Anni Albers

In 1961, Anni Albers receives a commission from the synagogue in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to create a curtain for its Torah ark. Four years earlier, she had already designed and produced a similar curtain for a temple in Dallas. For the synagogue in Woonsocket, Albers hand-weaves six tall, relatively narrow panels for the sliding doors that close the ark made of white marble. Although each panel is different, they all follow the same basic idea, and the overall effect is harmonious. All the textiles consist of warp threads in black and white cotton and jute. For the weft, Albers uses almost exclusively broad, golden Lurex threads – a synthetic, metallised yarn produced since 1946 by an American cellophane manufacturer. Polyester or viscose is coated with metal, usually aluminium, resulting in a silver- or gold-shimmering yarn that can replace traditional silk threads wrapped in metal foil. What’s more, the material is light, inexpensive and easy to care for. The six panels in Woonsocket therefore appear to be made entirely of golden fabric. In addition, Albers weaves in narrow, flat threads of Lurex and coarse jute. Soft black and white chenille forms the free, script-like lines. In a statement on this work, Albers remarks:

“An earlier work of mine in gold, black, and white, linear in design, vaguely suggesting written ciphers, was to be my point of departure … To give the panels the necessary impact I had to strengthen the various elements that were to form it: greater quantities of gold thread to increase their ceremonial nature and a louder instrumentation of the linear forms in order to make them discernible from afar.”

The artist is particularly interested in creating a work for a place of worship and contemplation. As she notes in her statement, both the material and the composition are intended to enhance and support a mood of reflection. The woven threads also evoke the image of a text, which fittingly relates to the contents of the Torah ark that the textiles surround.