Mary Farmer: A Life in Tapestry
May 7- Sept. 7, 2024
Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, UK
From the late 1960s to the 1990s Mary Farmer was at the forefront of radical textile art, creating striking, abstract tapestries. She was fascinated by the subtle surface textures and depth of colour achieved by working in wool and looked to create what she called ‘a single clear statement’ in her pieces. This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to explore Mary Farmer’s work and comprises nine tapestries from her estate and one further piece from the Centre’s own collections.
The exhibition celebrates the donation of the Mary Farmer archive to the Crafts Study Centre. Farmer’s first training was as a painter, but an introduction to the art of weaving with Gwen and Barbara Mullins at Graffham Weavers led to her lifelong exploration of the artistic potential of woven form.
‘Colour is to me’ she wrote, ‘the single most powerful and emotive visual sensation. I use wool for its incomparable intensity and saturation of colour; tapestry for its richness and for the personal control possible over its construction.’ This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to explore and rediscover Mary Farmer’s work with a selection of tapestries, rugs and woven samples on loan from her Estate and one further piece from the Crafts Study Centre’s own collections.
The exhibition celebrates the donation of the Mary Farmer archive to the Crafts Study Centre which took place in January 2024. Selections from the archive, including photographs, samples, artist notes, important exhibition catalogues and sketchbooks, will be displayed alongside the tapestries giving greater context to Farmer’s life, her exploration of intense colour and geometry in her weaving practice, and the impact that she had on the development of textile art from the 1960s-90s.
Find more exhibition information online here.
Image: Mary Farmer, Penumbra. Estate of Mary Farmer. From the Crafts Study Centre collections, T.86.1.
