Ian Berry Material World Review
Paradise Lost at Textil Museet, Sweden
From Elle Sweden to the Telegraph in the UK, there was a number of articles and reviews or Material World at Textil Museet, the National Textile Museum of Sweden. Borås Tidning printed several articles but we thought we’d share this one from art critic Agnes Brusk Jahn, translated from Swedish.
Fascinating jeans art at Textilmuseet
Ian Berry’s exhibition shows an extraordinary eye for nuances, says BT:s reviewer Agnes Brusk Jahn.
The last couple of years it’s been a lot of talk about recycling, upcycling and circular fashion. The more that’s exposed about the textile industry’s heavily negative impact on the environment, the more initiatives have come to change the industry. Even if some of them are pure greenwashing, most of them are innovative and hopeful. The denim artist Ian Berry on the other hand, ends up in a category of his own.
Ian Berry’s work is art, not fashion. Not because the two can’t go hand in hand – the artist has in the exhibition cooperated with the fashion designer Jonathan Christopher, who has designed incomparable garments in response to selected art works, and Lill O Sjoberg, with the innovation twood (textile-wood) where old denim becomes a hybrid between textile and wood.
Ian Berry collects old jeans fabric and creates artwork of it. At a distance his “tavlor”, if that’s the correct word, may look like denim fabric that the artist has painted in different shades. But if you move closer you realize that every shadow, light shift, motive and silhouette is a piece of fabric of its own in exactly the right shade, that has been attached to another, and another, to create the motive the artist wants. A city train on elevated rail. An almost empty pub. A swimming body, whose shape changes by the movements of the water. He makes skin shine and metal glisten. It is outstanding.
His extraordinary eye for nuances and shadows is complemented, in addition to craftsmanship, by the artistic eye for the motives he chooses. Reflections in a calm pool. A lonely girl in an empty hallway. Cityscapes.
The use of denim is no coincidence. He is interested in the denim garment’s role in history and our lives. How they became a standing feature in each person’s wardrobe after they reached icon status because famous musicians and actors wore them, something he illustrates with an enormous installation outside the exhibition room, where he has depicted famous jeans icons of all times, surrounded by LP records and plants. All in denim.
In addition to the artwork on the walls in the dark exhibition room, flowering vegetation is hanging down from the ceiling and creates a jungle around the visitor, as a felicitous reminder of the natural origin of the jeans: the cotton plant and the indigo plant. In the middle of the jungle is Jonathan Christopher’s most beautiful creation standing, a flowering dress that is climbing up and into Ian Berry’s installation.
With the artworks and the well thought through cooperations, the exhibition becomes both a fascinating art experience in itself and a reminder of endless opportunities when it comes to reuse of the resources we already have. Especially if art, curiosity, power of innovation and crafts can cooperate.
Material World @ Textil Museet, Sweden
The latest Secret Garden together with the collaboration with Jonathan Christopher. photo Jan Berg
Ian Berry Opens Material World at the Swedish Textile Museum - Textil Museet
Ian Berry returned to Sweden, the country he lived for 5 years to open the solo exhibition Material World at Textil Museet in Borås Sweden - the National Museum of Textiles and the Nordic region’s leading museum on the subject. Ian Berry’s specific medium is denim and the famous industrial city also has a textile and denim heritage.
Textil Museet shows some of Berry’s most well-known pieces never seen in Sweden before -large (denim) ‘canvases’, made with layers of recycled jeans, creating photorealistic yet often melancholy scenes out of the indigo fabric.
To celebrate showing a large collection of his works at Textil Museet Ian Berry has collaborated with Dutch fashion designer Jonathan Christopher to create garments inspired by his most notable bodies of work; Behind Closed Doors, Hotel California and the Secret Garden installation, that will debut at the museum.
Jonathan Christopher at Material World with one of his many garments inspired by the show.
The Secret Garden installation touches on subjects such as sustainability and the environment, showing this material made from plants turning back into plants, with hanging wisteria, flowers and vines falling from the institution’s ceiling. Sustainability is also at the core of Ian Berry’s friend Lill O.Sjöberg’s innovation. Making denim wood, Twood, is the Swedish designer’s latest innovation and the pair have come together to make some special pieces to exhibit to compliment Ian Berry’s archive of work - visitors can view a guitar and drum kit, made of only TWOOD!
The Denim Drum kit made with Twood at Material World, Textil Museet
Ian Berry Needs You!
Ian Berry is asking, who is your favourite Denim Legend?
Ian Berry with the Denim Legends temporary installation at Material World, Textil Museet
It could be from the cowboy actors, 50’s rebels, the punks of the 70’s to the influencers of today. Who inspired your denim looks or who do you feel had the biggest impact on denim? Over the last year he has been asking this question, and using his wealth of knowledge from working with the material over the last 15 years has already created dozens of portraits from Brooke Shields to Bardot, Marley to Moss, McQueen to the material girl living in her material world -Madonna. As he creates one of his largest works he wants the audience to help shape it. It may even mean some of the portraits already made will get rejected so the piece will form the greatest influences from Pop Culture, making the Denim Legends.
These portraits are exhibited in an area where visitors can submit their choices and the portraits will grow over the exhibition - you can play a part in shaping it!
Curator Malena Karlsson interviewing Ian Berry at the opening of Material world at Textil Museet
“Ian Berry’s work is interesting and important on so many levels. There’s the ‘wow’ factor of the craft, the thematics, and the way in which his art shows how the textile material forms yet another dimension in art”
Malena Karlsson, Curator at the Textile Museum of Sweden.
Ian Berry appeared on the ‘30 Under 30’ list of the most influential artists in the world, has exhibited his work in both the USA and Europe, and is considered to be one of the 50 most influential people connected to the Jeans Industry. The Textile Museum of Sweden is happy to announce that the work of the artist known for his work with only denim jeans, Ian Berry will be exhibited at the Textile Museum of Sweden til May 1 2021.
visitors viewing Paradis Lost at Textil Museet Material world by Ian Berry
You can see more on this dedicated micro-site of Material World including the collaborations with Jonathan Christopher, Twood, Tonello, Cone Denim and the amazing giant Denim jacket made with Henry Wong and AGI Denim.
Ian Berry | MATERIAL WORLD | Textil Museet Sweden
Paradise Lost
TEXTIL MUSEET
23 - October 2021 - 1 May 2022
Skaraborgsvägen 3, 506 30 Borås, Sweden
In October Ian Berry will return to Sweden, the country he lived for 5 years to open the solo exhibition Material World at Textil Museet in Borås Sweden - the National Museum of Textiles and the Nordic region’s leading museum on the subject. Ian Berry’s specific medium is denim and the famous industrial city also has a textile and denim heritage.
Works from Behind Closed Doors all made in denim, that Jonathan Christopher will use as inspiration.
Textil Museet will show some of Berry’s most well-known pieces never seen in Sweden before -large (denim) ‘canvases’, made with layers of recycled jeans, creating photorealistic yet often melancholy scenes out of the indigo fabric.
To celebrate showing a large collection of his works at Textil Museet Ian Berry has collaborated with Dutch fashion designer Jonathan Christopher to create garments inspired by his most notable bodies of work; Behind Closed Doors, Hotel California and the Secret Garden installation, that will debut at the museum.
The Secret Garden installation touches on subjects such as sustainability and the environment, showing this material made from plants turning back into plants, with hanging wisteria, flowers and vines falling from the institution’s ceiling. Sustainability is also at the core of Ian Berry’s friend Lill O.Sjöberg’s innovation. Making denim wood, Twood, is the Swedish designer’s latest innovation and the pair have come together to make some special pieces to exhibit to compliment Ian Berry’s archive of work.
Ian Berry’s Secret Garden at Museum Rijswijk in The Netherlands. Ian Berry works with Tonello in Italy and Cone Denim to create the hanging Trellis.
Ian Berry Needs You!
Ian Berry is asking, who is your favourite Denim Legend?
Steve McQueen, Brooke Shields and Clint Eastwood are Denim Legends. Who joins them?
It could be from the cowboy actors, 50’s rebels, the punks of the 70’s to the influencers of today. Who inspired your denim looks or who do you feel had the biggest impact on denim? Over the last year he has been asking this question, and using his wealth of knowledge from working with the material over the last 15 years has already created dozens of portraits from Brooke Shields to Bardot, Marley to Moss, McQueen to the material girl living in her material world -Madonna. As he creates one of his largest works he wants the audience to help shape it. It may even mean some of the portraits already made will get rejected so the piece will form the greatest influences from Pop Culture, making the Denim Legends.
These portraits will be exhibited in an area where visitors can submit their choices and the portraits will grow over the exhibition!
From Textil Museet Svensk 🇸🇪
“Ian Berry’s work is interesting and important on so many levels. There’s the ‘wow’ factor of the craft, the thematics, and the way in which his art shows how the textile material forms yet another dimension in art”,
Malena Karlsson, Curator at the Textile Museum of Sweden, says.
Ian Berry appeared on the ‘30 Under 30’ list of the most influential artists in the world, has exhibited his work in both the USA and Europe, and is considered to be one of the 50 most influential people connected to the Jeans Industry. The Textile Museum of Sweden is happy to announce that the work of the artist known for his work with only denim jeans, Ian Berry will be exhibited at the Textile Museum of Sweden this autumn!
It’s not a photograph, it's jeans!
At first sight, it is easy to mistake Berry’s work for blue- or indigo-tinted photographs, but a closer look reveals that they are made up of layer upon layer of denim in different shades. The contrasts between the different shades of blue visible in a pile of old jeans were the genesis of Berry’s unique art form. Soon, he began to explore the possibilities offered by the material and create photorealistic artworks. Berry only uses upcycled denim in his works. No colouring agents or bleach are used – only scissors, glue, and second-hand jeans.
When working with denim he began to understand the significance of his own and others’ relationship with the material, which is one that we are all very familiar with. Ian is of the opinion that the fact that that denim is highly recognisable opens doors to understanding and identification. His works reflect on contemporary events and phenomena but also refer back to the cultural history of jeans.
Ian Berry in his Living room art installation all made of denim jeans at Museum Rijswijk, The Netherlands
‘30 Under 30’ most influential artists in the world
Ian quickly became one of the most talked-about young artists, Art Business News listed him as one of the most influential artists in the world by including him in their ‘30 Under 30’ list in 2013 and In 2019, he was recognised by the denim magazine Rivet as one of the 50 most influential people in the denim industry.
Berry was born and raised in Huddersfield, England, which like Borås has a long-standing textile tradition. Ten years ago Ian moved to Sweden and exhibited his art at galleries in Skåne and Motala. Since then his art has been exhibited all over the world, most recently at Museum Rijswijk in the Netherlands and in Genoa, the Italian city that leant its name to this favourite garment, jeans. The Textile Museum of Sweden is the first Swedish museum to exhibit a large, in-depth exhibition of Ian Berry’s works.
Jonathan Christopher
The Twood Guitar
About Jonathan Christopher
Jonathan Christopher (Hofwegen) Celestial Risher is a menswear designer who is graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy in 2009. After which he did his MA at Artez in Arnhem.
Next to his own brand, Jonathan Christopher, he has worked for brands such as Karl Lagerfeld and was chosen by Marc Jacobs to be one of the five finalists for Designer for Tomorrow by Peek en Cloppenburg.
In 2014 he won the very first Global Denim Awards and in 2015 he won the Woolmark European Finals.
He now works on a new brand St.Ape, basing the idea around using deadstock fabrics from high end designers, to make his collections of limited editions, like he has throughout his career. Reusing old materials makes him a perfect and authentic collaborator for Ian Berry.
jonathan@jonathanchristopher.nl
https://www.jonathanchristopher.nl/index.php/about
About Twood
This material research project by Swede Lil O.Sjöberg and her collaborators, explores the possibilities to extend the lifecycle of denim fiber with a new innovative recycling technique, creating a new material TWOOD [textile-wood]
The aim in this ongoing part of the project, is to identify and develop the industrial processes. The goal is to produce material prototypes and evaluate the material specifications in order to target usability for the next step. With the material she has been able to make items that range from tables to a beautiful denim Twood guitar.
Genoa | Genova | Garibaldi in Jeans by Ian Berry
Ian Berry has been delving into the history of denim, in fact, so far back it can be said the history before jeans. While Jacob Davis’s rivet may have helped Levi Strauss develop what we now know as the modern jean, few know why one of the most loved garments on the planet are called; Jeans.
Back in the 15th century, shipbuilders and merchants in the Italian city of Genoa used a cheap, coarse and strong, cross weaved type of cotton to make sails and protect their goods. This kind of fabric was produced in the French city of Nimes, (where Ian Berry visited in 2018) resulting in the name ‘denim’ from Serge de Nim, and used in combination with moleskin. In the Internationally important port city of Genoa, similar textiles were dyed blue by indigo traded with India. Their use extended to work clothes, and they were exported under the French name ‘bleu de Gênes’ that became blue jeans when once again translated to English.
Ian Berry in the rustic historical city of Genoa/Genova
Cristiano Palozzi with Ian Berry
‘When I ask people where the names come from I, and I’ll admit few seem to know already, tell them it comes from England as it is the words we called them as, and I quote from back then, ‘they didn’t want a French sounding cloth’. Ian Berry joked.
Ian Berry was commissioned to make a piece of a man connected to the city, an icon of his day and internationally renowned; Giuseppe Garibaldi, often noted as the most popular and famed Italian ever. Berry has been talking to the city for several years and then the Municipal’s Manuela Arata, who visited his London studio.
Back in 2017 plans were being formed to do an event in Genoa, and Ian Berry was working with Cristiano Palozzi toward this goal. But then horror struck, on 14th August 2018, the Morandi motorway bridge in Genoa, Italy, collapsed during a torrential rainstorm killing 43 people and shocking a stunned city and the world. Obviously the city was reeling and the project was sidelined.
‘I was in Nimes at the time so very invested in both of the cities and in my heart. The bridge tragedy was awful but only made my commitment to Genoa greater.’
Ian Berry’s Garibaldi in Jeans, (denim on denim, 106 x 77 x 6 cm) is placed at the Museo del Risorgimento. The museum was the birthplace of Giuseppe Mazzini whose efforts, like that of Garibaldi, helped bring about the independent and unified Italy.
It is based on the painting by Gerolamo Induno’s GARIBALDI A MARSALA (11 May 1860), oil on canvas, 1861, in the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano in Turin, who supported this portrait. In the painting, like other iconographic testimonies dedicated to Garibaldi and the Red Shirts, including those in the Museo del Risorgimento in Genoa, the protagonist wears trousers made of the typical blue fabric, whose Genoese origins are recognised.
Giuseppe Garibaldi and his liberation army land at Marsala, Sicily, on 11 May 1860.
Gebrüder Alinari image of Giuseppe Garibaldi in his other famed garment, the poncho
When uniting Italy the garment he wore resembled what would now be known as jeans.
About Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi 4 July 1807 in Nice – 2 June 1882 on Caprera; Jousé or Josep in Niçard, Gioxeppe Gaibado in Ligurian) was an Italian general, politician and nationalist who played a large role in the history of Italy. He is considered one of the greatest generals of modern times and one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland" along with Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and Giuseppe Mazzini.
While large volume books can be wrote about this Hero of the Two World’s, his connection with jeans is what we are here to look at. The famously dressed leader had an iconic look, seen in many paintings. A Times correspondent wrote from the south of Italy on September 13 1860 when Garibaldi was busy uniting the country, “I had my first interview with the disinterested and brave liberator of Italy in his red shirt, a dirty pair of jean trousers and worn out boots. Combing his long, thin hair at the glass stood the greatest patriot since Washington”.
The celebrity was much loved in England, the home country of the artist. There are strong links between the Ligurian City and England, one being the shared Red Cross flag of St George. It was also big trading route and link between transferring the fabric, garment and the look to England and to America. The British Press loved him. Ian Berry added;
He went to London and out to Bedford and many people wanted to meet him but I loved a story of when he went to Tyneside from America. Crowds greeted him. He was a hero. A symbol. What was he going there for? To get coal. This is where my paternal family is from for generations and what were they? Coal miners.
Want to learn more about Garibaldi, have a watch of this nice Youtube Clip with BioGraphics
It must be remembered that this patriot was originally a Ligurian sea captain who dressed, as his colleagues did, in trousers made of the tough blue cloth named “blu de Gene”, blue of Genoa, thus the appellation, blue jeans. While we all wear jeans today and may not find it surprising, it was another 100 years before Levi Strauss got a patent for adding a rivet with Jacob Davis to indigo dyed work overalls and helped create what we now know as jeans, with the style and material forming differences, but the name, remained.
Ian Berry at Museo del Risorgimento with the work in denim of Garibaldi.
Ian Berry’s portrait of Garibaldi was unveiled during a new event initiated by the Genova Municipality called Genova Jeans that celebrates the history of the city with denim and jeans as well as looking toward the future with talks and presentations on sustainability.
Stores in the city turned their windows blue with denim, interactive display panels showed the history of denim and historical figures and videos, including that of Ian Berry were shown. The northern Italian region is famed for their denim production, especially that of the 80’s and 90’s. Brands like Diesel showed their archives and denim mill Candiani showed an immersive display of issues with denim as well as some solutions.
Berry’s highlight was seeing the Passion Canvases, painted with indigo and white lead. The collection is made of fourteen canvases, and dates back from 1538 to late XVIIth century. They were inspired by Albrecht Durer’s engravings portraying the Little Passion. The canvases were purchased in 2001 by the Italian State and they belong to the Fabrics Collection of the Archaeological Authority of Liguria, which placed them temporarily in the Museum for now.
According to recent studies, these canvases represented the “sepulcrum” or Altar of Repos, an ephemeral setup for Holy Week. Probably they were placed inside the church to create a small chapel for the devotees.
Curator, Paolo Martini at the Museo Diocesano gave Ian Berry a private tour.
‘For many years now I have been wanting to see these and they were so much more powerful and emotional to see in real life. To have so much time and description given by Anna it was a perfect experience. It’s something that many people should see and appreciate.’
You can see more of the program on the Genova Jeans website here
About Museum of Risorgimento | Museo del Risorgimento
The Museum traces the historical events that led to the unification of Italy, from the Genoese anti-Austrian revolt in 1746 to the inauguration of the Monument to the Thousand of Quarto in 1915.
Inaugurated on 5 May 1915 in Palazzo Bianco, it has since 1934 been located in the birthplace of Giuseppe Mazzini. It preserves and exhibits a rich historical and artistic heritage through which the symbolic figures of Risorgimento are brought to life: Giuseppe Mazzini and the republican and democratic movement; Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Red Shirts; Goffredo Mameli and the Italian Anthem (which Ian Berry heard a little too much this summer!).
The substantial historical, artistic and documentary heritage preserved in the institute was created through donations and purchases as early as the nineteenth century. Paintings, prints, posters, sculptures, documents, photographs, uniforms, weapons, flags and relics cover a time span that goes beyond the strict chronology of the Risorgimento, and includes items from the 18th century to the Second World War and the Liberation.
Ian Berry with Museo del Risorgimento Genova Curator, Raffaella Ponte.
Among the most significant works of the nineteenth century are the portraits of Goffredo Mameli by Domenico Induno, Giuseppe Mazzini by Emilie Ashurst and Gacinto Gallino’s own Giuseppe Garibaldi. Peter Tetar Van Elven, the famed Dutch painter’s faithful depiction of the departure of the Thousand from the rock of Quarto, which is flanked by the works of Plinio Nomellini created for the inauguration of the Monument to the Thousand (May 5, 1915), and the sketch by the sculptor Eugenio Baroni, winner of the national competition.
The museum hosts highly evocative objects including the Red Shirts and the precious Flag of the Thousand in silk (1860) as well as Mazzini's guitar, always with him in his long London exile, which is still played today on special occasions.
Among the documents, a prominent place belongs to the first autographed draft of the Canto degli Italiani by Goffredo Mameli (1847) and to the Act of Surrender of the German troops signed in Genoa on 25 April 1945. Ian added;
It is a great honour to first portray one of the most famous Italians, as well as at the time, one of the world’s most famous men - named the Hero of the two World’s amongst many of the artefacts of such an important period. Someone who understood leadership as well as communication. He was one of the first ‘celebrities’ and icons of the 19th Century but he achieved it by his efforts of being an audacious leader as well as creating a romantic image that would last. He wore what came to be known as ‘Communication style’ and while the red shirt and sometimes poncho became an icon, it’s the trousers he wore that lead this piece. I believe in Genoa’s jeans past, and not only the connection to the word. Growing up in the 90’s I always thought of Italy when thinking of jeans, and I want to help to celebrate the region. I love telling others little tidbits of stories connected to denim and I’m often surprised when they don’t know where the word jeans come from. Let’s get everyone to know!'
Ian Berry and Tonello nominated for Film Award!
Ian Berry and Tonello have been nominated for an inaugural Blue Lenz Award in the Best Sustainability video category for 2021!
The short documentary was filmed in Italy at Tonello HQ by Stefano Gnata who followed the process of creating the Secret Garden for a special installation at the San Fran Flower Mart in San Francisco. Filming the washing and lazering of the special Cone Denim fabric and the creation of the vines, flowers and wisteria that goes in to creating the hanging trellis. Alice Tonello, the Marketing Manager and head of R&D, along with Ian Berry were interviewed prior to the installing of the piece in California in 2018.
Blue Lenz YouTube channel has amassed a library of videos that spans educational to inspirational content around the denim community. They feature a community of creators including mills, consultants, designers and industry insiders who contribute to making this channel a go-to resource for denim.
Blue Lenz was founded to provide a more evergreen, centralized space for the outstanding content being produced. With more than 300 videos live on the channel, they thought it was time to recognize some of the best denim videos featured on Blue Lenz.
For the first time, Blue Lenz Denim Video Awards will be hosted during Bluezone later this month in Munich, Germany.
Click the images to see images of the final result in San Francisco.
Ian Berry said.
“It’s great to get this mention amongst so many great videos clips and all promoting good causes and ethics. I’m particularly pleased for Tonello who put so much work into the collaboration and support me greatly to get a nomination from an industry they are central to. And also good luck to my friends at Carved in Blue/Lenzing/Tencel who have put so much effort into bringing the industry together and now with these Blue Lenz awards. Of course both have supported me over a number of years and along with Pepe Jeans and Cone Denim have been great partners, not least at the latest museum show at Museum Rijswijk in The Netherlands. It will be no shame coming a runner up to any of these films created.”
The other nominees in the section are :
Best Sustainability – Connection to the UN SDGs
True Cost of Apparel Industry – BBC/Mostafiz Uddin
Artistic Fabric Mills – Tracing the Lifecycle of a Jean – SDG 12
Tonello x Ian Berry – Secret Garden @ San Francisco Flower Market
Jeanologia – Handman – The Revival of Jeans Manufacturing
Artistic Milliners – Organic Cotton in Pakistan
“Over the past several years, we have seen increasing use of video to explain denim design, history, environmental and social impact,” said Lenzing’s Tricia Carey. “With the pandemic, videos became a way to connect globally as we have had limited in-person meetings. With this in mind, we believe the denim industry needs to celebrate the incredible creativity, people and concepts. This led to the start of our Blue Lenz YouTube channel several years ago and now to the first denim video awards to showcase the best video storytelling of the global denim community.“
They enlisted a panel of seven judges who hail from around the globe to pick and choose the cream of the crop:
Margherita Verlicchi, Menabo – Italy
Michelle Branch, Markt & Twigs – United States
Wouter Munnichs, Long John Denim – Netherlands
Neha Celly, Nece Gene – India
Erin Barajas, Interesting Monsters – United States
Panos Sofianos, Bluezone – Germany and Greece
Kelly Harrington, Trademark Blue – United Kingdom
The awards cover eight categories. In addition to bragging rights, the winners will receive a certificate, and they will be featured during an awards presentation at Bluezone in Munich, Germany.
If you’re attending Bluezone, join us on Aug. 31 at 3 pm CET as we announce the winners live during a ceremony. They’ll also be sharing a video of the presentation on their Carved in Blue Instagram.
Behind the Brands Podcast - Ian Berry
Talking on the Behind Brands Podcast Ian Berry spoke with Warren Parker-Mills which was something of a change for them in regards to this week's episode, as, Ian Berry isn’t really a brand. Well, he is, but you know.
Warren says ‘as we chat in-depth with the super talented artist, Ian Berry. Ian has showed his incredibly impressive work at exhibitions and Installations across the globe and was recognised as being one of the "Top 30 under 30" within the Art World. Ian scours, thousands of pairs of Jeans to locate the perfect shade of Denim to use in his 'blue based' creations. ‘
’Take a listen to understand his ongoing relationship with Denim and how he uses the fabric to depict day to day life and 20th Century culture.’
https://lnkd.in/e5xAFyp
If you want to see Ian's work in real life, head to Museum Rijswijk in the Netherlands, his work will be available to view until the 5th August.
Museum Rijswijk Reopens
Splendid Isolation
5 June - 15 August 2021
Museum Rijswijk, Rijswijk, the Netherlands
After a long period behind closed doors the 5th June see’s Ian Berry ‘Splendid Isolation’ Exhibition at Museum Rijswijk in Holland reopen. It will be then be prolonged until 15 August 2021. To mark the opening Mixed Grill put it in its Top 11 Shows to see in Holland and FD marked it as a ‘Must See’ as galleries now reopen across the Netherlands.
It was also on TV West Nieuws in the Zuid-Holland Noord region, where curator Diana Wind guides around the show and talks about Ian' Berry’s work with only denim jeans. (all in Dutch)
As well as other platforms on the Omroep West platform.
Ian Berry Splendid Isolation at Museum Rijswijk by Omroep West
Get your tickets now to see Ian Berry’s art in denim at Museum Rijswijk until 15 August.
#iclapfor x W1 Curates X Make it Blue
Today is the one-year anniversary of the start of the Clap For Our Carers campaign in the UK. Artist Ian Berry collaborated with Make it Blue along with David Bailey, Keira Knightly and Ringo Starr with art that was displayed on the 36 giant screens of the W1 Curates public art platform, a giant exhibition space covering the exterior of the Flannels fashion store on London’s Oxford Street.
The exhibition, presented by arts curator W1 Curates, was the pinnacle of the #LightItBlue campaign which was reignited at the start of the year. Major sporting and entertainment venues, national landmarks and historic buildings across the capital have been illuminating blue on Thursday nights in a gesture of thanks to the NHS and all those on the COVID healthcare frontline and has provided a positive back drop of iconic images that will forever be remembered when looking back at this time.
Ian and Elliott Berry’s #iclapfor Pin Your Thanks badge at W1 Curates photo Ben Waugh
In marking the finale of the nine-week W1 Curates show, today, 25 March, is also the one-year anniversary of the #LightItBlue campaign that has prompted landmarks and buildings to illuminate blue in 23 countries across six continents.
Heading the list of landmarks to light blue for the NHS in recent weeks are The London Eye, County Hall, City Hall, Trafalgar Square, Madame Tussauds London, London Stadium and Olympic Park, the O2, The Shard, Tower 42, One Canada Square, Selfridges and Wembley Arch.
Wembley Stadium Make it Blue #lightitblue
#LightItBlue is organised by MAKEITBLUE CIC, the #LightItBlue campaign was created by members of the UK events and entertainment industry. It began on Thursday 26 March 2020 when over 100 of the UK’s most famous buildings were illuminated blue to coincide with the nationwide round of applause for the NHS and care workers. Since then, territories in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States have joined the campaign.
Ian Berry has also spent much of the last 12 months seeing his and his six-year-old son's #iclapfor clapping hands artwork projected in support of all on the frontline onto buildings all around the country, and abroad.
A new painting by legendary Fashion photographer David Bailey, CBE has also been included in the one-day show at W1 Curates to mark the one year anniversary. Previous artists to display have included Vhils, Michael Craig Martin, Ian Davenport and Helen Downie. At the heart of London’s iconic Oxford Street, W1 Curates projects powerful art to the people by transforming the exterior of Flannels’ Flagship store into a giant exhibition space. Using state-of-the-art technology, W1 Curates exhibits the best art with digital prowess and unmissable innovation.
Famed photographer David Bailey also contributed a piece of his artwork. photo Ben Waugh
Tim Owen, Director of the #LightItBlue campaign said: “We love these images, which absolutely chime with our existing collaboration with W1 Curates. For the last nine weeks artists have interpreted messages of thanks and respect to the NHS in their own unique and beautiful way, so they could be displayed and shared digitally with the world.
photo Ben Waugh
Also illuminated was the Pin Your Thanks project that Ian Berry joined with the Iclapfor hands turning into a pin badge. With art contributed by public figures including Emeli Sandé, Keira Knightly, Joe Lycett and Ringo Starr.
photo Ben Waugh
The Pin Your Thanks is ’The People’s Medal’ #pinyourthanks charity fundraising initiative, which turned the designs into pin badges that say a heartfelt thanks to those who have helped during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can buy a badge here
W1 Curates say that masterpieces should be for everyone, not just the privileged few. Too often, wonderful art can feel exclusive, secluded within dusty galleries or intimidating exhibitions. It can appear inaccessible, upper class or even old fashioned. Instead of being ignited with powerful art, people on the street are bombarded with urban advertising. Mark Dale, Founder, says
“For me, when shoppers rest their bags down and stare at the incredible art, it’s the best feeling in the world. Giving everyone the opportunity to experience art, to access it right on the high street - amid all the noise of city life, it provides this little oasis. Shoppers and workers are left feeling ignited and inspired. That’s why I do it. We bring art to the people, we open those doors, and who knows where that could take them?”
We’re proud to be showcasing works from some of the most innovative artist from around the world.
All #LightItBlue venues are using existing LED technology to illuminate their structures, facades and screens to ensure the campaign adheres to the critical instructions for people to stay at home. All those involved in the campaign are acting on a pro bono basis.
Ian Berry is proud to collaborate with all of these important initiatives of the last year.
Ian Berry in the Year of Covid - A look back
Angle of the North | Drone Works North East
‘‘The thanks first came from the people, you saw kid’s on cul-de-sacs celebrating their new heros but as the weeks went on it seemed all the pictures were politicians and celebrities and the goodwill faded. It felt like who it was from, overshadowed who it was for.’’
Ian Berry
Ian Berry with his son, Elliott with #iclapfor
The last year of Covid 19 has touched everyone’s lives no matter where they are in the world, and professions from those direct on the front line to those with the knock on effects of lockdown.
Most artists lost all their shows with some ‘going virtual’ but for Ian Berry he found three of his exhibitions still on (some were lost) and not only on, but large solo shows and in foreign lands. Many isolations and quarantines later we are now looking at the anniversary of the start of lock down in the UK as he prepares for a memorable event at a great location this week to mark the occasion.
Here we look back at the huge number of things the artist originally from Huddersfield but now living in Poplar, East London, has got up to often with his son Elliott by his side.
Stay Behind Close Doors at Museum Rijswijk
From setting up a photo in isolation juried show for a museum, to lighting up a message of gratitude in almost every town and city in the UK and Ireland and many around the world, to collaborating with an Oscar Winner to remaking his Lock Down Living Room all of course in the material he sees the world in… denim.
Stay Behind Closed Doors
For many years not only did Ian Berry use denim in his work he has portrayed isolation in urban environments, whether in an empty bar, a lonely soul in a launderette or with Behind Closed Doors, people in their own homes. The latter body of work took on a new life with people now being told to stay home, many, alone.
Ian works from photoshoots he sets up, and last March all of his got cancelled. They were to be people in their own homes. Life now already imitating art. Before lockdown he started to ask photographer friends if they could shoot themselves in their own homes due to the restrictions and as the photos came in, Diana Wind, curator of Museum Rijswijk in The Netherlands and Berry decided they were so good that they should be displayed in the museum also and they made it wider for anyone to enter in what became a juried show.
A Stitch in Time Niki McDonald by Alec Dawson, Sydney, Australia
Denise Stock, Munich, Germany
Ian Berry's home isolation work in denim
Entries came in from all over the world from professional photographers and amateurs alike. 16 were chosen to present in the Museum alongside many dozens more that were lasered to create a denim backdrop. As a great record of the time period they captured Olympic stars training with the event off to people playing games at home. Below, famed New York photo journalist Martha Cooper captured the nightly 7pm clap for the Carers in Manhattan.
you can see more of the project here
Marha Cooper, New York
#ICLAPFOR from Lands End to John O’Groats -
and almost everywhere in between and to countries far and wide…
On Thursday 26th March, the UK followed many other countries around the world with an applause for those out on the frontline caring for us. It came from the people, and at 8pm the night skies erupted with noise in what will one day be remembered very positively. Ian’s son then aged 6, Elliott, wondered what it was all about in a week that broke up his home schooling. His parents could explain it to him and he was hooked - especially being told of people he knew personally that we were clapping for while he was engaged and so interested.
Elliott like many children made a rainbow…
..and sent it to his grandma. But he wanted to make more art
After making a rainbow to send to his grandma he wanted to make more art and he asked his father about clapping hands. Elliott took the photos of his dad clapping hands. Ian Berry then set about making them in denim, not only blue but universal, while Elliott sat next to him drawing. They realised that to portray clapping, they had to show the motion. So they made two. And animated it.
It was intended just to send to some friends to say thank you but one day when Elliott was watching a movie on the projector he said ‘can we put the clapping on the projector?’ The next minute it was being beamed off the balcony… They lived in a building in London where the roof could be seen from miles around but the projector wasn’t strong enough. He looked online and it lead to Andrew Hall of See The Bigger Picture in Newcastle. Once discovering what they wanted to do with a projector he said ‘I can do that’ and this was the starting gun for it to be beamed all over the world.
Through Andrew and some of Ian’s other contacts word got out and it ended up lighting the lonely night skies on places like the Baltic Contemporary Arts Centre in the Newcastle/Gateshead, to Edinburgh Castle and the V&A in Scotland, Conwy Castle to Cardiff City Hall in Wales, all over Ireland and from John o’Groats on the Northern most tip of the island of Britain down to Lands End, the southern most tip in Cornwall and so many towns and cities in between.
It also was seen as far as Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Mexico City and Sweden and more along with in the USA like New York, LA, New Orleans, Princeton and a beautiful one in Greensboro North Carolina know as ‘Jeansboro’.
click through to see images in each location
With it, online they asked the question, who do you clap for? #iclapfor …
This brought thousands of answers from family and friends to neighbours to whole groups of people we were thanking - many who had been overlooked at the time like people working in the prison services, unpaid carers, and so many other people on the Front Line. These answers were projected on the Angel of the North in Gateshead. By making it more personal, who can begrudge you clapping for a family member?
Angel of the North | Drone Works North East
While the projections were temporary it lasted longer and spread online and in the press and people sent the animation to those they were clapping for. It also got a lasting memory with the mural painting in Walthamstow in East London together With Wood Street Walls and ATMA - on a doctors surgery too! Not only that; Berry never actively sought to ‘do anything’ in this time, he had a full schedule of shows to do and ‘well, I didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon, there’s times I wonder if I had, what really could have been achieve with this. The beauty of it was that it was so much more than me. It was never about me. Maybe a little Elliott, but it was who it was for, not from.’
With this mindset Ian Berry invited other artists to send in their clapping hands.
‘I loved to see mine and Elliott’s light up the night on different buildings. Looking back it was amazing to see a quiet street and then see an ambulance or other worker go past. But if it was left up all night, or, done with a council or body that tells people it was going to happen, well, who wants to see the same thing! One of my favourite parts of the initiative was having over 20 artists from all over the world sending their art in and seeing it projected. No one wants to clap alone!’
In the UK the clapping happened every Thursday for 10 weeks. In New York it lasted longer, and it was every night. Having been around a lot of these places we saw the positively both in the action and with the projection. While once pay rises came into the conversation of course we wanted the staff get paid well, especially the nurses. #iclapfor in fact managed to turn the claps in to money raising around $10,000 for NHS Charites Together and Doctors Without Borders before stopping donations once you could get a badge with Pin Your Thanks. But it was more about putting the good will into the night sky.
For the NHS birthday on the 5 July there were special projections on the White Cliffs of Dover, Coal Drop Yards in Kings Cross, at the Piece Hall in Halifax along with two tributes at Hospital at the Royal Brompton in Chelsea, London and the RVI in Newcastle. See more at the dedicated website #iclapfor
Pin Your Thanks Jacket with Jenny Beavan OBE
Ian Berry was asked to join Pin Your Thanks an initiative set up by volunteers in South East London to give a ‘Heartfelt Thanks’ to those who have supported us. He joined public figures like Ringo Starr, Keria Knightley and Joe Lycett and now the Clapping Hands had another legacy - the ‘Peoples Medal’ that were given as a small thank you to those on the frontline.
The Charitable foundation was launched with a projection on London’s South Bank starting with the Clapping Hands then unveiling it as a badge, and then the other badges like Anoushka Shankar and David James. Rita Ora and young competition winner Evie have been added since. Berry joined the others in singing a Christmas song, the 12 days of Christmas.
Ian Berry worked with double Academy Award winner for costume design, Jenny Beavan OBE. They made a denim jacket with Blackhorse Lane in London and lined with with all the letters of support for Pin Your Thanks like Stephen Fry, Dame Emma Thompson, Harry Hill and many more. The Jacket was adorned with all the different care worker badges who had been answered with #iclapfor symbolising all those who had gone above and beyond during Covid-19.
The badges were pinned and sewn on, alongside with acknowledgements for the NHS and Volunteers. Pin Your Thanks through the sale of the badges and the denim jacket are raising funds for NHS Charities Together and Volunteering Matters.
There was lenticular posters made of the clapping hands and were installed in hospitals along with in the Museum Rijswijk which debuted the collaboration with Beavan and a short documentary you will see below. You can get a poster here
Lockdown Living Room
With getting caught up unintentionally with the charity initiatives it is easy to forget Ian Berry is an artist with still a lot going on. While his 15 years of collections were shown in the museum it all ended up falling in under ‘Splendid Isolation’ which was brought together connecting the various bodies that have looked at lonely melancholy scenes all in indigo blue. With his shoots cancelled he was forced to look closer to home for inspiration.
‘I have lived in many places and while sometimes I portrayed what was around me I often moved somewhere I then flew off somewhere else. Like from Sweden to London, then when I lived in London I went to America a lot to base work from. With lockdown, and the beautiful spring we did have, I was forced to see what was around me here in East London and I liked what I saw. It was quite a lesson.
Berry ended up remaking his whole living room and bedroom in denim. With his Chesterfield sofa made in Cone Denim, the plants all in old jeans to the record collection and even a window, looking out to a #Iclapfor projection.
The Museum Rijswijk showed 30 pieces of work of Ian Berry’s art in denim spread over numerous rooms and his 15 year career with the material. From Behind Closed Doors to the lonely soul on the subway, to a newsagent - who were very much on the front line this last year. The show itself is now locked down, but will be extended into the summer. Berry also had a solo show in the Levi Strauss Museum in Germany and one in Basel.
And finally…
‘Do remember they can’t cancel Spring’
David Hockney
A reincarnation of the Secret Garden, first shown in the CMA in New York in 2017 was curated at the end of the exhibition in Holland to echo David Hockney’s words with his new work a few weeks into lockdown in 2020.
All made out of denim - vines and flowers hang down from the museums roof echoing the museum garden and representing the nature. Of course denim and jeans are great contributors to the global issues and environment, especially with the fast fashion and over production and consumption. Showing the flowers and wisteria made out of something originally started as a plant. We all hope for a better future and take many of the lessons of the last year to learn from, not least the way we saw the nature bloom and pollution decline.
Below you will see a short 5 minute documentary about what #Iclapfor was about narrated by Ian Berry and Fiona Berry, his sister, that wrote a poem as Berry Poetic. We hope it will relive some of the memories and positivity of this time last year. We see it that not only have some not got the pay rises that the year deserved, but they also no longer get the gratitude. And this doesn’t mean just the clapping, it ran its course. But the free coffee here, or the queue jump there. All the little moments in a day, that made a big difference, not from government, not from a celebrity, but, from the people.
Watch out this week to see what we’ll do to mark the years anniversary along with the great folks over at Make it Blue. .
A big Thank You to all those supported.. fully listed on www.iclapfor.com but including Cone Denim, Tonello, Tencel, Famore Cutlery, Pin Your Thanks and many more!
Ian Berry x Jenny Beavan OBE x Pin Your Thanks
The Jacket by Ian Berry, Jenny Beavan and Blackhorse Lane for Pin Your Thanks
Ian Berry with #iclapfor asked the question 'who do you clap for?' and the project got thousands of different answers from around the world. Ian was then invited in to join Pin Your Thanks to design a badge, the clapping Hands seemed an ideal first choice straight away.
He was asked to join by one of the founders, his friend Jenny Beavan OBE and then progressed to talk about a collaboration to add to it. What could a costume designer that feels most comfort in denim and an artist produce, a denim jacket of course - and what goes with a denim jacket, pin badges! They worked with Blackhorse Lane in Walthamstow for the jacket and it was then pinned with the answers to #iclapfor, with badges from a range from the various medical workers to teachers, bus drivers and prison workers - all the many people we were grateful for during the pandemic.
The inside was lined with the letters of the many famous backers like Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Harry Hill. Of course they included all the Pin Your Thanks specially designed badges. Beavan hand stitched these into the jacket and they pinned the badges on starting in the early weeks of lockdown! Working remotely from Ian Berry’s studio and Jenny Beavan’s south London home.
About Jenny Beavan OBE
Jenny Beavan has been nominated for the Oscar for Costume Design ten times, claiming two Academy Awards - for A Room with a View in 1986 and Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015.
Since then Beavan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to drama production.
She is known for films such as Howards End, Sense and Sensibility, Gosford Park and The King's Speech as well as her work in theatre.
at the time of her latest Oscar win that made the headlines, she said
‘I am a real jeans person. I have clothes to dress up in, but [the Oscars] was a really conscious thing of not just doing the plain black suit. I am British with a slightly rebellious character; I always have been. But, actually, in truth, you’ve seen me. I’m short, I’m fat. I really would look ridiculous in a gown. What I was actually wearing at the Oscars was sort of an homage to Mad Max — a kind of biker outfit. I thought, “If I can’t beat them, or if I can’t sort of join them, then why not try doing something a little bit fun?” And George [Miller] loved it. The [vegan] leather jacket had the Immorten Joe symbol on the back and I was just giving a little wink to Mad Max.’
The 12 Pin Your Thanks badgers on the denim jacket, joining Ian Berry is Kiera Knightley, Ringo Starr, Joe Lycett, Emelie Sande, Dame Sarah Storey, Anoushka Shankar, David James MBE, Billie Temple and of course, young Evie! Get one here
Ian Berry's exhibit is running from the 1st December 2020 till 13 June 2021. The museum shop also stocks all our 12 pins and they can now be seen on the streets of Holland for people to say thank you. Want to add yours to your denim jacket or gift one to another? Buy one here - a perfect gift to say thank you this Christmas.
Post exhibition the Pin Your Thank jacket will be auctioned to raise money for their charities.
Ian Berry with his Pin Your Thanks badge at the Museum Rijswijk in The Netherlands
Ian and Elliott Berry, 6, sporting the badge at the Shard in London.
…and finally.. can you spot Ian Berry singing with a former Beatle?
Ian Berry | Splendid Isolation | The Book
Museum Rijswijk | Jap Sam Publishing
£23.00
Ian Berry’s new book, SPLENDID ISOLATION is out now and available to order online on ianberry.art - The book is a collaboration with publisher Jap Sam Books in The Netherlands with the Museum Rijswijk to coincide with the Solo Museum show of the same name.
It includes
· a forward by both Museum Rijswijk curator Diana Wind and Director Arnoud van Aalst
· 160 page paperback book
· Over 150 images in full colour (well, full of blue)
· Looks over some of his 15 years of making his artwork using only denim jeans
· Many images show detail shots of his work that have to be seen to be believed.
· Includes work from 2020 fully updated with Hotel California, the #iclapfor project and Stay Behind Closed Doors photo project as well as all the installations from around the world.
A page from the Splendid Isolation book showing Hotel California
The book was launched at the 2020 Virtual Art Book Fair (VABF) organized by Tokyo Art Book Fair (TABF) with Jap Sam. The fair was originally scheduled for Fall 2020 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. It then debuted at the Museum shop at Museum Rijswijk and was popular with visitors. You can now get it here, online.
The book comes signed by the artist Ian Berry and you can also request a message to be sent. We can post around the world with the postages below, including a special launch offer.
Postage
· £2.50 to the UK (Free pre Christmas with FREESHIPPING code at check out)
· £8 within Europe (Half price with EUSHIPPING code) and to the rest of the world and £10.00 to the rest of the world (half price with HALFWORLD at check out) pre Christmas
About
Ian Berry has emerged as an exciting young British artist over the last decade. He has been making virtuous figurative paintings and installations of denim for over 15 years. He uses discarded jeans, cuts them up into pieces and sorts according to hue like a painter places his colour nuances to his palette. At first glance the work seems two-dimensional, but when you zoom in, you can see how different layers of denim are placed on top and over each other. The ‘paintings’ are in fact denim collages so perfectly put together. They are almost impossible to distinguish from a realistic painting. Ian Berry also makes three-dimensional denim installations, which have been on display on multiple continents and at museums.
Ian Berry is a socially committed artist. With his work he responds to topical developments in society. His work is made of denim not only because he likes the material, it is as well because the textile industry is one of the most polluting industries. In his work he asks attention for this. In 2019, Ian Berry was proclaimed one of the 50 most influential people in the denim industry in the world and had been named a top artist un 30 in the world in 2013.
This eponymous publication accompanies the first solo-exhibition of Berry in the Netherlands. Ian Berry | Splendid Isolation, Museum Rijswijk, November 29, 2020 – April 5, 2021.
Illustrated with numerous images that aim to convey the depth and texture of Berry’s work, which explores our urban environment and examines community issues, or the lack thereof. With this everyday material he portrays contemporary life, and for him there is no better medium to depict it than the material of our time, denim jeans.
Ian Berry (1984, Huddersfield UK) is based in East London. He is internationally known for his works made out of only pairs of jeans.
A spread from the book, Ian Berry, Splendid Isolation.
ISBN
978-94-92852-30-4
Graphic designer
Tim Ho @duotone.hk
Number of pages
160
Book size
24 x 24 cm
Binding
Paperback
Date of Release
29 November 2020
Language
English and Dutch
Ian and Elliott Berry’s #iclapfor is feature in the new book Splendid Isolation
With Thanks
Along with Museum Rijswijk and Jap Sam Books the book was made possible by the museum show principle sponsor Pepe Jeans London, along with Tencel, Famore Cutlery, Cone Denim and Tonello.
ABOUT Jap Sam Books, headed by Eleonoor Jap Sam, is an independent international publishing house based in the south of the Netherlands. Our publishing house publishes titles that explore developments in architecture, art, philosophy, design, photography and theory as well as the fields that touch them, such as urbanism, landscape, sociology and history. Jap Sam Books has been established to reflect, connect and respond to developments in these fields, by bringing out a range of critical and reflective books for an international audience. We believe in a multidisciplinary approach and cross-border thinking.The books that we publish are not only educational and inspirational, but also very beautifully designed, and all produced in close collaboration with our contributors.
News
News from the studio of Ian Berry
NEW!
Ian Berry’s, SPLENDID ISOLATION is out now and available to order online. The book is a collaboration with publisher Jap Sam Books in The Netherlands with the Museum Rijswijk to coincide with the Solo Museum show of the same name.
The book includes
· a foreward by Museum Rijswijk curator Diana Wind and Director Arnoud van Aalst
· 160 page paperback book
· Over 150 images in full colour (well, full of blue)
· Looks over some of his 15 years of making his artwork using only denim
· Many images show detail shots of his work that have to be seen to be believed.
The book was launched at the 2020 Virtual Art Book Fair (VABF) organized by Tokyo Art Book Fair (TABF) with Jap Sam. The fair was originally scheduled for Fall 2020 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. It then debuted at the Museum shop at Museum Rijswijk and was popular with visitors. You can now get it here.
The book comes signed by the artist Ian Berry and you can also request a message to be sent. We can post around the world with the postages below, including a special launch offer.
Postage
· £2.50 to the UK (Free with FREESHIPPING code at check out)
Postage outside the UK will come up at Check out.
Along with Museum Rijswijk and Jap Sam Books the book was made possible by the museum show principle sponsor Pepe Jeans London, along with Tencel, Famore Cutlery, Cone Denim and Tonello.