Revised for date

FOR 10/26

MUSEUM OF ARTS & DESIGN TO SHOW ‘PRICKED’ EMBROIDERY

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NEW YORK CITY — Stone, digital prints, even human hair and skin are some of the unexpected materials used by 47 artists from 14 countries to create the startling embroidered works featured in the exhibition “Pricked: Extreme Embroidery” on view at the Museum of Arts & Design through March 9.

Showcasing the diversity of new approaches to this time-honored needleworking technique, “Pricked” is the Museum of Arts & Design’s latest exploration into how centuries-old handcraft traditions are reinvented in the mainstream of contemporary art and design.

The 60 featured works use embroidery to convey powerful, provocative and often satirical commentary on contemporary society, politics and personal history.

The exhibition follows the success and international acclaim of “Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting,” which premiered at MAD earlier this year and is now on national tour. Like “Radical Lace,” this new exhibition challenges the way the public views the contemporary evolution of an ancient art.

David Revere McFadden, the museum’s chief curator and organizer of the exhibition, says, “When embroidery began to surface in the world of contemporary art in the last decades of the Twentieth Century, it was often embraced by female artists because of its traditional identification with women’s work.

“Today, male and female artists around the world are using stitching techniques to address personal and global issues in an astonishing range of pictorial, sculptural and even architectural applications,” he said.

The exhibition features pieces by artists such as Elaine Reichek, whose groundbreaking use of embroidery catapulted the technique onto the main stage of contemporary art, and Italian artist Angelo Filomeno, internationally recognized for his sumptuously embroidered canvases, alongside those of emerging talents. In addition, works by Mattia Bonetti document the use of embroidery techniques in the sphere of contemporary design.

“As in ‘Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting,’ the museum is playing a leadership role with this new exhibition, encouraging artists to explore innovative ways to bring the heritage of craft into the Twenty-First Century, and to employ new mediums and materials,” says Holly Hotchner, director of the Museum of Arts & Design. “These exhibitions are part of a series that breaks down the barriers between genres to study how artistic techniques and materials thousands of years old are being interpreted by new artists in startling ways.

Words and images have been combined in traditional embroidered samplers for more than 500 years, and it is not surprising that many contemporary artists using embroidery reference this heritage in their work.

The intersection of politics and art is revealed in the work of several artists presented in “Pricked.” American Christa Maiwald embroiders the faces of the powerful dictators of our time on delicate little girls’ dresses. Israeli artist Dafna Kaffeman’s handkerchiefs embroidered with the phrase “Arabic Is Not Spoken Here” in Hebrew and Arabic were made in response to conflicting cultures in Israel today.

The human figure is central to the work of many artists in the exhibition, and examination of the shadowy areas of consciousness is at the core of work by eight of the artists included in “Pricked.”

A four-color illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition.

For information, 212-956-3535 or www.madmuseum.org.