris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marguerite Zorach</span> American painter

Marguerite Zorach was an American Fauvist painter, textile artist, and graphic designer, and was an early exponent of modernism in America. She won the 1920 Logan Medal of the Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women artists</span> Overview of female gender artists

The absence of women from the canon of Western art has been a subject of inquiry and reconsideration since the early 1970s. Linda Nochlin's influential 1971 essay, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?", examined the social and institutional barriers that blocked most women from entering artistic professions throughout history, prompted a new focus on women artists, their art and experiences, and contributed inspiration to the Feminist art movement. Although women artists have been involved in the making of art throughout history, their work, when compared to that of their male counterparts, has been often obfuscated, overlooked and undervalued. The Western canon has historically valued men's work over women's and attached gendered stereotypes to certain media, such as textile or fiber arts, to be primarily associated with women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheila Hicks</span> American artist

Sheila Hicks is an American artist. She is known for her innovative and experimental weavings and sculptural textile art that incorporate distinctive colors, natural materials, and personal narratives.

Chantal Joffe is an American-born English artist based in London. Her often large-scale paintings generally depict women and children. In 2006, she received the prestigious Charles Wollaston Award from the Royal Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micheline Beauchemin</span>

Micheline Beauchemin, was a Canadian textile artist and weaver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessie Newbery</span> Scottish artist (1864–1948)

Jessie Newbery was a Scottish artist and embroiderer. She was one of the artists known as the Glasgow Girls. Newbery also created the Department of Embroidery at the Glasgow School of Art where she was able to establish needlework as a form of unique artistic design. She married the director of the Glasgow School of Art, Francis Newbery, in 1889.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanna Winge</span> Swedish painter

Hanna Mathilda Winge, née Tengelin was a Swedish painter and textile artist. She was one of the five founders of the Swedish women's association Nya Idun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Tuu'luq</span> Canadian artist (1910-2002)

Marion Tuu'luq LL.D (1910–2002), also known as Anguhadluq, Tudluq, Tuuluq, and Toodlook, was an Inuk artist in mixed media and textiles. She "drew upon vivid colors, symmetry, and anthropomorphic imagery, to create vibrant tapestries which depict stories, legends, and personal experiences."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada</span> Japanese artist (born 1944)

Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada is a Japanese textile artist, curator, art historian, scholar, professor, and author. She has received international recognition for her scholarship and expertise in the field of textile art. In 2010, she was named a "Distinguished Craft Educator - Master of Medium" by the James Renwick Alliance of the Smithsonian Institution, who stated: "she is single-handedly responsible for introducing the art of Japanese shibori to this country". In 2016 she received the George Hewitt Myers Award for Lifetime Achievement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vagina and vulva in art</span> Visual art representing female genitalia

The vagina and vulva have been depicted from prehistory onwards. Visual art forms representing the female genitals encompass two-dimensional and three-dimensional. As long ago as 35,000 years ago, people sculpted Venus figurines that exaggerated the abdomen, hips, breasts, thighs, or vulva. There have long been folklore traditions, such as the vagina loquens and the vagina dentata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance Howard (artist)</span>

Constance Mildred Howard, later Constance Parker, was an English textile artist and embroiderer who had a profound impact on the development and teaching of those subjects in Britain. The Constance Howard Gallery, part of Goldsmiths, University of London, is named in her honour.

Louisa Pesel (1870–1947) was an English embroiderer, educator and textile collector. She was born in Bradford, and studied textile design at the National Art Training School, causing her to become interested in decorative stitchery. She served as the director of the Royal Hellenic School of Needlework and Lace in Athens, Greece, from 1903 to 1907. Pesel served as the first president of the Embroiderers' Guild. She produced samplers for the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum and cushions, kneelers, alms bags and a lectern carpet for Winchester Cathedral. She collected textiles extensively, and following her death in Winchester in 1947, her collection went to the University of Leeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Cozens-Walker</span> English textile artist and painter (1938–2020)

Mary Cozens-Walker was an English textile artist and painter best known for her three-dimensional works pertaining to her own domestic life. She exhibited in the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States. She has appeared as a model in about 600 paintings. Her own work is in national collections and paintings of her are also in national collections.

Lilian Margery Dring was a British artist known for her paintings, poster designs and textile designs. needlework and embroidery work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audrey Walker</span> English textile artist (1928–2020)

Audrey Walker was an accomplished textile artist, embroiderer and teacher, who was active from the 1970s and 1990s in United Kingdom. Walker became known for developing an innovative style of embroidery based on fine threads applied by machine and by hand, to create striking figurative wall-hung works of art. Walker described her work as evolving from fairly fluid ideas, and the process as being akin to drawing with fabrics.

Nelly Homi Sethna was an Indian weaver, textile designer, researcher, writer and a crafts activist. She worked on the crossroads of Scandinavian modernism and Indian crafts tradition, which shaped her guiding philosophy. Her close association with Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay played an important role in the revival and promotion of traditional Indian crafts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Springall</span> Textile artist

Diana Springall is, according to the Victoria and Albert Museum, "amongst the most well-known of all British textile artists", who has been committed to raising the profile of the contemporary art of embroidery through the Diana Springall Collection. Her work is found in many private and public collections worldwide. As well as creating art and teaching, Springall has held various appointments including chair of both the Embroiderers' Guild and the Society of Designer Craftsmen. Throughout her career, Springall has campaigned for the promotion of embroidery as a true art form. She has assembled the Diana Springall Collection, an extensive collection of contemporary pieces from various artists showcasing embroidery as fine art.

References

  1. 1 2 "Jess de Wahls: Artist wants apology from Royal Academy over transphobia row". BBC News Online . 21 June 2021. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Khan, Sara (21 February 2018). "Textile artist Jess De Wahls on making feminist embroidery". London: Crafts Council (UK). Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Membery, York (4 July 2021). "Jess de Wahls: 'There's been a massive spike in demand. Just about all my stock has gone'" . The Times UK. ISSN   0140-0460. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Royal Academy apologises to artist Jess de Wahls in transphobia row". BBC News Online. 23 June 2021. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  5. 1 2 Lloyd, Nina; Reynolds, John (29 November 2021). "Jess de Wahls condemns 'Cold War' approach to cancel culture" . The Times UK. ISSN   0140-0460. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Jess de Wahls | Interview" (pdf). London Runway (magazine). No. 30. London. 6 December 2018. pp. 38–42. ISBN   9798606218639. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021– via Issuu.
  7. 1 2 "Jess de Wahls – Recycled textile sculpture". TextileArtist.org. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  8. 1 2 Vogelsang, Willem (19 June 2021). "Wahls, Jess de". Netherlands: Textile Research Centre. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  9. ↑ Riddle, Naomi (13 July 2018). "Big Swinging Ovaries - Jess de Wahls". Running Dog. Sydney. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  10. 1 2 "6 Questions: Jess de Wahls, Textile Artist". Lux Magazine . 19 October 2021. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  11. 1 2 Thomson, Lizzie (14 February 2019). "Tate Modern to host a women-themed Late with a vagina embroidery workshop". Evening Standard . London: Evening Standard Ltd. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Patch Dahlia". Royal Academy of Arts UK. 16 June 2021. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Someone's Daughters | Jess de Wahls". www.theviewmagazine.org. Someone's Daughter exhibition. 23 July 2021. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  14. ↑ Perry, Louise (29 June 2021). "The Jess De Wahls debacle shows you can only really be cancelled by your friends" . New Statesman . London. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  15. 1 2 "Jess de Wahls working with Women For Refugee Women". PROCESSIONS. Artichoke Trust. 2018. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019.
  16. ↑ McCaffery, Robert (2016). "Whatever you do don't call her a 'craftivist': The art of Jess de Wahls" (pdf). Hand & Lock. No. 2. London. pp. 52–53 – via Issuu.
  17. ↑ Ronner, Abby (12 May 2017). "'SHE INSPIRES' at a Massive Exhibition That Pays Homage to Important Women". Vice.
  18. 1 2 "Jess de Wahls, enfant terrible of textile arts, in Katoomba exhibition". Blue Mountains Gazette . Katoomba, NSW: Australian Community Media. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  19. ↑ "Jess De Wahls | [Reception] Feminist Fiber Art Exhibit". Boston Hassle . 9 August 2015. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  20. ↑ "Feminist Fiber Art Exhibition". Scout Somerville (magazine). 26 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2015.
  21. ↑ "New art in the stairwell exhibition". W+K London. 28 March 2017. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  22. 1 2 3 AFP (1 April 2019). "Embroidered genitalia turn textiles into feminist art". New Straits Times . Kuala Lumpur. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  23. ↑ Barnes, Sara (18 October 2017). "Take a Look at Jess de Wahls' "Big Swinging Ovaries"". Scene360. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  24. ↑ "Women are turning to Embroidery as a form of Resistance". COOLS. 29 November 2018. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  25. ↑ Redmond, Adele (24 June 2021). "Arts company says 'art should be a safe space for debate' amid transphobia row". Arts Professional.
  26. 1 2 Bakare, Lanre (23 June 2021). "Royal Academy of Arts apologises to Jess de Wahls in transphobia row". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  27. ↑ Lawrence, Ben (4 November 2021). "The young-vs-old divide is threatening our arts institutions". The Telegraph. UK. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021.
  28. 1 2 Greenberger, Alex (23 June 2021). "London's Royal Academy Apologizes to Artist Accused of Transphobia". ARTnews . Archived from the original on 25 June 2021.
  29. ↑ Whitworth, Damian (22 June 2021). "Jess de Wahls: Death wishes and fear after the Royal Academy cancelled me" . The Times UK. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.