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AT LAST! MODERN MOSAICS AT THE V&A!

The mosaics in question are not computer-generated inkjet prints nor carpets, they are the real thing. One is a genuine 3-D mosaic by Carrie Reichardt called Tiki Love Truck (2007). You can see a photo and learn more at http://carriereichardt.com/work/projects-public-community/tiki-truck/

And there are two other Reichardt mosaics - History is a Weapon and Power to the People. All three can be seen in the V&A's Disobedient Objects exhibition, which runs from 26 July 2014 to 1 February 2015.

A bit of back story - in 2001 Sir Nicholas Serota, director of Tate Modern, was asked if the gallery would feature modern mosaic in its collections. He replied that “there is an agreement with the Trustees of the Victoria & Albert Museum, as the national collection of Art and Design, that they will concentrate on the decorative arts, leaving the graphic arts of the twentieth century to us”.

The idea that mosaic is always “decorative” as opposed to “graphic” is tendentious, of course, not to say silly. Nevertheless in 2012 Sir Nicholas Serota’s assistant confirmed the policy: “Sir Nicholas has asked me to reply on his behalf to confirm that we do not usually display contemporary mosaic at Tate. You are correct that we consider it a medium better suited to exhibitions at the V&A, which is the national museum of art and design.”

As it happened, till 26 July this year the only examples of modern mosaic at the V&A since the "agreement" were the panels, Variations on the Hexagon, by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, created for the opening of the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art in 2006.

But now, eight years later, the V&A is showing us three more modern mosaics.

Onwards and upwards…

 

 

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