Portrait of Ann Sutton holding Colour Negation, 1969. Image courtesy: Ann Sutton.

Spectrum Chequer (left) and Soft Structure I, II, III, IV (right) by Ann Sutton

There is a conceptual core to woven textiles based on the physical structure of weaving that holds the elements of craft, art, design and manufacturing together in a unity: woven structures and woven designs are based on the rule-directed process.
- Peter Dormer (1949-1996) introduction to Ann Sutton monograph 2003

What could be more exemplary of modern abstraction then this insistence on a fundamental system of forms and structures that is open to almost endless permutation and difference… acted out in a haptic register
- Professor Briony Fer writing in Anni Albers catalogue 2018

Both these comments on the interdisciplinary and haptic nature of woven structures inform the work and approach of leading textile artist Ann Sutton.

Dr. Ann Coxon, Senior Curator Displays and International Art at the Tate joins Amanda Game, Independent Curator and curator of Textiles Today? to discuss Sutton’s interdisciplinary work all rooted in the possibilities of woven constructions.

Sutton, who remains active to this day in her Sussex studio, is represented by five works in the exhibition which span her entire career from early archival handwoven samples for industrial production to a recently completed quartet of bold wrapped monochrome low relief sculptures (pictured above) that reveal the potent language of weave in new and direct ways.

Few artists have matched Sutton’s ability to move between performance, industrial design, sculpture, fine art installation, writing and producing all united by, she says deep commitment to the structure of weaving and to enlarging its possibilities.

The subject of major exhibitions including a career-defining retrospective at New Art Centre, Roche Court in 2021-2 and a landmark documentary ‘My Bones are Woven’ (2022), Ann’s work can be found in major museum collections in the UK and Europe including Tate and V & A in London. In 2026 she was recipient of the Worshipful Company of Weavers Silver Medal in recognition of her lifetime contribution to the UK weaving industry as innovative practitioner, and international advocate.

This event is taking place as part of our current exhibition Textiles Today? Three Generations of Artist Weavers exhibition.

Tuesday 27th October, 6 - 8pm
This is a free event, limited to 20 places

Works by Ann Sutton: Industrial design textile piece (left), 1988, Wool (100%), Double cloth structure, handwoven on a computerised loom; Invisible Cross (right), 1986, Hand-woven double linen cloth, 35 x 35cm

About the speakers:
Dr Ann Coxon is an internationally renowned curator, writer and researcher with a specialist interest in textile practices and tacit knowledge within modern and contemporary art. As a curator at Tate Modern she organised two full collection rehangs and curated over 40 collection displays as well as a number of significant temporary exhibitions. Most notably, she co-curated the landmark exhibitions Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope, 2022; Dorothea Tanning, 2019; and Anni Albers, 2018. She has recently completed doctoral study on New Tapestry in Europe 1962-1970, funded by the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme with Tate and University College London, supervised by Professor Briony Fer. 

Amanda Game is an Independent Curator who divides her time between Oxford and Scotland with occasional diversions to Fen Ditton! She has enjoyed a forty five-year career as a curator and producer in the field of contemporary craft. As Director at the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh (1986-2008), Amanda founded and developed an active programme for modern craft within a long-established fine art dealership. Since 2008 Amanda has run an independent studio advising and supporting leading makers and patrons in the field, through exhibitions, commissions and private sales. Currently based in Oxford, she is a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths Company and a Trustee of the National Life Stories Charity at the British Library. She is currently working as Advisor to the Estate of Mary Farmer  (1940-2021)and the Estate of Wendy Ramshaw CBE (1939-2018). Publications include: Contemporary British Crafts: The Goodison Gift to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Philip Wilson 2016