The Fine Art of Textile
Coach House Gallery, Dublin, 2025
The OPW presented ‘The Fine Art of Textile’, an international exhibition of contemporary textile crossing artistic genres – painting, sculpture, drawing and sewing. Curated by Irish artist Nuala Goodman, with the collaboration of Maria Luisa Caffarelli.
The last two Venice Biennales have definitively sanctioned textile’s shift from the marginal confines of ‘low art’ to a phenomenon that travels to the heart of the art system.
The core of this exhibition is the Milan based collective ‘Fringe’, founded in 2022 by four female artists from different coutries, a vibrant force exploring the expressive potential of textile. Artists Sanchita Ajjampur, Colomba Leddi ,Lisa Farmer and Nuala Goodman invited a selection of Irish and International artists to participate in ‘The Fine Art of Textile’.
Maria Lai, Stitched Book, 2010, cotton, thread
Richard Malone, Freestanding sculpture pair 2024, econyl, canvas, steel
Beppe Caturegli, BC 22 21 B, 2024, embroidered architecture on canvas
Franco Raggi, Soft Interior 5, House with steps and four poster bed, 2022-2023, mixed textile media
General view, Franco Raggi, Paolo Giordano, Colomba Leddi, Nuala Goodman
General view, Lisa Farmer, Franco Raggi, Colomba Leddi
Lisa Farmer, Life is Short, 2025, mixed textile media
Sanchita Ajjampur, hanging and small works in mixed textile media
Paolo Giordano, Mashup, 2014, handknotted woollen tapestry
Francesco Ballestrazzi, Queen Bee, 2022, millinery in mixed textile media
Maria Lai catalogue, Clemen Parrocchetti, La luna interrotta dal fulmine, 1985, embroidered tapestry
Clemen Parrocchetti, La luna interrotta dal fulmine, 1985, embroidered tapestry
Kathy Prendergast, Grave Blanket, 1997, woollen blanket, marble chippings
Helen Mc Allister, Alberoni Beach pair, 2010, mixed media
Nuala Goodman, Wild Tapestry 21 (2021): wool, cotton, silk, preloved fabrics; Wild Tapestry coat 1: cotton, cupro, silk, preloved fabrics
Embroidered raffia Bombar jacket, Sanchita Ajjampur, hat, Philip Treacy
Hat by Philip Treacy, Embroidered raffia bomber jacket and panel by Sanchita Ajjampur
Hat, Philip Treacy
Speeches at opening
Colomba Leddi 'Cartamodelli' wall hanging
Ludovica Scalzo, Terri Pecora
Deirdre Mc Quillan and Paolo Giordano;s 'Mash Up' tapestry
Sanchita Ajjampur
Francesco Ballestrazzi and Queen Bee hat
Lisa Farmer and 'I am Home' woven work
Colomba Leddi with 'Cartamodelli' wall hangings
Nuala Goodman amd Wild Tapestry 23 and wild Tapestry Coat 2
Beppe Caturegli with his embroidered architectures
Visitors Sunniva O' Flynn, Philip Davison, Una Carmody
Visitor Caitriona Thornbury , artist Sanchita Ajjampur
OPW staff Angela Cassidy, Dave Hartley with Nuala Goodman
artists Nuala Goodman, Sanchita Ajjampur
Opening: Marialuisa Caffarelli, Beppe Caturegli, Nuala Goodman
Artists Francesco Ballestrazzi and Nuala Goodman
Mary Heffernan, Deirdre Mc Quillan, Nuala Goodman
Maurice Clarke and friends