Painting Into Textile, Inspired by Michael Kidner

PAINTING INTO TEXTILE INSPIRED BY MICHAEL KIDNER

PAINTING INTO TEXTILE INSPIRED BY MICHAEL KIDNER A one-day exhibition at Flowers Gallery, London marks the culmination of a project where textiles have been created in response to the works of Michael Kidner.

Kidner was at the forefront of Optical Art in the 1960s, with works using repeated systematic structures and distinctive colour palettes. His interest in mathematics, science and chaos theories has determined an art which can be described as both formal and playful. With works in many international collections and a seminal show at the Serpentine in 1984, Kidner is a distinguished British artist, elected to the Royal Academy in 2004.

The entire back catalogue of Kidner’s individual artistic evolution has provided the inspiration for new textile works. Initiated by Michael Kidner Art Ltd., textile students and staff from the celebrated Manchester School of Art chose specific artworks to make their own in textile. His works have been reinterpreted into new surfaces, using knit, weave, textile print and embroidery. Kidner’s ‘Waves’ have become scarves of twisting fibres, where the linear and diagrammatic have become physical, three-dimensional thread structures. Grids of colour have inspired optical grounds of cloth, stitch patterning and knitted dresses.

Seven students have been selected to develop work for this launch from a field of fifty students who responded to the project. Painting Into Textile acts as a showcase for Manchester School of Art, which has a rich contemporary breadth of inventive textile practice which is founded on the history of Arts and Craft design principles of Walter Crane. The work demonstrates how a source can be reconceptualised with textiles as a flexible and expressive material way of thinking.

With staff Professor Alice Kettle and programme leader of Textiles in Practice, Lesley Mitchison developing new work alongside the students, this exhibition shows the rich seam of inspiration Kidner’s work has provided. Flowers Gallery arranged a display of Kidner’s original works and a study session followed to view the library of biographical material at the Tate Archive.

PAINTING INTO TEXTILE highlights the relevance and importance of a key British painter and allows contemporary reinvention in a different medium.

Private View Monday 4th July, 2016, 6:30 - 8:30pm Exhibition continues Tuesday 5th July, 2016, 10am - 5pm Flowers Gallery, 82 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8D

Image: Michael Kidner at Trevor Bell exhibition, Leeds, 1962

ALICE KETTLE AND ORLANDO GOODDEN Michael Kidner’s work is described as holding emotional resonance. In responding to his work we have explored the intermingling of our own two voices with his through a dialogue between materials and approaches. Through this combination of our own material characters, we visit the dualities which are present in Michael Kidner’s work; those of rational and playful and of order and flux. There is also a cadence of masculine and feminine voices and interplay between two and three dimensions, of hard and soft materials and of tension and form. The energy and synergy that Kidner describes in his works came through our own collaborative response. In looking at works such as Seven Chords (1989), No Boundaries (1988) and Square and Circle 2 (1982) the use of wood and elastic is used to build structure and create tension. In placing our structure in combination with a textile wave we have made our own investigation of space, relationships of form and colour as coincidences of each other.

Conjoined circles and waves, 2016 (detail) Textile, thread on linen, Sculptures, wood, wire, thread Various sizes Photographer: Alice Kettle www.alicekettle.com Michael Kidner Ariadne’s Dilemma II, 1990 Silkscreen 80 x 70 cm Edition 10

LESLEY MITCHISON Towards Moiré, Looking For Third Colour (1963 and 1964) are the paintings that have had the most influence on the work I have produced. I have referenced Michael Kidner’s work on many levels, responding to colour, shape and repeat pattern with a mathematical underpinning similar to my own practice; these are for me obvious parallels to the textile world that I normally inhabit.

Finding the third colour is a playful response to colour mixing, reducing the palette and taking colour through a systematic selection process, this is what I have applied to the weaving I have undertaken in response to the work of Michael Kidner.

Breaking the sequence, 2016 (detail) Silk yarn 28 x 60 x 5 cm (3 panels) Photographer: Lesley Mitchison Michael Kidner Towards Moiré. Looking for Third Colour, 1963 Oil on paper 24 x 13 cm

LAUREN ANDREWS I have created two hand woven crepe-de-chine pieces taking inspiration from Michael Kidner’s Black and White Wave Recording and the Untitled piece (1966) from the Wave collection. I used these works and linked them to images of aerial landscape photography of the tulip fields in Holland. There seemed to be a relationship between the lines and waves of colour. The combined colour patterns where incorporated into my initial drawings and printed textiles. I then drew upon the mathematical concepts of grid systems in Michael Kidner’s work to create woven structures with the cloth. The printed crepe-de-chine was strip woven, that is roughly ripped lengths of printed cloth were woven back together to produce a new fabric. Stitch was then applied to the surface using a quilting machine, both to secure the strips and create a decorative embellishment. This machine allowed me to work across large-scale areas of cloth and retain a fluid hand drawn quality of stitch in my works. This seems to echo Michael Kidner’s approach which combine precison with an expressive use of paint.

Cut-up and Re-form, 2016 (detail) Digitally printed crepe-de-chine and Bermilana wool threads 2 pieces, each 40cm x 250cm Photographer - Lauren Andrews laurenelizabethandrews.wordpress.com Michael Kidner Black and White Wave Recording, 1973 Acrylic on canvas 123 x 123 cm

BRONTE MORGAN Red, Blue and Yellow was influenced by Michael Kidner's MoirĂŠ works and in particular the Orange, Violet and Pink (1964) oil on canvas. Initially I was drawn to the bold colours, and was further drawn in by the optical resonance and relationship between colours and line of the work. The use of simple overlapping shapes was enlightening and I adopted these elements within my own designs.

My specialism in weave complemented this aspect of Michael Kidner's work well.

There is a link between his approach and weave structures in the geometry and technical/mathematical systems. The weave itself is a complex extra weft satin/ sateen combination, with an extremely large repeat. Red, Blue and Yellow was designed as commercial fabric specifically for drapery, by which I mean textiles intended to be used in domestic interiors. This translation of Michael Kidner's distinctive paintings allows me to propose bringing his work into the home environment.

Red, Blue and Yellow, 2016 (detail) 100% silk 60/2NM 94cm x 315cm Photographer: Helen Foot (contracted weaver of the piece) www.brontesofiamorgan.wix.com/brontesofiamorgan Michael Kidner Orange, Violet and Pink, 1964 Oil on canvas 162.5 x 218.5 cm Collection: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon

CHARLIE SAUNDERS I specialise in knitwear for fashion. In response to Michael Kidner’s work I created a small collection of knitted shift dresses suitable for Spring/Summer. When studying Michael Kidner’s artwork, I was drawn to the shapes which are created through constructing multiple overlapping elements, which create optical illusions and a dynamic between and across the repeated shapes. I linked these forms with other references to architecture and the knit collections of Missoni womenswear.

The key inspiration for my designs from Michael Kidner’s work was the oil on canvas painting, Pink, Green and Blue Wave (1965). I was drawn to the movement throughout the painting and started to visualise these in more graphic shapes combined with linear elements. I found the colour palette in this painting inspiring, and I focused on the colour proportions and relationships in my designs.

Knitted dress in 2/16 mercerised cotton, 2016 (detail) Photographer: Mark Ashworth charliesaunders@virginmedia.com Michael Kidner Pink, Green and Blue Wave, 1965 Oil on canvas 120 x 85.5 cm Private Collection

GEORGIA HEATON My embroidered textile designs draw their influences from Michael Kidner’s repeated structures. I am particularly inspired by colour and pattern and specifically how dynamic relationships can be realized through the formal arrangements and re-arrangement of colour proportion, composition and geometric pattern. The work uses stitch and printed cloth to ‘play’ with colour and its relationship to pattern. In this collection, inspired by one of Michael Kidner’s Untitled works, linear grounds are embellished with repeat pattern motifs by using a computerised embroidery machine. The resulting cloths begin to develop optic qualities that shift the formality of structured applied pattern into an aesthetic that is sensitive to drape, light and handle.

Reformation of Colour, 2016 (detail) Rayon threads, Burmi Lana threads, Silk Organza, Cotton Denim Each 4 x 10 cm x 50 cm And 2 x 20cm x 50cm Photographer: Georgia Heaton Instagram: @georgiaheatondesigns Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/georgia-heaton Michael Kidner Colour Value Intensity, 1981 Oil on canvas 90 x 88 cm Private Collection

HANNAH BROWN I was inspired by Michael Kidner’s Column collection and the methodology behind each piece of work. Using a similar process of gathering information, I have mapped the presence and movement of light within the urban landscape at night. Each piece of acrylic is hand dyed to mirror the colours and tones within Manchester’s panorama. My work has a strong relationship to light and I incorporate the use of transparent or reflective materials in conjunction with other tactile surfaces.

Manchester Lightscape, 2016 (detail) 75 x 42cm Wood and acrylic Photographer: Hannah Brown Michael Kidner Grey Column, 1989 Oil on canvas 61 x 91 cm

LYDIA HILES Inspired by the repeated undulating line motif of the Column and Wave works of Michael Kidner, I have developed a trio of woven lambswool scarves. Using Kidner’s work as both a visual and conceptual catalyst for my own practice, I took particular interest in the themes of mathematics, chaos and wave theories. In seeking to capture the character of Michael Kidner’s artwork, I found that the scarf offered a unique and mobile canvas, in which composition and fabric qualities combined to create a piece that operates as an unstretched but wearable cloth. As a woven textile designer, I have enjoyed utilising Michael Kidner’s graphic aesthetic, and drew much inspiration from his systematic compositions.

A trio of scarves, 2016 (detail) Lambswool Each scarf 208 cm x 33 cm Photographer: Lydia Hiles www.lydiahiles.com Michael Kidner Chessmen, 1967 Silkscreen 56.5 x 76 cm Edition 25

MEGAN TEMPLETON-ROBERTS When responding to Michael Kidner’s work, I looked at the textural qualities and marks that were produced through the application of paint and other media in the various materials he used in his artwork. In particular I looked at his work Particle Evolution: The End of the Tunnel at Cern. Stage 1 (2008). This work has a sensitive and gestural approach in creating the surface with a combination of linear elements and filled geometric shapes. I used this approach of layering shape and line to make compositions for my own printed works. I used an earlier work of Michael Kidner titled, Circle After Image (1959) for colour inspiration with its rich earthy tones to produce printed cloth. This was used to make a collection of printed cushions which when stacked seem to also develop into three-dimensions a sense of the grid and geometric systems that are a feature of Michael Kidner’s work. I used hand and machine embroidery layered onto the print which further referenced the linear structures that form the basis of Kidner’s Op Art pieces.

Kidner Cushions, 2016 (detail) Cotton satin, machine and embroidery threads, piping cord, invisible zips, cushion inserts.

4cm x 45cm x 45cm cushions.

Photographer: Megan Templeton-Roberts www.meganrobertstextiles.com Michael Kidner Particle Evolution: The End of the Tunnel at Cern. Stage 1, 2008 Coloured pencil on paper 113 x 172 cm

GLOSSARY From the 1950s onwards Michael Kidner’s work moved through various phases and modes of investigation, culminating in a prolific oeuvre of a lifetimes work.

Comprising a wide range of media including paintings, works on paper, sculpture & prints, Kidner described these terminologies in his own words in a 2002 glossary; Early During the fifties London provided a heady environment for the painter. New paradigms were being set by the American and by the Bauhaus. The ICA, the AIA and Studio International all provided welcome points of access. There was a stampede to catch up with the new ideas and the “avant-garde” were single minded painters [no pluralism].

After Image By the late fifties I was searching for a voice of my own. Colour had taken the place of landscape while space had receded from the horizon to the wall. What to do? The experience of an after image suggests an answer. An after image floats in front of the wall and because it appears on the retina of the eye grows larger with distance.

Optics presents the challenge that was once offered by perspective Stripe The after image proved restrictive in practice. The stripe remained on the surface of the painting and repetition reduced it to anonymity thus giving priority to colour reading - -a sensation of colour, or a colour field as it was called. However, as a formal device the colour could be realised with no more than two colours. A third colour would require an additional form.

Moiré The moiré pattern requires the addition of a third colour which the stripe denies when colour is linked to form. I regarded this link as important to the process of decision making. A subjective decision cannot be repeated and for this reason does not assist the systematic development of an idea.

Wave The stripe is infinite in length but ends arbitrarily at the picture’s edge. In an effort to contain the stripe I introduced the wave. Light travels in waves not straight lines and waves are measurable.

In the field of photography experiments were underway to produce a full colour spectrum from two out-of-phase light waves.

System When colour and shape are linked shape takes precedence (e.g. a pink elephant).

Balancing the two meant reducing the identity of shape while increasing that of colour. This had a radical effect on my approach to colour, it meant that colour became a code instead of an unaccountable expression.

Column The wave in its 2D (painted) form is fixed. In 3D it varies with the viewing angle. I wanted to construct a painting on the wave seen from all angles and not merely from its most self-serving. I was wondering how the brain (a black box) might assemble images signalled by the eye (impulses) along the optic nerve.

“The concept of heaven is perfect because you can never enter it in this life. It is a two dimensional order and therefore a painter’s paradise. But when you try to occupy your imaginary order you meet with some surprises. It is the area between the second and third dimension which interests me - - the order that lies between imagination and reality.”

Wave Lattice: Basic A column exists in space and in the context of space it had dwindled to a dot on a featureless plain. In order to locate the dot I constructed a lattice of wavy lines such that the interval between the lines was a fraction of the wavelength. In this way each cell in the lattice acquired an identity (postcode).

Wave Lattice: Analysis Although it would have been possible to draw the lattices more accurately with the aid of a computer the cells in the lattices were difficult to identify. I wanted to give each cell a more distinctive appearance and in consequence found myself exploring the lattices for their potential to express partitioned space.

Wave Lattice: Transform The lattice was restricting my freedom; I wanted to loosen its hold without abandoning the principle of an underlying order that society acknowledges.

Elastic Rigid Frame It is not the computer but the woven elastic cloth which freed me from the lattices.

The elastic is physical and has a bodily dimension which involves the whole person in the creative act while at the same time functioning as an analogue device.

Elastic Flexible Frame The tension in the elastic was controlled by the frame in which it was set (in effect by me). To achieve symmetry I wanted a flexible frame and found it in fiberglass rods.

The frame was now absorbed into the construction much as space is absorbed by gravity.

Pentagon The elastic constructions made themselves, they excluded me. The pentagon reconnected me as a participant rather than an observer of today’s world. The pentagon lacks verticals, it points in all directions, it exerts a breathing space between neighbours, it does not dictate but can still form an array. It suggests a metaphor for today’s materialist environment that rings true.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With thanks to; Michael Kidner Art Ltd and the Kidner family Henrietta Goodden and Angela Kidner Adrian Glew, Archivist, Tate Archive Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University Amie Conway, Flowers Gallery ISBN978-1-906412-78-4 Kidner Images Š the artist, courtesy of Flowers Gallery, London and New York www2.mmu.ac.uk www.michaelkidner.com www.flowersgallery.com

Dedicated to William Hippsley Kidner (1951 - 2016) who worked closely with Michael Kidner throughout his lifetime and was involved in the Painting Into Textile project.