Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This lavish book documents the developments in the field of fiber-related art over the past half century. The 1960s saw a revolution in fiber art. Where once the focus was on knotting, twining, and coiling thread into works that were immediately recognizable, and therefore connected to utilitarian crafts, fiber artists of the later 20th-century began to experiment with abstract forms that were closer to sculpture than craft. Influenced by postmodernist ideas, these works are the product of experimentation with materials and technique while at the same time confronting important cultural issues. This book traces that development from the mid-twentieth century to the present. In the words of Bauhaus weaver Anni Albers, the expressive quality of fiber is essentially a "language of thread." That language is beautifully displayed in full-color spreads and individual illustrations in this book. Scholarly essays address the feminist movement of the 1970s; the expanded use of materials in the '80s and '90s; and the more recent employment of fiber as one more material in the creation of freestanding works. In addition to a section of full color illustrations, this book also includes profiles of all of the genre's most influential artists.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Starred Review. Artists in fiber have historically pushed on the boundaries of craft and art; this exciting volume places their work firmly on the art side. The sumptuously illustrated survey accompanies a show that premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)/Boston (which will travel to the Wexner and the Des Moines Art Center in 2015), though it includes key installations not part of the physical show. Thirty-four seminal artists are presented here, the large-scale works resonating with fiber sculpture's myriad possibilities for sensuous abstract expression with texture, shape, construction, and color. In her thoroughly referenced essays, Porter (Mannion Family Senior Curator, ICA) succinctly outlines the "ambivalent critical reception" of fiber and her intent to release this work from "stale categories and outmoded theories" within the context of art history. The volume helpfully includes biographical profiles of each artist by Boston University doctoral candidate Sarah Parrish, with references to key exhibitions and texts for each and a provocative essay titled "Soft Power" by Glenn Adamson (director, Museum of Art & Design, New York) relating many of the pieces to depictions of flaccid penises. VERDICT With its comprehensive representation of sculptures by Magdalena Abakanowicz to Claire Zeisler, this is an essential introduction for all connoisseurs of modern art and sculpture.-Nancy B. Turner, Temple Univ. Lib., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Fiber: Sculpture 1960-Present goes considerably beyond recording an exhibition. Four essays, combined with beautifully reproduced images and 34 artist biographies, ask important and engaging questions about sculptural fiber's meaning and place in contemporary art. The first essay by Jenelle Porter introduces the exhibition's/book's themes and explores the history, concept, and materiality of dimensional fibers through ideas of "both/and" within art categories, the importance of critical exhibitions, and fiber art's connection with larger art movements. Her essay finishes with ideas of gravity and gender, setting up Glenn Adamson's provocative essay on the male nude in the soft forms of the often feminist, fiber sculpture. T'ai Smith's essay shows tapestry's connection to sculptural forms and architecture through the lens of postmodernism and late capitalism. The final essay, also by Porter, lays out the role exhibitions and art critics played in the establishment of fiber art inside and outside the art world. The book's serious examinations excel at investigating the scope and substance of fiber sculpture from the mid-20th century forward, making this book essential for programs seriously exploring the place of fibers in the art. Summing Up: Essential. General readers, undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty. --Lisa L. Kriner, Berea College