RIVANE NEUENSCHWANDER: THE NAME OF FEAR: Whitechapel Gallery, London

June 23 - October 25, 2015
Installation Views
Press release

Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander’s (b. 1967) new installation explores childhood fears, in a display of vibrant handmade capes that combines elements of drawing, textiles, design, performance and writing.

The artist worked with children aged 7 to 9 from across London to gather a collection of fears – ranging from ‘heights’ and ‘bees’, to ‘strangers’ and ‘nightmares’, and the more abstract ‘silence’.

 

Neuenschwander has translated the children’s drawings and texts into fabric cape designs. Associated with protection and supernatural power, the capes also echo the artists’ interest in folk traditions, children’s literature, nature, psychoanalysis, and in the rich history of modern art in her native country.