BOYS WHO SEW - Crafts Council Gallery

5 FEBRUARY - 4 APRIL 2004

From a finely embroidered silk bomb to a wildly colourful voodoo doll, Boys who Sew at the Crafts Council Gallery explores the way seven male artists confound the traditions of textile art.

Working in a discipline conventionally associated with women, these internationally acclaimed artists break down barriers between fine art and fashion, exploring issues of gender, sexuality, race and identity in a show which is both challenging and irreverent.

In Hew Locke’s Menace to Society, Pound Store ephemera and found objects are pieced together to create a series of sculptured figures. Plastic dolls, artificial flowers, toy guns and sequins form a dazzling collage inspired by media reportings of yardie shootings.

Drawing on the worlds of fashion and film, Craig Fisher creates soft sculptural pieces that disorientate the viewer. Apparently functional, their appearance defies logical interpretation, creating ambiguous objects that occupy a fantasy realm.

Large-scale, machine-embroidered portraits on organza by Saturo Aoyama explore perceptions of human beauty by studying the imperfections of human skin. In contrast, Ben Cook’s richly coloured and patterned work lies between abstract paintings and the repeat pattern textiles of the fashion and textiles industry.

Shown together for the first time and including a series of new commissions Boys who Sew also features the work of Brazilian artist, f.marquespenteado and Australian artists, Gregory Leong and Brett Alexander.

With work ranging from hand stitched to machine made, figurative to abstract the exhibition highlights the diversity of Boys Who Sew.

Boys Who Sew will tour the UK during 2004.

For further press information or visuals please call Penny Sychrava PR on T: 0796 791 5339
E: pennysychrava@hotmail.com or Iliana Taliotis on T: 020 7806 2526
E: media@craftscouncil.org.uk

4 February 2004
Notes to editors
Boys Who Sew is curated by Janis Jeffries, Head of Visual Arts at Goldsmiths University of London.

To coincide with the exhibition, the Crafts Council is hosting a range of family and education activities inspired by Boys Who Sew.

The Crafts Council is collaborating with London Printworks Trust, Artworks Productions and
f. marquespenteado, one of the exhibitors in Boys Who Sew. f. marquespenteado will lead a practical textile print workshop at London Printworks with a group of young men from Lambeth’s Portuguese community.

General information
Opening hours: Tuesday- Saturday 11-6, Sunday 2-6, closed Mondays
Visitor enquiries 020 7278 7700 or visit www.craftscouncil.org.uk

Crafts Council Gallery
44a Pentonville Road
London N1 9BY

3 minutes from Angel tube
Disabled access