The Lady and the Unicorn: New Tapestry

While textiles have endured millennia as objects of both function and aesthetic splendor, the specific tapestry form and technique reached its peak in late medieval Europe, from about the 14th through 16th centuries. During this golden age of tapestry production, artists in the centers of Flanders, France, and Belgium were celebrated globally for scenes of heroic battles, fearsome hunting expeditions, and spectacular mythological tales. Hailed as luxurious displays of wealth which could at once communicate power as well as insulate vast architectures, tapestries slowly fell out of fashion as Renaissance artists turned to painting as the highest form of artistic achievement.

The Lady and the Unicorn: New Tapestry at Salon 94 unites eight contemporary living artists from six countries who have turned to tapestry in artworks which expand beyond its original function and methods of display. No longer solely affixed to a wall and viewable from one plane, these new tapestries in silk, wool, linen, flora, leather, steel, and brass cascade, float, soar, and envelop, encouraging us to approach this richly historic tradition with new eyes as each artist imbues their work with both the histories and contemporary concerns of their unique lived realities. Artworks on view include those by Mitsuko Asakura (Japan), Felix Beaudry (USA), Margaret Rarru Garrawurra (Eastern Arnhem Land, Australia), Porfirio Gutiérrez (Mexico), Adeline Halot (Belgium), Bárbara Sánchez-Kane (Mexico), Sagarika Sundaram (India), and Qualeasha Wood (USA).

The exhibition takes its name from the masterpiece millefleurs tapestry group La Dame à la licorne, on permanent display at Musée de Cluny in Paris, France. The six tapestries of this iconic collection, woven at the start of the 16th Century, represent each of the five senses: touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing, with the sixth inscribed by the much contested À mon seul désir (To my only desire).

For more information about the exhibition, please contact Nicolas Ochart.