First of all, many apologies. I only got to this exhibition at Alison Jacques yesterday, and it closes on Saturday. So not much time if you want to visit! But if you happen to be in the area in the next couple of days it’s worth going to see.
Lenore Tawney and Toshiko Takaezu were friends for 50 years. They collaborated on joint exhibitions, travelled together, and shared an interest in mystical and religious philosophies. Indeed, Tawney’s sculptural weavings and Takaezu’s curvaceous closed ceramics beautifully complement each other.
Particularly in the first room, where Tawney’s hangings hover above Takaezu’s clay forms, the material properties of each medium seemed to change places. For me, the earthy, smoky glazes of the rounded stoneware evoked the softness of textiles, while the strong lines and angles of the woven pieces presented harder edges. Most unexpected.
In the same room, Tawney’s Union of Water and Fire (above), with its crossed woven warps, made me think of the lattice twining I’ve been doing recently.
In the second room, the textile-like nature of ceramics again came to the fore, the stoneware tablets laid out on plinths almost like cushion pads.
In the centre of this room, linen threads rain down from a painted canvas in Tawney’s Cloud Series V. It was so tempting to brush through them, but even walking around the outside reveals an intriguing series of appearing and disappearing rows and spaces.
For some people the uploaded video doesn’t work, so I’ve included an embedded YouTube version below it, although the quality is not as high.
It’s an effect continued downstairs among Tawney’s drawings in air, bringing to mind childhood memories of Spirograph and pin and thread art. Walking around these 3D versions encases in plexiglass again reveals and hides lines and angles opening and closing, merging and separating.
If you can’t see the uploaded video, it’s available at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WI1zB688NnI
Takaezu’s ceramics have a hidden element too. A film at the end discloses that many of her closed ceramics are actually rattles, containing bells that ring if you shake them. Sadly – but understandably – there are none that you can handle in this way.
Lenore Tawney & Toshiko Takaezu: A Remarkable Friendship runs at Alison Jacques until 11 January.
