After Deco Off, I treated myself to a visit to Fondation Cartier to check out Olga de Amaral's exhibition. Since the '60s, she's been pushing the limits of textile art, playing around with materials like linen, cotton, horsehair, gesso, gold leaf, and palladium. Her work is all about weaving, knotting, braiding, and interlacing threads to create these massive, three-dimensional pieces.
Exhibition View courtesy Olga de Amaral; Picture: Marc Domage
The exhibition showcases an impressive array of historical works, many being presented outside Colombia for the first time, alongside contemporary pieces bursting with vibrant shapes and colors. Designed by architect Lina Ghotmeh, the exhibition’s layout masterfully contrasts scales and forms, creating a seamless connection between the works. This thoughtful design invites a rich dialogue with memory, the senses, and the surrounding landscape.
I live color. I know it’s an unconscious language, and I understand it. Color is like a friend, it accompanies me.
- Olga de Amaral
I've always been a fan of fiber art, but her work is unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's the most spiritual and transformative expression I've encountered from a fiber artist. - Lori
Olga de Amaral's work is pure magic! Her pieces transform textiles into something beyond categorization. Seeing her large-scale creations in person is an unforgettable experience as they envelop you in texture, light, and emotion, blurring the lines between art, sculpture, and architecture. As someone who loves seeing textiles celebrated in exhibitions, her show feels deeply inspiring. It’s a reminder of how powerful and transformative fiber art can be connecting tradition and innovation to create something entirely new. I left feeling completely recharged creatively and more in love with textiles than ever!
The Fondation Cartier is presenting the first major retrospective in Europe of Colombian artist Olga de Amaral, a key figure of the Fiber Art movement through March 16 2025
Born in 1932 in Bogotá, Olga de Amaral is an emblematic figure of the Colombian art scene. Following a degree in architecture at the Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca (1951-1952), she continued her studies at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan (1954-1955), which has been compared to Germany’s Bauhaus school. While there, she discovered textile art in the weaving workshop of Marianne Strengell, a Finnish-American artist and designer who was one of the first to favor the structure and grid of textiles over the pattern. At once paintings, sculptures, installations, and architecture, they envelop viewers in the artist’s sensorial, personal universe. Appointed 'Visionary Artist' by New York's Museum of Art and Design in 2005, Amaral more recently received the Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
Olga de Amaral at Casa Amaral, Bogotá, Colombia, 2005 / Picture © Diego Amara
Addendum
DIGNITY BY DESIGN
SUMMIT 2025
July 9th & 10th | Santa Fe, New Mexico @ The Museum of International Folk Art
Take part in a gathering of leaders across design, craft, art, architecture, and film as they dive into their creative processes and explore how dignity shapes their work. The conversation will touch on how design can respectfully draw from cultural materials, build community, and create spaces where individuals and ideas can flourish. This year’s Summit will coincide with the 21st Site Santa Fe Biennale and the world-renowned International Folk Art Market, taking place July 11 – 13.
I will be there and hope to see some of you. It should be an inspiring and important summit!