The final exhibition in Charleston’s 2009 programme of events draws on the reserve collection at Charleston to demonstrate the importance of textiles to the work and domestic environment of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

Darren Clarke, curator of the exhibition explains the ideas behind it:
“The cupboards at Charleston were full of textiles, many designed by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. They were used to dress windows, cover chairs, lampshades, cushions, and hooked into rag rugs. Lengths of fabric provided backdrops for paintings and drapery for models. They were stitched and adapted for dressing up and play acting. Along with these were abandoned projects, canvas work half finished or completed but never used.

"In the 1980s another set of textiles was added to the cupboards, the faded and well-used textiles of the house replaced by facsimiles when Charleston was restored. From the formation of the Omega Workshops in 1913 Bell and Grant were involved in textile design.  These commercially produced designs were used throughout Charleston. Bell would combine different patterns, re-use older textiles, cutting up and combining contrasting fragments to make new dynamic pieces.

"The original material in this exhibition reveals the artists’ working methods and their bold approach to painting and combining textiles. It highlights the fragile nature of Charleston’s textiles and exposes some of the most interesting pieces in its boxes and drawers to public gaze.”

For more information view: www.charleston.org.uk