Sheila Hicks has spent more than 50 years turning textiles of all kinds into art.The veteran Paris-based artist, born in Nebraska in 1934, is holding her first solo show in Germany since 1970.Natural fibers, synthetic blends, found objects, organic matter, and industrial material all inspire her work, which celebrates color and texture.The Espace Louis Vuitton München is presenting “Predestined Colour Waves,” including work as large as the monumental “Atterrissage” (2014), a sculpture of billowing proportions, and “La Femme Principale Bluma” (2015), with its intricate mass of linen fiber.Some of the works are much smaller, such as hand-woven miniatures and bas-relief panels. “Trésors et Secrets” (2014) are linen and cotton bundles containing secret objects. “Minimes” are small weavings made on an improvised mobile loom that resemble pages from a hand-woven journal.All are informed by her academic training in Modernism; encyclopedic knowledge of historical textiles; exploration of new technologies; and a lifelong love of investigating different cultures.Painting, photography and archaeology were important early influences during Hicks’s extended travels and stays in Latin America.An interest in architecture, sparked during her student years at Yale University where Louis Kahn and Vincent Scully taught, intensified during her residence in Mexico when she met Felix Candela and others.Hicks is still prolific, and the show includes recent large-scale installations such as studies for the Sydney Biennial. “Sheila Hicks Predestined Colour Waves” runs through January 23, 2016, at Espace Louis Vuitton München, Maximilianstraße 2a, 80539 München, Germany.
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