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Miriam Schapiro Feathered Fan 1983
© 2022 Estate of Miriam Schapiro / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
During the 1970s, Miriam Schapiro, a pioneer of feminist art, began using patterned fabric, ornamental elements, and sewing techniques that are specifically tied to craft. As she observed in 1977, “I wanted to validate the traditional activities of women, to connect myself to the unknown women artists who made quilts, who had done the invisible ‘women’s work’ of civilization, I wanted to acknowledge them, to honor them.”
Feathered Fan is an example of FEMMAGE, a technique involving sewing, hooking, cutting, piercing, and appliqué that Schapiro developed in the 1970s and continued to employ throughout the next decade. It concurrently references the shaped canvases of hard-edge painting and the reduced forms of Minimalism, both contemporaneous, male-dominated art movements that Schapiro specifically critiques through her colorful and handcrafted work. Produced in the shape of a fan, this piece points not only to her feminist approach, but also to her interest in cultures outside of the West, specifically Japan.
Identification
Title
Feathered Fan
Production Date
1983
Object Number
2012.163
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, gift of Ruth Shack in honor of Richard Shack
Copyright
© 2022 Estate of Miriam Schapiro / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2012.163
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Mixed media acrylic and fabric on canvas
Dimensions
48 x 96 inches
Visual Description
Feathered Fan by Miriam Schapiro is a mixed media piece from 1983. It is made of fabric and acrylic paint on canvas. It measures four feet tall by eight feet wide.
This art work is an example of an abstraction, which is a style of painting that focuses on the gestural movement of shapes and colors rather than depicting scenes or figures.
The piece is comprised of a canvas that is stretched into a semi-circle. Its flat side serves as its base and runs parallel to the ground. The composition is divided into many triangular or cone-like sections that stem from a central point at the base of the semi-circle. The sections give the impression of an opened fan.
Starting from the bottom center and extending toward the outer edge of the canvas, the sections go through five distinct changes. The center is a solid semi-circle painted grey. The following section begins the funnel-like shapes that make up the rest of the composition. In this area they alternated between a dark green and grey color pattern and a light grey and red pattern made of fabric. Following next is a section of fabric with alternating patterns of stripes with dots, and florals. The stripes and dots are made of bright primary colors while the florals are muted browns and pinks. The next section, moving outward from the enter, again alternates patterns. The first is a paisley pattern in yellow and grey. The second is a striped pattern that is mostly dark orange and turquoise in color. The final outer ring alternates between three patterns of fabric. The first is a muted purple containing stripes and dots that are faded. The second is a pattern that is split in half: the top half is dark purple with small circles that resemble flower petals, the bottom half is black with small circles that also resemble small flowers. The third pattern is made of four squares of checkered fabric in colors that range from yellow, green, orange, blue, grey, and red.
At the center of the composition and above third and fourth rings is a painted circle. Its bottom edge is cut off by the second ring of pattern. The painted section resembles feathers or a dream catcher. Various rings of different colored feather-like shapes circle around a center point that is painted purple.
