The mention of tapestry can bring to mind reminiscences of castles and grandmothers, but in contemporary art the notion of a tapestry is still strong and current. Artist Alan Neider highlights this practice in his Tapestry Series.
Doing tapestry is something that has been in practice for hundreds of years. Tapestries have honored the celestial skies, and heavens, depicted everyday scenes and even reinforced mantras. Alan Neider, though, takes the notion of a tapestry and makes it his own.
Piecing together elements of fiber under the practice of collage, Neider creates large works that mimic some everyday social markers - like cereal boxes, and more. The underlying purpose and message of the work is to draw attention to symbols in society by unearthing them in the collaged tapestry. Each tapestry from Neider does its best, it seems to not conform, to not stand in the expected position of a tapestry, but instead, seem to hold reign as a fragment of a bigger picture - a jigsaw, maybe. By looking at all the works as pieces of a whole, one can understand that not only is the artist interested in the beauty of the works, but also interested in interpreting the symbols of society. Many of these symbols like "Tony the Tiger" take root in childhood and as such become part of how innocence is molded, or put together. Not content with just highlighting childhood symbols Neider also embellishes his tapestries with images of opulence and wealth - again drawing attention to what we value in society. There is a problem though in these symbols, these social markers as both imply both to consume and to desire objects.
In many ways the tapestries of old depicted scenes oversaturated in the ideal, in Neider's there is that as well - but the difference between the past and the present is it does seems we are consumed with both the obsession of consuming and idealizing more the object than each other.
