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Power and Pattern
LOS ANGELES—The textiles of
central Asia are rich with patterns
infl uenced by the various cultures
that traveled through or settled
along the historic Silk Road.
During the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, the region experienced
a renaissance in ikat, a
technique through which silk threads were bound and
resist-dyed before being woven into cloth. The result
were vivid textile patterns comprising blurred, cloudlike
juxtapositions of color, called abrbandi (literally
“cloud binding”). To create these distinctive textiles,
artisans experimented with prevalent motifs in daily
life and nature and distilled these shapes into compositions
where color and contrast were emphasized.
Power of Pattern: Central Asian Ikats from the
David and Elizabeth Reisbord Collection showcases
more than sixty examples of visually dynamic Central
Asian ikat robes and panels, generous gifts from the
Reisbord Collection. Organized by motif, the exhibition
examines how the region’s textile designers, dyers,
and weavers used improvisation and abstraction
to create truly unique textiles. Power of Pattern can
be seen until July 28, 2019.
ABOVE: Robe, chapan. Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
and Kyrgyzstan. Late 19th century.
Silk satin with tie-resist-dyed warp (ikat) (atlas). L: 128.27 cm.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Dr. David and Elizabeth Reisbord,
inv. M.2018.137.33.
ABOVE: Margaret Herz
Demant.
Photo: Patricia Beck/Detroit Free Press.
ABOVE RIGHT: Mask.
Mbagani, DR Congo. Date
uncertain.
Wood, pigment.
Detroit Institute of Arts, Margaret
Demant Bequest, inv. 2018.73.
BELOW: Woman holding
bowl with child.
Mwanza workshop, Luba,
DR Congo. 18th century.
Wood.
Detroit Institute of Arts, Margaret
Demant Bequest, inv. 2018.69.
Margaret Herz Demant
DETROIT—Extraordinary Eye, Extraordinary Gift: The
Legacy of Margaret Herz Demant, at the Detroit Institute
of the Arts until May 19, 2019, focuses on the
patronage of and recent bequest of art from a singular
champion of the DIA. A celebration of the life and
legacy of Demant, the exhibition illustrates a lifetime
of collecting African and modern art, focusing on her
prowess as a fi rst-rate connoisseur and collector with
extraordinarily broad interests and showcasing works
in multiple media by artists of different cultural and
historical backgrounds. Representing Margaret’s primary
passion and the majority of the bequest, African
pieces dominate in the exhibition.
Given her years of experience in
interior designing, Margaret naturally
viewed her collection as an
integral part of her home’s décor.
While the quality of her pieces reveals
her discerning eye and discriminating
taste, it was her deployment
of art within the living space
and conscious juxtapositions of
Western and non-Western objects
that spoke to her sophistication.
The installation of Extraordinary
Eye, Extraordinary Gift attempts
to recapture these highly personal
approaches to collecting and experiencing
art.