On May 11th, Margo's handwoven pieces were on display at 88 Gallery as part of London Craft Week. Margo is a woven textile artist and designer who works with colour and geometric shapes. Aside from the exhibition, she talked about color and design, as well as her handweaving practice and the lampas process.
She hand-threads, tallies and re-counts thousands of individual yarn strands for the lampas panels. Margo's art is both painterly and sculptural in its use of woven thread as a form of building. Rather than being applied on a surface, the colours are built into the yarn. As such, colour, form, orientation, and rhythm - components of her visual style – are crucial. According to Margo, architectural forms, graphic design, pattern, size, and colour combinations are all sources of her inspiration, and her art is fueled by the use of colour.
The Margo Selby weaving workshop, located in the British seaside town of Whitstable, has a broad assortment of looms, including a 24-shaft Arm loom on which much of the development work is done. Margo Selby has worked with a variety of creative partners, design houses, art institutions, and retailers since founding her company in 2003, including Tate Galleries, the British Museum, Fine Cell Work, Royal Opera House, London Transport Museum, Habitat, John Lewis, West Elm, Alternative Flooring, Decca Furniture, and Casa Bothelo. Her design philosophy is to push the boundaries of weaving to develop modern, trendy textiles for a variety of textile applications, bringing together the greatest weavers and high-quality fibres to create beautifully created pieces.
The 88 Gallery London, where Margo's work was showcased, specializes in collectible design from the twentieth century to contemporary artworks. While searching the market for original pieces, they collaborate with a growing number of contemporary artists and designers such as Abel Cárcamo, Ado Chale, Roxane Lahidjhi, Timothy Schreiber, Ben Storms and Roberta Verteramo.
Authenticity and creativity are their guiding principles. The gallery's proprietor, Erik Müllendorff, has published in the Furniture History Society Journal on 20th century cabinet manufacture and serves on the vetting committees of various international art and design exhibitions. PAD Paris, and PAD London are among events in which the gallery participates.
All said, the beautifully illustrated and set out wonderful designs were such a delight to see and touch. I definitely recommend everyone who is interested in handwoven textiles to visit Margo's exhibition the next time it's open. The works are very affordable and well worth the time and money you would spend.
