Necklace with Stuffed Palm Leaves

Sculpture

-

di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art

Name/Title

Necklace with Stuffed Palm Leaves

Entry/Object ID

192

Description

Hand-painted fabric with camel and pyramid in center and stuffed palm leaf pendants

Artwork Details

Medium

Paint on cotton

Category

Fiber Art

Acquisition

Accession

AR0192

Source or Donor

Janet Bishop

Acquisition Method

Purchase

Made/Created

Artist

K. Lee Manuel

Date made

1973

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Notes

Verso; K Lee Manuel '73

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Object

Height

22 in

Width

12-1/2 in

Depth

1 in

Exhibitions

Exhibition

To the Max!

Notes

September 8, 2023 - Sunday, August 24, 2024 - di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa

Exhibition

Building A Different Model: Selections from the di Rosa Collection

Notes

March 9 - December 29, 2019, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa

Research Notes

Research Type

Curator

Date

2019

Notes

K. Lee Manuel was a leading figure in fiber and wearable art. She often hand-painted and/or incorporated feathers into her unique garments, fabric designs, and accessories. Manuel credited her turn to this inherently public but also ephemeral medium to an experience in the late 1950s as a painting student at the San Francisco Art Institute: “I had an extremely disturbing experience at the San Francisco Museum of [Modern] Art. . . . We were taken down into the bowels of the museum to investigate the hundreds of works of art stored in darkness—hidden from the world. I asked the guide how often these pieces got out into the light of day and had an opportunity to interact with the public. ‘Perhaps once in two years at most,’ the guide replied. ‘Sometimes longer. Or never.’” Manuel set out to make all manner of usable artworks that would be seen in the world on an ongoing basis.