Richly illustrated volume exploring the inseparable histories of modernist abstraction and
twentieth-century textiles. Published on the occasion of an exhibition curated by Lynne Cooke
Woven Histories offers a fresh and authoritative look at textiles--particularly weaving--as a
major force in the evolution of abstraction. This richly illustrated volume features more than
fifty creators whose work crosses divisions and hierarchies formerly segregating the fine arts
from the applied arts and handicrafts. Woven Histories begins in the early twentieth century
rooting the abstract art of Sophie Taeuber-Arp in the applied arts and handicrafts then
features the interdisciplinary practices of Anni Albers Sonia Delaunay Liubov Popova Varvara
Stepanova and others who sought to effect social change through fabrics for furnishings and
apparel. Over the century the intersection of textiles and abstraction engaged artists from Ed
Rossbach Kay Sekimachi Ruth Asawa Lenore Tawney and Sheila Hicks to Rosemarie Trockel
Ellen Lesperance Jeffrey Gibson Igshaan Adams and Liz Collins whose textile-based works
continue to shape this discourse. Including essays by distinguished art historians as well as
reflections from contemporary artists this ambitious project traces the intertwined histories
of textiles and abstraction as vehicles through which artists probe urgent issues of our time.
