August 11, 2010

Subversive Toiles

I was poking around doing some research on the Maryland Toile we found the other day, and came across a whole underground movement of subversive toiles.

Richard Saja of Historically Inaccurate , is the leader of the pack. I wrote about meeting him about a year and a half ago, here. fruit-thief acc 010 Saja embroiders the toiles to change the story to something a little darker and less happy.

Here’s another artist’s before and after, with a power line, an upside-down grocery card, a bottle of booze and a milk bottle floating in the water.





before toile
pompomemporium

Another artist has taken to colouring in the pictures with neon-bright high-lighters. toile_pillow Then there are the toiles from Timorous Beasties depicting the darker side of the Glasgow slums and some of London’s less attractive sections.timbeasties london toile Another one, that’s not really subversive is the Toile d’Iowa.Toile de l'Iowa by Sandra Stewart All very clever and such a departure from the traditional designs!

15 comments:

  1. I rather like the idea. It would make an interesting accent to have a small piece/section in a subversive mood, with the majority unadorned.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really great to see the effort kept by the creator...would like to see much more....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Okay, now, this is just too, too good!

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of your best postings ever! Thanks for sharing...would love to see more on this if you have it..K

    ReplyDelete
  5. Don't forget Sheila Bridges's Harlem toile!

    ReplyDelete
  6. For the most part, I don't like Toiles. But these I like! They aren't so hummm drum - they become more thought provoking. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Subversive tioles - love it! Yes, I go for juct about anything embroidery - but this makes you stop and look twice.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Please excuse the typo -- meant toiles -- typing fingers and brain on different wave lengths this morning!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very interesting, but a little scary.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Get's your brain going. I feel like I am back in art school again. So fun to look at and think about.

    ReplyDelete
  11. There is a lovely New Orleans toile found at Hazelnut, which is a shop owned by Bryan Batt from "Mad Men".

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the idea of taking a magic marker to toile! Why didn't I think of that?

    ReplyDelete
  13. I’ve always admired toiles. Something satisfying about the monochromatic simplicity of them. Toile reminds me of Staffordshire transferware, with which it pairs very nicely.

    We tend to think of toile as depicting 18th century pastoral scenes, but there are many other vintage toiles with scenes such as ships and seascapes, prospects of Egypt and other exotic places, chinoiserie, equestrian scenes, sports, historic events, and other interesting themes. I like the North American theme toiles. I’ve also seen Canadian toiles with scenes of French explorers such as Champlain. I wish those were still in production.

    Toile is terrific for our more casual lifestyles. It is easy to live with, economical, easy to clean, classic, and often scholarly. It looks unpretentious in a way that fine silk, brocade, or damask cannot. Toile isn’t quite as popular as it was 10-15 years ago when there was a bit of a revival, but it always comes back. Like so many time tested classics.

    Great selection of images showing interesting ways to use toile. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Subversive, the kissing cousin of the Sexy Toiles out door too!
    Hope you can come to New Orleans to see the toile at Commanders in person.
    xo xo

    ReplyDelete
  15. So sorry I am late to the party.
    This my first visit to your Blog and, oh my! what a post. This is stellar.

    I have two rolls of Brunschwig & Fils 'West Indies Toile' that is a colorway that just wasn't working for me. Until now. I have a healthy supply of gouache (thank you Craigslist) and a head full of dreams.

    I also love your Toile de Baltimore of 8/14/10.

    Regards

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading and commenting on Pigtown*Design. I read each and every comment and try to reply if I have your e-mail address.