This was the other special exhibit up at the Blanton while we were in Austin, which I was also quite excited about. I'm a little late to the party on Anni Albers, but had come across this excellent exhibit catalog, (one of my 2023 Top Reads) and have her books1 on my ever expanding To Read list. So I was looking forward to seeing more of her work in person.
And, while her early work and what she's perhaps mostly known for is weaving and textiles, later in life she turned to printmaking, which was highlighted in this exhibit. As a printmaker myself, this gave me that much more anticipation for seeing this exhibit.
The works were not exclusively prints though, so it was neat to get to see a mix of her work and to see how she continued to explore themes of patterns and textures when she changed media. The prints are both an extension of her textile work and also their own thing, if that makes any sense.
There were some of her pencil sketches - ideas and preparatory work - which I always enjoy seeing. It's cool to see the hand of the artist and how they approach their work, a bit of the behind the scenes, so to speak.
Other work that caught my eye were the heavily embossed/blind printed "Mountainous" and the "Meander" series, which used turning and overprinting a single design screen with different colors of ink. So simple sounding, and yet such possibilities and complex results.
A wonderful show on its own, and interesting resonances with the Floating World Japanese Edo era woodblock print show. The Japanese prints are representational, but there are similar concerns with shape and pattern, surface and fore/background.
Although I suppose that could be said about much of art from different times and places. Perhaps this particular juxtaposition, with both shows being prints, just made it seem more obvious? Or with my previous interest in both before seeing the shows I was primed to make connections?
Anyway, each show is worth seeing on its own, and it was a neat bonus to see them right next to each other! Exhibit dates: February 11 - June 30, 2024
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Alas, On Design does not seem to be in print, but On Weaving is, in an expanded edition with full-color photos(!) as well as Anni Albers: Selected Writings on Design, a collection of her essays on that topic.