Craft
Craft is a creative process that typically results in something that serves a practical purpose, like clothing or utensils.
In the past, crafts were often considered inferior to traditional art forms like painting and sculpture due to their utilitarian nature, and they were predominantly associated with women, which contributed to their lower status.
In the mid-1800s, William Morris challenged the distinctions between art and craft by infusing artistic aesthetics into craft objects, as seen in his wallpaper designs.
Throughout the 20th century, the lines between art and craft began to blur, especially at institutions like the Bauhaus, where artists explored craft techniques in their art. Artists like Sonia Delaunay experimented with textiles to create geometric abstract pieces, while Ai Weiwei used traditional crafting methods in his work, ‘Sunflower Seeds’ (2010), to convey a political message. Today, contemporary artists like Grayson Perry and Tracey Emin continue to employ craft techniques in their creations.
31 results found for "Craft"
Make-Ready: A new frontier in printmaking
Make-Ready is Avant Arte's specialist printmaking studio, based in London. Together, we collaborate with some of the biggest artists in contemporary art to realise their vision and push the boundaries of what's possible in print.
Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago is a legendary feminist artist who has irrevocably changed the face of art history. Inspired by her landmark retrospective, Revelations, at the Serpentine in London, we dive into her empowering and inspirational story.
Tom of Finland
Tom of Finland's iconic drawing style is one of the most enduring influences on gay culture. As a young boy, he daydreamed about the farmers and labourers from his rural hometown in their leather boots and workwear. As an adult, he turned these fantasies into his legacy.
Anna Ridler – Price Per Stem
To Anna Ridler, flowers are not only symbols of the natural world, but windows into the complex socioeconomic systems that create and control them. Our collaboration looks specifically at peonies, and everything that leads up to their price on the supermarket shelf.
Ai Weiwei: 'A New Chatpter'
Ai Weiwei's latest exhibition has arrived at London's Lisson Gallery. Here, we take a deep dive into select works and key themes.
Emanoel Araújo
Emanoel Araújo has many legacies. In this Artist’s Artist, we take a look at some of his greatest works of art and curation.
Ai Weiwei – Combat fear with truth
Happy Lunar New Year! As we enter the Year of the Snake, Ai Weiwei shares his wisdom for the year ahead and explains why the snake is not only the most misunderstood animal in the Zodiac, but the most pertinent symbol of our times.
Ai Weiwei – Everyone is a dragon
It's the year of the dragon. Dragons wield godlike power in myths and folklore, but Ai Weiwei insists that everyone is a dragon. Here's why.
Anna Ridler – What's it worth?
Conceptual artist Anna Ridler has been using artificial intelligence and machine learning for over a decade. Her work with tulips explores value, speculation and desire.
Actual Size: Explained
Ed Ruscha has spent his life toying with everyday words and objects – from roadside gas stations and billboards to the Hollywood sign. Featuring the SPAM logo and tin, Actual Size is one of his most iconic artworks. Here’s how a strange, satirical painting captured the essence of America.
How CryptoPunks NFTs changed the face of digital art
Created in 2017 by Matt Hall and John Watkinson, CryptoPunks were one of the first NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain. CryptoPunks quickly penetrated the mainstream, captivating not only crypto enthusiasts but also artists, celebrities and the general public. Today the 24x24 avatars are a divisive status symbol living up to their Punk name.
The art movement that redefined Britain
What does it mean to be a British artist? The British Black Arts Movement introduced the world to a side of Britain that had been previously kept out of museums and galleries.
Cai Guo-Qiang – Explosive serenity
Explosive serenity is the paradox at play in Snow Lotus, a new collaboration with Cai Guo-Qiang. Hear his reflections on reflections, and discover the printmaking processes involved in transforming one of his gunpowder paintings into a limited edition print.
Bridging the gap: how 50 years of hip-hop has changed the artworld
This is the story all about how hip-hop and art have propelled each other to global domination. From graffiti on the streets of the Bronx to record breaking auction results, hip-hop giants continue to make waves in the artworld.
Are graffiti tags the purest art form?
Tagging offers no reward beyond the rush of its creation, and the chance to be part of something bigger.
Framing inspiration
So you found the perfect artwork. What now? With room for magic comes room for mistakes. We took five prints by Liang Fu to Facility, an East London framer, to explore the myriad possibilities available to the contemporary collector.
What is silkscreen printing?
Printmaker Kaius takes a break from crafting exquisite editions at Make-Ready in London to guide us through the fundamentals and speculative future of screen printing and serigraphy.
A Record of Time
For Avant Arte's first curated NFT launch, collector Shahin Tabassi considers the ability of digital art to transport us through time.
En Iwamura & Shigaraki Village
The first instalment of a new series telling the stories of artist communities worldwide.
In conversation: Tyler Hobbs
"Can I write a program that creates a painting?"
Matt Deslauriers – Generative printmaking and systems of colour
Generative artist Matt DesLauriers and printmaker Tom Murphy meet after hours at Make-Ready to reflect on the creation of Sierra. The collaboration forges a harmonious relationship between silkscreening and generative art.
Avant Arte in Accra
A series of studio visits in the Ghanaian capital.
Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago was born in 1939 in Illinois, Chicago. She now lives and works in Belen, New Mexico.
Ayako Kita
Ayako Kita (she/her) is a Japanese artist born in 1981 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Dmitri Cherniak
Dmitri Cherniak (he/him) was born 1988 in Canada and now lives and works in New York City.
Six N. Five
Six N. Five is the studio of Ezequiel Pini’s work, an award-winning Argentinian designer and digital artist based in Barcelona.
En Iwamura
En Iwamura (he/him) was born in 1988 in Kyoto, Japan, where he continues to live and work.
Tschabalala Self
Tschabalala Self (she/her) was born in 1990 and raised in Harlem, New York. She now lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut.
Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas (she/her) was born in 1971 in New Jersey, United States and is now based in Brooklyn.
Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg
Nathalie Djuerberg was born in 1978 in Lysekil, Sweden, and Hans Berg was born the same year in Rättvik, Sweden. The pair have practiced as a duo since 2004.
Johnson Tsang
Johnson Tsang was born in 1960 in Hong Kong, where he continues to live and work.
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