Olga de Amaral
The first major retrospective in Europe of Olga de Amaral, a key figure in the Colombian art scene and Fiber Art. The exhibition brings together nearly 80 works created between the 1960s and today, many of which have never been presented outside of Colombia. In addition to the vibrant gold leaf creations that made the artist famous, the exhibition reveals her very first textile research and experiments as well as her monumental pieces. Since the 1960s, Olga de Amaral has pushed the boundaries of the textile medium by multiplying experiments on materials (linen, cotton, horsehair, gesso, gold leaf or palladium) and techniques: she weaves, knots, braids, intertwines threads to create immense three-dimensional works. Unclassifiable, her art borrows as much from modernist principles, which she discovered at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in the United States, as from the vernacular traditions of her country and from pre-Columbian art. After presenting six works from the Brumas series as part of the Géométries Sud exhibition in 2018, the Fondation Cartier retraces Olga de Amaral’s entire career and celebrates the woman who marked a true revolution in textile art.
With this exhibition, the Fondation Cartier is revealing the audacity of this textile art, long relegated to the background because it was perceived above all as a decorative art practiced mainly by women. Firmly linked to the dynamics of post-World War II abstract art, Olga de Amaral’s ambitious creations move away from the conventional framework of traditional tapestry. This retrospective shows in particular her essential contribution to the artistic avant-garde of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. During her year at the Cranbrook Academy (1954-1955) in the United States, the artist developed a deep interest in colour and conducted radical experiments with material, composition and geometry. Upon her return to Colombia in 1955, she combined this learning with her knowledge of her country’s ancient textiles and developed a spontaneous and expansive style inspired by the history and landscapes of her native land: the high plateaus of the Andes, the valleys and the vast tropical plains inspired her works with their shapes and tones. Two large series presented in the exhibition particularly express this interest: Estelas (Stars) and Brumas (Mist).
It was in the 1970s that Olga de Amaral discovered, through her friend the ceramicist Lucie Rie, the Japanese technique of kintsugi, which consists of repairing an object by highlighting its fault lines with gold powder. This metal quickly became one of her favorite materials, allowing her to transform textiles into an iridescent surface that diffracts and reflects light. In 2013, Olga de Amaral initiated a new series entitled Brumas, three-dimensional, slightly moving aerial weavings that reveal simple geometric patterns painted directly on the cotton threads. This time, it is a cloud, a fine rain of pure color that the artist invites us to cross.
