Contemporary textile artists to know
By Nia Hefe Filiogianni, founder of Cream Athens and curator
For a long time textiles were filed under craft, kept apart from painting and sculpture. That has changed. Thread, cloth and fibre now sit at the centre of contemporary art, in museums, biennales and private collections. Here are the artists who opened the way, and two textile artists working today whose work we show.
The artists who changed textile art
Anni Albers (1899 to 1994)
Trained at the Bauhaus, she turned weaving into a modern art form. In 1949 she became the first textile artist to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930 to 2017)
The Polish artist pulled weaving off the wall. Her monumental woven forms, the Abakans, hang in space and changed what a textile could be.
Olga de Amaral (born 1932)
The Colombian artist builds woven surfaces of linen, horsehair and gold leaf that glow like architecture.
Sheila Hicks (born 1934)
Based in Paris, she works at every scale, from small woven studies to fibre sculptures that fill whole rooms with colour.
Faith Ringgold (1930 to 2024)
Her painted story quilts joined text, painting and quilting to tell stories of Black American life.
El Anatsui (born 1944)
The Ghanaian artist stitches bottle caps and metal together with copper wire into vast hangings that move and fold like cloth.
Caroline Achaintre (born 1969)
Based in London, she makes hand-tufted wall hangings and ceramics with a strong, mask-like presence.
Igshaan Adams (born 1982)
The South African artist weaves beads, rope and wire into works about faith, identity and the paths people wear into the ground.
Textile artists we work with
Mariandrie
A Cypriot artist born in 1989, Mariandrie works across textiles, installation and painting. Through embroidery, knitting and sewing she takes techniques long tied to the home and uses them to question ideas of gender, memory and belonging. Her work has been shown in Cyprus, Greece, Germany, the United Kingdom and Cuba, and she is a Patron’s House artist.
Eva Brá Barkardóttir
An Icelandic artist based in London, Eva Brá Barkardóttir trained in fashion design in Reykjavík before an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art. She reworks found materials and dead-stock textiles again and again, in work that moves between painting, performance, photography and sculpture, drawing on folklore, mythology and science.
Looking for textile art for your collection?
See works available now, or tell us what you are looking for and we will guide you.
Questions about textile art
What is textile art?
Textile art is art made with fibre, thread or cloth, through weaving, embroidery, knitting, quilting, felting, tufting or sewing. It ranges from small embroidered pieces to large installations.
Who are the best known textile artists?
Anni Albers, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Sheila Hicks, Olga de Amaral, Faith Ringgold and El Anatsui are among the most influential. Their work is held by major museums around the world.
Can I buy contemporary textile art?
Yes. Many contemporary textile artists sell original work through galleries and advisors. You can see works by the textile artists we work with on our available works page.