Wednesday, November 15, 2017

English Wallpaper (and seemingly unrelated Artist's Statement)

English Wallpaper Border
Acanthus Scroll (Arthur Sanderson & Sons)
ca. 1860-70
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Border
Drapery pattern (Thomas Avery Co.)
ca. 1820-40
block-printed and flocked
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Border
Swagged Tasseled Ropes (Thomas Avery Co.)
ca. 1825-50
block-printed and flocked
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

"As for me, I produce awkward objects.  This absurd and convulsive mania proves the existence of an unknown, secret gland necessary for life.  Yes, this mania can be reduced to a single gesture, within the reach of us all.  But this gesture is sufficient unto itself.  It is the confirmation of our human presence."

"My gesture is addressed to the human body, 'that complete erogenous zone', to its most vague and ephemeral sensations.  I want to exalt the ephemeral in the folds of our body, in the traces of our passage."

"Through casts of the body I try to fix the fleeting moments of life, its paradoxes and absurdity, in transparent polyester.  My work is difficult, as sensation that is felt in a very immediate and diffuse way is often resistant to identification.  Often everything is all mixed up, the situation is ambiguous, and sensory limits are erased."

"Despite everything, I persist in trying to fix in resin the traces of our body: I am convinced that of all the manifestations of the ephemeral the human body is the most vulnerable, the only source of all joy, all suffering, and all truth, because its essential nudity is as inevitable as it is inadmissible on any conscious level."

 Alina Szapocznikow, artist's statement originally issued in French in 1972, translated by Elise Nussbaum in Alina Szapocznikow: Sculpture Undone, 1955-1972 (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2011)

English Wallpaper Border
Inlaid (Arthur Sanderson & Sons)
ca. 1840-50
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Border
Ivy (Cowtan & Son)
ca. 1820
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Border
Swan and Acanthus (Cowtan & Son)
ca. 1830
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Border
Palmette and Acanthus (Cowtan & Son)
ca. 1840
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper
Flowers and leaves on mouldings
ca. 1800-1825
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper
Narcissi and leaves on mouldings
ca. 1825-50
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper
Blossoms on mouldings
ca. 1840
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Corner-piece
Oak (Walter Crane for Jeffrey & Co.)
1904
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Corner-piece
Cornucopiae and Palmettes
ca. 1825-50
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper
Bamboo (Thomas Avery Co.)
ca. 1837-44
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Frieze
Rabbit and Deer (Walter Crane for Jeffrey & Co.)
1887
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Frieze
Lyre and Garland (Walter Crane for Jeffrey & Co.)
1911
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

English Wallpaper Frieze
Sardeloes (Arthur Sanderson & Sons)
ca. 1905
block-printed
Victoria & Albert Museum, London