LAMB is pleased to present Textured, a group exhibition spanning forty years of practice, which explores how various artists engage with the materiality of surfaces. The exhibition brings together works that resist the conventional preparation or priming of the surface, instead favoring direct engagement with raw canvas and untreated materials. These works embrace natural textures, allowing organic processes, such as absorption, staining, and wear, to shape and define the composition. Rather than aiming for a polished or controlled result, the artists let their distinct materials guide the work, bringing attention to tactile and textured properties. Each of the selected artists brings a distinct material approach, yet all converge in their attention to the physical and sensory potential of their works.
Sheila Hicks (b. 1934, United States) blends traditional weaving techniques with natural and found materials. Often working on both intimate and monumental scales, she explores fiber as a universal language. In the work on view, Hicks places shale, a fine-grained sedimentary rock, at the center of a fiber composition, creating a striking contrast between textures. The soft threads meet the uneven surface of stone, highlighting her ongoing interest in the tension between texture and form.
A similar tactile approach can be seen in the work of Heidi Bucher (b. 1926, Switzerland), who in the 1970s began casting everyday domestic items, such as clothing, blankets, and furniture, using layers of liquid latex and mother-of-pearl as a finish. As the materials dry, they form delicate, skin-like surfaces that capture the imprint of the original object while simultaneously becoming something entirely new. In a similarly transformative method, Alek O. (b. 1981, Argentina) disassembles ordinary objects, such as jumpers, umbrellas, or coins, and reassembles them into new forms. In Paolo II, she implements a found wool curtain, repurposing its fabric into a new composition. Though original items may no longer be visible, the material memory remains, giving new life to something once discarded. Ishmael Randall Weeks (b. 1976, Peru) extends this approach into the sculptural realm, utilizing reclaimed concrete, books, and machine parts to create environments that are at once organic and industrial, raw and intricately composed.
Several artists in the exhibition work directly on unprimed canvas, embracing the natural absorbency and unpredictability of untreated surfaces. For instance, Giorgio Griffa (b. 1936, Italy) notably paints on raw, unstretched canvas in the 1960s, laying the material on the floor and working in rhythmic, repeating marks. His use of water-based acrylics allows the paint to soak and stain the surface, leaving large areas unpainted and giving the works a sense of impermanence.
This approach is echoed in the practices of Ana Prata (b. 1980, Brazil), Tiago Mestre (b. 1978, Portugal) and Camile Sproesser (b. 1985, Brazil), who all use raw fabrics, linen, or jute to emphasize the material qualities of the surface. In Prata’s work, visible gestural brushstrokes and unpainted areas allow the linen to become an active part of the composition, giving equal weight to painted and blank space. Mestre’s paintings are more minimalist, often incorporating spare, abstract marks that harmoniously communicate with the unprimed fabric. For the three artists, the raw fabric is not a neutral ground but a vital component that informs the rhythm and narrative of the work.
Organic materials and natural processes form a common thread throughout the exhibition, as seen in Hicks’ use of sedimentary stone, the shimmering layers of Bucher’s mother-of-pearl, and the earthy tactility of untreated surfaces. Omar Mendoza (b. 1993, Mexico) takes this connection even further, using entirely organic matter in his work. His materials, ranging from honeysuckle, brazilwood, jonote, and kina to charcoal, logwood, lemon, jagua, turmeric, beet, beeswax, are gathered and applied through non-conventional methods. Guided by the intricacies of each chosen material, Mendoza allows elements of nature to dictate the form, color, and texture of his compositions.
Together, the works in Textured reveal a shared appreciation for the possibilities of material, whether through fabric, fiber, stone, or organic matter, and the ways the surface can hold memory, transformation, and meaning. By prioritizing the physical qualities of their chosen mediums, the artists draw attention to texture as something that can be sensed visually, a record of process, time, and touch embedded in the surface.
