Textile Art Redefined - Saatchi Gallery London

Ian Berry - The Secret Garden, 2026
Denim on denim

 

On until 10 May 2026, Textile Art Redefined is a free, one room, textile art exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London.  It's curated by Helen Adams (@textilecurator), author of Fine Art Textiles: Conversations with Artists Creating by Hand.  Adams is a great advocate for contemporary textile art.

Ian Berry - The Secret Garden, 2026

The exhibition showcases the work of over a dozen international textile artists. Here are some of my favourite pieces.  Most striking when you walk in, is Ian Berry's denim collage, The Secret Garden, which occupies one whole wall.  Up close it's fascinating, with more to see everytime you look.  It makes great use of the tonal variations of denim using both the front and back to give even greater variety. Looking carefully you can see the layers of denim collaged together.

Chiachio & Giannone - Conversacion sobre arte, 2022
Hand embroidered with cotton threads on toile de Jouy, quilt

I particularly liked Conversacion sobre arte, 2022 by Chiachio & Giannone more for the sum of the parts than the overall composition.

Chiachio & Giannone - Conversacion sobre arte (detail), 2022

Jenny Dutton -  Then a Moment Later She Smiled
Dementia Darnings  series, 2017
Fine wools sewn through bobbinet

Jenny Dutton's portrait of her mother during the progression of her dementia is both wonderful - so realistic, and incredibly sad.  I have seen the Dementia Darnings before and find them almost too difficult to look at.

Magda Sayeg - The Machine Gun, 2017
Replica of a Bushmaster XM15-E2S, acrylic mix triple worsted yarn, vintage children's sweaters
& Yoga Balls, 2025
Acrylic yarn , inflated PVC ball

I must include Magda Sayeg who set the world yarnstorming (knitted & crocheted graffiti), including me, after which I embarked on several successful commmunity art yarnstorming projects.

Simone Pheulpin - Lune de Bois ll, Croissance Series, 2025
Cotton folds & pins

I think Simone Pheulpin's piece looks just like a tree trunk cross section and must have taken hours as it is held together with pins.

Deniz Kurdak - Dysregulated, 2026
Polyester thread on duck canvas

This was a beautiful piece of machine embroidery by Deniz Kurdak.

Anne Von Freyburg - In Flight Mode (after Fragonard, The Swing), 2021
Textile wall installation painting: acrylic ink, synthetic fabrics, PVC fabric, tapestry fabric, sequin fabrics, hand embroidery, polyester wadding, and hand dyed tassel fringes on canvas

This enormous, colourful & clever piece would have benefitted from a picture of Fragonard's The Swing for reference.  You can see a picture of it here.

Other work on show included a great text piece by Sara Impey, tulle portraits by Benjamin Shine, colourful pieces by Signe Emdal, Kaffe Fasset & Kenny Nguyen.  Pieces by Caroline Burgess & Jakkai Siributr are also present.

The Saatchi Gallery has a number of exhibitions showing.  Some are free, some not.  There are lots of coffee shops and restaurants close by.  You can find the gallery on the King's Road, a short walk from Sloane Square tube.  You've still time to go see this exhibition and it's well worth going.

On a wall on the King's Road
Fashion is not frivolous it is part of being alive today - Mary Quant