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Photo of multi-pattern rug with contemporary icon designs
Photo of multi-pattern rug with contemporary icon designs

RugLife

December 14, 2024 – April 20, 2025

Guest Curators: Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox of c2-curatorsquared.

 

This program is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York. Support for RugLife is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Museum of Craft and Design’s exhibitions and programs are generously supported by Anonymous, the Windgate Foundation, and Grants for the Arts.

In-kind support by Cadogan Tate.

Exhibition and Graphic Design by Studio Hinrichs

Rugs and carpets have defined the character of space since animal skins began to warm and adorn cave dwellings; the earliest known Persian rugs are nearly 2500 years old. Given this long history—entwined with religion, culture, and nature—it is not surprising that artists continue to find potential in the form of the rug. While many artists take a formal approach to the subject matter, others engage in cultural critique, taking on the appropriation of cultural, racial, and gender roles and stereotypes within the framework of a decorative object turned art object.

Guest curated by Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox of c2-curatorsquared, RugLife features the work of 14 contemporary artists from around the world who use the rug as a medium to address cultural issues such as religion, technology, social justice, housing, and the environment.

Image: Oksana Levchenya, Pac Man and Cossacks, 2022, hemp thread and natural dyed wool, 80 x 140in.
Image courtesy of the artist.

Nevin Aladağ

Azra Aksamija

Ali Cha’aban

Sonya Clark

Liselot Cobelens

Nicholas Galanin

Johannah Herr

Oksana Levchenya

Noelle Mason

Wendy Plomp

Stéphanie Saadé

Slavs & Tatars

Ai Weiwei

Andrea Zittel

View the press release for RugLife here.

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