DIJON, France — “In a fabric, the crossing of the threads during weaving establishes an unbreakable pact between the two opposing and distinct entities, the warp and the weft, and this pact is reaffirmed thousands of times at each crossing.” This is how Isabella Ducrot’s The checkered cloth (The fabric in the square), a slim volume that the artist published in 2019 with the Italian art book publisher Quodlibet.
In her book, the Naples-born, Rome-based artist describes a revelation she had years earlier when she and Lippo Memmi were viewing The Annunciation with Saints Margaret and Ansanus (1333) by Italian Gothic painter Simone Martini in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The scene depicted is a well-known biblical tradition—the angel Gabriel informs the Virgin Mary of her destiny as the mother of Jesus—but Ducrot was surprised to notice that the fold of the angel’s cloak, visible just beneath his wings, is a checkered Plaid, a plain, everyday fabric rarely seen in religious iconography, historically worn by women or children or used for practical purposes such as wiping dishes. What could such a pattern worn by an angel mean? Ducrot writes: “My story changed from that moment, in the middle of my life, and my days were and still are marked by this experience.”
Ducrot came late to art: her rich textile works, drawings and collages on paper were initially exhibited sporadically and mainly in Italy in the 1980s, when the artist was already well over 50 years old. Today, at 93, her irreverent use of colours, fabrics, textures and patterns has struck a chord not only in the art world but also in the fashion world: eye-catching, oversized tapestries of her works lined the catwalk at Maria Grazia Chiuri’s couture show for Dior in spring 2024.
In the Consortium Museum, Ducrot’s exhibition abundance lives up to its title – the extensive exhibition is indeed a wealth of some 80 works, some of which have arisen from the artist’s fateful, long-ago moment in the Uffizi. With its many textile pieces, some of which include lush historical fabrics from the 9th to the 20th centuries, collected by the artist over decades on trips to Afghanistan, China, India and even Tibet, abundance is proof of the above-mentioned pact between warp and weft.
Large tapestries hang unframed on the walls, depicting oversized garments reminiscent of kimonos but simplified in form, sometimes mere panels of brocade or checked fabric arranged in a cloak-like shape. From a distance, these cloaks appear like cartoonish sketches or gestures that emphasize lines and colors, but up close their details become fascinatingly complex. The panels of fabric, some stained or frayed by use, are arranged into collages in a way that draws the viewer into an intricate topography of texture, lines, and layers. Meticulous rows of even hand stitching (apparently still performed by the nonagenarian herself) not only hold the layers of fabric together, but become their own subtle form of mark-making. The forms, and often the works as a whole, are framed by broken (circum)lines, frame boundaries that are filled in or offset by mostly saturated, deep colors painted on the background canvases. Checkered cloths interrupt the scenery and every now and then the artist paints a grid where none can be seen in her found materials.
In the smaller fabric pieces in the exhibition, Ducrot paints repeating shapes (including dots and concentric circles), draws, collages materials such as newspaper or handwriting, or repeats handwritten words (“oh!” or “surprise”) on fabric panels, while in her works on paper she returns to figuration: In a numbered series from 2021 entitled TendernessLovers, depicted in outline, embrace in various serene entanglements. Additional depictions of floral arrangements, teacups, pots and other household objects find beauty in banality. Motifs recur throughout the works – an upside-down crescent moon appears again and again, as do background dots. Most of the works in the exhibition were created in the last five years, three of which were made especially for this exhibition – a bouquet in “Surprise” (2024) is a burst of lush colour, its cut-out shapes reminiscent of those of Henri Matisse. (Other works from the same series are on view at Sadie Coles HQ in London until August 17, as part of her exhibition Flowers remind.)
It is rare that I feel compelled to return to an exhibition and really see on the works on the walls – to look at the art from a distance close enough to alert the guards. I came back twice to abundanceand I too had a small revelation as I looked at the art: the carefully assembled, labyrinthine engravings, sketches, doodles and other details could be interpreted as narrative threads running through a rich life, a web of memories, thoughts and perceptions. At the same time, from a distance, some of the works look like children’s drawings of a dress – full of verve.
The objects in the exhibition open a window into Ducrot’s thinking, her material explorations, her obvious delight in the everyday and, above all, her determined insistence on craft as art – this uncompromising marriage of hand sewing, a traditionally female activity, with painting and fine art is, like warp and weft, an unbreakable pact that the various culture wars have long sought to shatter or dissolve. At a time when fear and discord prevail in the world around us, Ducrot’s art is shatteringly life-affirming. It is by turns intimate, tender, domestic, nurturing and tactile, but also bold, playful, colourful and earthy. That the artist is still so productive at 93 (she works every day in her studio in a Roman palazzo) can be seen as a form of resistance.
Fabric is often the first thing a newborn experiences, along with the mother’s skin. Weaving fabric is one of humanity’s oldest crafts. In her book, Ducrot explains that Martini’s painting gave her “encrypted information”: the checkered pattern, its feminine connotations, and the structure of the threads that come together to create something larger. These things are, for the artist, “a trinity that synthesizes a fabric of connection.” abundance is a reminder that despite all differences, humanity is still connected.
Isabella Ducrot: Profusion runs until September 8 at the Consortium Museum (37 Rue de Longvic, Dijon, France). The exhibition was curated by Franck Gautherot and Seungduk Kim.
Editor’s note, 05.08.2024: Some of the author’s travels were paid for by the Consortium Museum.
