Materials and Objects display
The Materials and Objects display at The Tate Modern explores the work of different artists from a variety of backgrounds and their decisions regarding materials for art. The idea of ‘art materials’ has been challenged through their work. The art displayed is created using industrial and craft processes and materials, ephemera and consumable objects.
Marisa Merz Untitled (Little shoe) 1968
Marisa Merz was the only female artist of Arte Povera, (1967). Arte Povera was radical Italian art movement from the late 1960s to 1970s where the artists involved would create work using methods and materials which were not traditional.
‘Little shoe’ as, shown in the photograph above, was created using nylon and paraffin threads which were woven to create the shape. The method used in creating the shoes is something which links to activities typically conducted by women in work, craft and domestic labour (Frieze,2017).
Doris Salcedo Untitled 1987
Doris Salcedo is a Colombian born visual artist and sculptor. Her work is influenced by her experience of living in Columbia. Her work tends to be composed of wooden furniture, clothing, concrete, grass, and rose petals.
Untitled 1987 is an earlier work created by Doris Salcedo and was made for the XXXI National Salon of Colombian Artists in Medellín.
Susumu Koshimizu From Surface to Surface (1971)
Susumu Koshimizu is a Japanese sculptor and an installation artist and member of Mono-ha. Mono-ha were against the embrace of technology and visual trickery in mid-1960s Japanese art.
From Surface to Surface explores wood through sawing planks into different shapes. This subsequently exposes their surface qualities through different kinds of repetitive cuts.