#barbarabrown

[philipbpedersen]

Textiles by Barbara Brown, 1960-1970s

[wherever-i-look-blog]

P-Valley: Season 2/ Episode 1 “Pussyland” [Premiere] – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers) | All of your favorites are back, and with the pandemic lockdown being lifted, it is time to get back to work! | https://tinyurl.com/2dbqy2va

[mlpshop]

友人をお迎えしての新年会。 #mldwinterpottery #midwinterfocus #barbarabrown #お節料理 #作 #日本酒好き #日本酒 https://www.instagram.com/p/CJiah5fMH7D/?igshid=26yxj97guh2f

[djactionslacks]

I'm excited to share some of my favorite women vocalists with you TONIGHT on KMHD 7 to 9 pm (PST) . Escape with me to Respected Lady Land as I pay respect to SOME of my favorite women vocalists of vintage R&B, #soulmusic, #TheBlues, & #Jazz. . Travel down the dial to 89.1 fm in #Portland or stream it live at kmhd.org (9 pm Central, 10 pm Eastern) . I wasn't able to fit all of my favorites into one show, so I plan on making this a series, perhaps I'll present pt 2 next month? . You're likely familiar with many of the women you'll hear tonight. Here are a few photos of some of the lesser known (in the USA) artists: . #ElzaSoares is an international superstar, and a groundbreaking Brazilian samba singer who scored her first hits in the early 1960s. . #TheSoulSisters released one LP and a handful of singles (mostly on NYC's Sue records). They released some of the most explosive soul records of the mid-1960s. Little is written about them, yet they remained beloved by soul-obsessed records nerds world-wide. . #BarbaraBrown & her family intended to launch a gospel recording career in early 1960s Memphis. Instead she was persuaded to record a handful of some of the best soul singles to come out of #StaxRecords. I will be playing one of them tonight. https://www.instagram.com/p/CGYaaCwhbkJ/?igshid=1dkevumi19gdg

[moritan0717]

UKの再発専門レーベルACE/ KENTから6月にリリースされた12 inchとCD。 V.A. “Would She Do That For You? - Girl Group Sounds USA 1964-68”(12 inch) BARBARA BROWN “Got To Be Somebody”(12 inch) V.A. “Masterpieces Of Modern Soul - Volume 5” (CD) V.A. “Rhythm ‘n’ Bluesin’ By The Bayou - Bop Cat Stomp” (CD) #acerecords #kentrecords #wouldshedothatforyou #girlgroupsounds #barbarabrown #gottobesomebody #masterpiecesofmodernsoul #rhythmnbluesinbythebayou #bopcatstomp #aceレコード #kentレコード #ケントレコード https://www.instagram.com/p/By6Nqeyn-D3/?igshid=1m2ketk2butts

[ash-and-ice]

#Manchester #UK #prints #whitworthartgallery #BarbaraBrown (à The Whitworth)

[kariorvik]

I love the way referrals pass through the studio- 3 years ago I met and photographed amazing poet Fred Moten through my friend and writer Tisa Bryant, and Fred referred author Barbara Browning to my pop up studio in New York last year, whose book 'The Gift' just came out. I guess that sounds like name-dropping, but it's more like a gift that keeps giving to continue to meet truly kind, generous and talented artists through my photography. Congrats to Barbara on her book and I love the way her author photo came out! #thegift #authorphoto #tintype #barbarabrowning #nyc (at Kari Orvik Tintype Studio)

[itstwads]

Barbara Brown' fabrics for Heal's from the 1950s and 60s proudly, and emphatically, on display at The Whitworth Gallery, Manchester. #BarbaraBrown #Whitworth #Manchester #UK #textiles #fabric #Heals (at Whitworth Art Gallery)

[ticklr]

❤️ #barbarabrown #textiles #design #pattern #heals #60s #70s #whitworthartgallery (at The Whitworth)

[streamandriver]

Barbara Brown @ Heal's "Her career epitomised many of the difficulties of a female artist in the mid 20th century. Wishing to be a sculptor she was pushed by her tutors towards textile design. The results are some of the most powerful and unusual patterns produced in the 20th century. " . #BarbaraBrown #textile #heals #design #60s #80s #whitworthgallery #exhibition I wanted to do textile design at 17 but was pushed towards medicine 😂 (at The Whitworth)

[miatamme111]

http://www.thecorrespondenceartist.com/how-i-came-to-write-this-book....html

still one of my favorite writers 

barbarabrowning

[unabridgedbookstore]

One week from today our book club meets to discuss Barbara Browning's THE GIFT. @bookforum calls THE GIFT "an unusual novel about the performance of life and the life of performance that tells us empathy and passion are deeply political." Don't miss your chance to discuss this extraordinary text with the coolest book club in town. 😎 #litsyndicate #barbarabrowning #thegift (at Unabridged Bookstore)

[whitworthworkoftheweek]

Work #72

Blanket

Barbara Brown, 1987

Machine-knitted wool

Barbara Brown was a high profile 1960s British designer. Born in Manchester in 1932, Barbara Brown was considered one of the prolific designers of 1960s Britain. Originally commissioned by Heal’s fabrics, Brown’s characteristic 3D designs and bold futuristic compositions quickly earned her the reputation of one of the golden girls during the 1960s and 70s. Brown’s bold futuristic designs reflected a confidence which swept through the country during the 1960s, where post war Britain began to get optimistic about the future again, rejecting the drab browns of the make-do-and-mend era.

Alongside another of Heal’s superstars, Lucienne Day, Brown played a part in this shift in society, where young people were turning away from the traditional one-size-fits-all textiles - and indeed values - of their parents’ generation. Brown and Day’s contemporary home fabrics and furnishings played a part in the new wave of attractive and affordable design available to the general public instead of just the elite few. Day even exhibited her work at the Britain Can Make It exhibition, intended to boost morale across the nation.

Despite being such a prolific designer, Brown’s name is not as well-known as Heal’s principal client, Lucienne Day. It is not so much that Brown was working in the shadow of Lucienne Day, as Brown came a little later than Day’s debut, but perhaps due to the associations her designs have with the 70’s: her bold geometric designs and shades of browns and oranges epitomise 1960’s and 70’s style, and, along with avocado bathroom suites, carry a certain stigma as an era of somewhat garish household décor, gladly forgotten by those who grew up in it. Lucienne Day’s work tended to heavily feature nature and natural patterns, something which is considered classic and is repeatedly returned to in fashion still today. At the time, however, Brown’s home furnishings were much-loved and considered very contemporary. They were sold at prices, which enabled customers to replace household items every few years as fashion changed. Tom Worthington, Heal’s owner, invested in designers who produced compositions exemplifying the changing moods of the decade.

For many, the 1960s is considered to be an era of revival of handicrafts and more modern ideas were combined with traditional crafts. Heals designs worked with designers to create a range of colourways to print their fabrics, something which immediately strikes you up on entering the Barbara Brown exhibition here at The Whitworth, particularly ‘Piazza’, ‘Colonnade’ and ‘Recurrence’, bold shapes in a range of colours reminiscent of pop art prints. But it is not these designs that capture my attention most, but rather, the multi-coloured linear patchwork blanket hung in the far corner: ‘Blanket’. This piece stands out from the rest, not only as the only one made of wool, but through its composition; a kaleidoscopic island of block colours which give way to more muted tones. Despite its vibrancy, the piece has an air of unobtrusiveness, displayed by the exit and somewhat cut off from the rest of the exhibition space.

After taking a particular interest in this piece, believing it to be wholly different to its counterparts in the main exhibition space, I come to discover it is actually a lot like the others in that it is highly exemplary of the era: It is a traditional craft adapted for commercial production (machine knit), and it exudes the confidence characteristic of the era. The blanket’s patchwork block colours are joined with a seamlessness that is only achievable through this method of production and near impossible through hand knitting.

The effect of mass production on home furnishings in the average UK household was immense and, for me, the machine knitted blanket is a marker of this shift from a culture of homemade furnishings of the war and post-war era to the more shop-bought consumer culture of the 1970s. In the  1980s, handicrafts of times gone by, including home sewing and knitting, were in rapid decline throughout the western world; shop bought clothes and machine-knitted items were so readily available to buy, and often much cheaper than the cost of fabric or wool and a pattern to follow -  and much less effort to make. By the 1990s, wool suppliers were becoming obsolete and wool shops suffered. Looking at Barbara Brown’s ‘Blanket’, I think it somewhat represents the beginning of the end for homemade creations and makes me think of the ‘fast-fashion’ throwaway culture of today. As appealing as the piece is to the eye, it is rather a bittersweet experience to learn of the implications of mass producing items that used to be handmade. On the one hand, this meant the average – and even poorer - households could brighten up their living spaces and keep up to date with fashion trends without breaking the bank. On other hand however, it is another reminder of how machines have replaced crafts and dying art forms, as well as a reminder of our increasing dependence on high street manufacturers and our almost inescapable relationship with them.

The textiles industry, however, is currently under scrutiny for a number of reasons (working conditions in overseas factories, the carbon footprint of mass production and overall unsustainability, to name just a few) and there’s the very beginnings of a shift in today’s culture, where people are beginning to confront the problems of the textiles industry. One indication of that fact is the revival of traditional crafts, especially amongst the younger generations. For many, returning to handmade crafts - or learning for the first time - is not just about trying to create a revolution in the textiles industry, but it’s also a way of connecting with past generations, learning the skills of our grandparents, for whom making clothing and furnishings was an accepted part of life.  My Nanna taught me to knit and when we talk about different techniques, complicates stitches and tools, I feel as if I’ve picked up an old forgotten language which provides me with a glimpse into her past and how she used to live.

Abbie Roberts (Visitor Team Assistant)

[mlpshop]

友人をお迎えしての新年会。 #mldwinterpottery #midwinterfocus #barbarabrown #お節料理 #作 #日本酒好き #日本酒 https://www.instagram.com/p/CJiah5fMH7D/?igshid=nnf7ifey6102

[paulahijosa-blog]

Playing with Barbara Brown's textiles #color #textil #heal #barbarabrown #fabrics #whitworth #art #gallery

[ash-and-ice]

#Manchester #UK #prints #whitworthartgallery #BarbaraBrown #60s #vintage (à The Whitworth)