Angela Brown
Princeton University
BGC Fellow

Texture of the Weave: Textile Techniques for a Counterhegemonic Art History

In the mid-twentieth century, modernist artists and designers trained in the United States and Europe regarded preindustrial weaving from the Americas either as a source of formal inspiration or as a folkloric symbol of artisanal specificity in decline. In their dissertation project, BGC fellow Angela Brown demonstrates that textile techniques from Central America and the Caribbean were not merely appropriated by Euroamerican artists, but also functioned as a Trojan horse in modernity, transforming (and refuting) it from the inside. In this talk, Brown will model an approach to art historical research informed by their study of weaving pedagogies and natural fibers, focusing on three textile objects: a chair in Puerto Rico, a backstrap loom at Black Mountain College, and a photograph of a petate (woven mat) in Mexico City.

Angela H. Brown (she/they) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University with research interests in textiles, archival practices, and art pedagogies, especially in the Caribbean and Latin America. Their dissertation, “Texture of the Weave: Techniques for Ch’ixi Modernity in the Americas,” takes a material approach to the co-constitution of modernity, coloniality, and indigeneity through weaving practices in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the US in the mid-twentieth century. Brown holds a BA from Vassar College, and their writing has appeared in the Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy, e-flux architecture, and small axe salon. They served as a Joan Tisch Teaching Fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and their scholarship has been supported by the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA) and the Dedalus Foundation.

Tuesday, November 5, 12:15 pm

38 West 86th Street, Lecture Hall

Lunch will be served starting at noon. Registration required.