MATERIAL WORLD | Short Film

Watch the film clip of Ian Berry at the Textil Museet Exhibition during the install of Material World. Filmed by Amelia Finngåård on location see the interview as well as him installing the work, alongside images of the show including clips of the collaborations with TWOOD and Jonathan Christopher.

Ian Berry använder recyklad denim i sina verk. Vid första anblicken är det lätt att missta Ians verk för att vara blåtonade eller indigofärgade fotografier. Vid en närmare titt ser en att verken består av lager på lager av denim i olika nyanser. Läs mer om utställningen här: https://textilmuseet.se/utstallningar...

Ian Berry Material World Review

From Elle Sweden to the Telegraph in the UK, there was a number of articles and reviews or Material World at Textil Museet, the National Textile Museum of Sweden. Borås Tidning printed several articles but we thought we’d share this one from art critic Agnes Brusk Jahn, translated from Swedish.

Fascinating jeans art at Textilmuseet

Ian Berry’s exhibition shows an extraordinary eye for nuances, says BT:s reviewer Agnes Brusk Jahn.

The last couple of years it’s been a lot of talk about recycling, upcycling and circular fashion. The more that’s exposed about the textile industry’s heavily negative impact on the environment, the more initiatives have come to change the industry. Even if some of them are pure greenwashing, most of them are innovative and hopeful. The denim artist Ian Berry on the other hand, ends up in a category of his own.

Ian Berry’s work is art, not fashion. Not because the two can’t go hand in hand – the artist has in the exhibition cooperated with the fashion designer Jonathan Christopher, who has designed incomparable garments in response to selected art works, and Lill O Sjoberg, with the innovation twood (textile-wood) where old denim becomes a hybrid between textile and wood.

Ian Berry collects old jeans fabric and creates artwork of it. At a distance his “tavlor”, if that’s the correct word, may look like denim fabric that the artist has painted in different shades. But if you move closer you realize that every shadow, light shift, motive and silhouette is a piece of fabric of its own in exactly the right shade, that has been attached to another, and another, to create the motive the artist wants. A city train on elevated rail. An almost empty pub. A swimming body, whose shape changes by the movements of the water. He makes skin shine and metal glisten. It is outstanding.

His extraordinary eye for nuances and shadows is complemented, in addition to craftsmanship, by the artistic eye for the motives he chooses. Reflections in a calm pool. A lonely girl in an empty hallway. Cityscapes.

The use of denim is no coincidence. He is interested in the denim garment’s role in history and our lives. How they became a standing feature in each person’s wardrobe after they reached icon status because famous musicians and actors wore them, something he illustrates with an enormous installation outside the exhibition room, where he has depicted famous jeans icons of all times, surrounded by LP records and plants. All in denim.

In addition to the artwork on the walls in the dark exhibition room, flowering vegetation is hanging down from the ceiling and creates a jungle around the visitor, as a felicitous reminder of the natural origin of the jeans: the cotton plant and the indigo plant. In the middle of the jungle is Jonathan Christopher’s most beautiful creation standing, a flowering dress that is climbing up and into Ian Berry’s installation.

With the artworks and the well thought through cooperations, the exhibition becomes both a fascinating art experience in itself and a reminder of endless opportunities when it comes to reuse of the resources we already have. Especially if art, curiosity, power of innovation and crafts can cooperate.

Ian Berry and Tonello nominated for Film Award!

Ian Berry and Tonello have been nominated for an inaugural Blue Lenz Award in the Best Sustainability video category for 2021!

The short documentary was filmed in Italy at Tonello HQ by Stefano Gnata who followed the process of creating the Secret Garden for a special installation at the San Fran Flower Mart in San Francisco. Filming the washing and lazering of the special Cone Denim fabric and the creation of the vines, flowers and wisteria that goes in to creating the hanging trellis. Alice Tonello, the Marketing Manager and head of R&D, along with Ian Berry were interviewed prior to the installing of the piece in California in 2018.

Blue Lenz YouTube channel has amassed a library of videos that spans educational to inspirational content around the denim community. They feature a community of creators including mills, consultants, designers and industry insiders who contribute to making this channel a go-to resource for denim.

Blue Lenz was founded to provide a more evergreen, centralized space for the outstanding content being produced. With more than 300 videos live on the channel, they thought it was time to recognize some of the best denim videos featured on Blue Lenz.

For the first time, Blue Lenz Denim Video Awards will be hosted during Bluezone later this month in Munich, Germany.

Click the images to see images of the final result in San Francisco.

Ian Berry said.

“It’s great to get this mention amongst so many great videos clips and all promoting good causes and ethics. I’m particularly pleased for Tonello who put so much work into the collaboration and support me greatly to get a nomination from an industry they are central to. And also good luck to my friends at Carved in Blue/Lenzing/Tencel who have put so much effort into bringing the industry together and now with these Blue Lenz awards. Of course both have supported me over a number of years and along with Pepe Jeans and Cone Denim have been great partners, not least at the latest museum show at Museum Rijswijk in The Netherlands. It will be no shame coming a runner up to any of these films created.”

The other nominees in the section are :

Best Sustainability – Connection to the UN SDGs

• True Cost of Apparel Industry – BBC/Mostafiz Uddin

• Artistic Fabric Mills – Tracing the Lifecycle of a Jean – SDG 12

• Tonello x Ian Berry – Secret Garden @ San Francisco Flower Market

• Jeanologia – Handman – The Revival of Jeans Manufacturing

• Artistic Milliners – Organic Cotton in Pakistan

“Over the past several years, we have seen increasing use of video to explain denim design, history, environmental and social impact,” said Lenzing’s Tricia Carey. “With the pandemic, videos became a way to connect globally as we have had limited in-person meetings. With this in mind, we believe the denim industry needs to celebrate the incredible creativity, people and concepts. This led to the start of our Blue Lenz YouTube channel several years ago and now to the first denim video awards to showcase the best video storytelling of the global denim community.“

They enlisted a panel of seven judges who hail from around the globe to pick and choose the cream of the crop:

• Margherita Verlicchi, Menabo – Italy

• Michelle Branch, Markt & Twigs – United States

• Wouter Munnichs, Long John Denim – Netherlands

• Neha Celly, Nece Gene – India

• Erin Barajas, Interesting Monsters – United States

• Panos Sofianos, Bluezone – Germany and Greece

• Kelly Harrington, Trademark Blue – United Kingdom
  

The awards cover eight categories. In addition to bragging rights, the winners will receive a certificate, and they will be featured during an awards presentation at Bluezone in Munich, Germany.

• If you’re attending Bluezone, join us on Aug. 31 at 3 pm CET as we announce the winners live during a ceremony. They’ll also be sharing a video of the presentation on their Carved in Blue Instagram. 

Behind the Brands Podcast - Ian Berry

Talking on the Behind Brands Podcast Ian Berry spoke with Warren Parker-Mills which was something of a change for them in regards to this week's episode, as, Ian Berry isn’t really a brand. Well, he is, but you know.

Warren says ‘as we chat in-depth with the super talented artist, Ian Berry. Ian has showed his incredibly impressive work at exhibitions and Installations across the globe and was recognised as being one of the "Top 30 under 30" within the Art World. Ian scours, thousands of pairs of Jeans to locate the perfect shade of Denim to use in his 'blue based' creations. ‘

’Take a listen to understand his ongoing relationship with Denim and how he uses the fabric to depict day to day life and 20th Century culture.’

https://lnkd.in/e5xAFyp

If you want to see Ian's work in real life, head to Museum Rijswijk in the Netherlands, his work will be available to view until the 5th August.

Museum Rijswijk Reopens

Splendid Isolation

5 June - 15 August 2021

Museum Rijswijk, Rijswijk, the Netherlands

After a long period behind closed doors the 5th June see’s Ian Berry ‘Splendid Isolation’ Exhibition at Museum Rijswijk in Holland reopen. It will be then be prolonged until 15 August 2021. To mark the opening Mixed Grill put it in its Top 11 Shows to see in Holland and FD marked it as a ‘Must See’ as galleries now reopen across the Netherlands.

It was also on TV West Nieuws in the Zuid-Holland Noord region, where curator Diana Wind guides around the show and talks about Ian' Berry’s work with only denim jeans. (all in Dutch)

As well as other platforms on the Omroep West platform.

Ian Berry Splendid Isolation at Museum Rijswijk by Omroep West

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Get your tickets now to see Ian Berry’s art in denim at Museum Rijswijk until 15 August.

#iclapfor x W1 Curates X Make it Blue

Today is the one-year anniversary of the start of the Clap For Our Carers campaign in the UK. Artist Ian Berry collaborated with Make it Blue along with David Bailey, Keira Knightly and Ringo Starr with art that was displayed on the 36 giant screens of the W1 Curates public art platform, a giant exhibition space covering the exterior of the Flannels fashion store on London’s Oxford Street.

The exhibition, presented by arts curator W1 Curates, was the pinnacle of the #LightItBlue campaign which was reignited at the start of the year. Major sporting and entertainment venues, national landmarks and historic buildings across the capital have been illuminating blue on Thursday nights in a gesture of thanks to the NHS and all those on the COVID healthcare frontline and has provided a positive back drop of iconic images that will forever be remembered when looking back at this time. 

Ian and Elliott Berry’s #iclapfor Pin Your Thanks badge at W1 Curates photo Ben Waugh

In marking the finale of the nine-week W1 Curates show, today, 25 March, is also the one-year anniversary of the #LightItBlue campaign that has prompted landmarks and buildings to illuminate blue in 23 countries across six continents.

Heading the list of landmarks to light blue for the NHS in recent weeks are The London Eye, County Hall, City Hall, Trafalgar Square, Madame Tussauds London, London Stadium and Olympic Park, the O2, The Shard, Tower 42, One Canada Square, Selfridges and Wembley Arch.  

Wembley Stadium Make it Blue #lightitblue

#LightItBlue is organised by MAKEITBLUE CIC, the #LightItBlue campaign was created by members of the UK events and entertainment industry. It began on Thursday 26 March 2020 when over 100 of the UK’s most famous buildings were illuminated blue to coincide with the nationwide round of applause for the NHS and care workers. Since then, territories in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States have joined the campaign.

Ian Berry has also spent much of the last 12 months seeing his and his six-year-old son's  #iclapfor clapping hands artwork projected in support of all on the frontline onto buildings all around the country, and abroad.

A new painting by legendary Fashion photographer David Bailey, CBE has also been included in the one-day show at W1 Curates to mark the one year anniversary. Previous artists to display have included Vhils, Michael Craig Martin, Ian Davenport and Helen Downie. At the heart of London’s iconic Oxford Street, W1 Curates projects powerful art to the people by transforming the exterior of Flannels’ Flagship store into a giant exhibition space.  Using state-of-the-art technology, W1 Curates exhibits the best art with digital prowess and unmissable innovation.

Famed photographer David Bailey also contributed a piece of his artwork. photo Ben Waugh

Tim Owen, Director of the #LightItBlue campaign said: “We love these images, which  absolutely chime with our existing collaboration with W1 Curates. For the last nine weeks artists have interpreted messages of thanks and respect to the NHS in their own unique and beautiful way, so they could be displayed and shared digitally with the world.

photo Ben Waugh

Also illuminated was the Pin Your Thanks project that Ian Berry joined with the Iclapfor hands turning into a pin badge. With art contributed by public figures including Emeli Sandé, Keira Knightly, Joe Lycett and Ringo Starr.

photo Ben Waugh

The Pin Your Thanks is ’The People’s Medal’  #pinyourthanks charity fundraising initiative, which turned the designs into pin badges that say a heartfelt thanks to those who have helped during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can buy a badge here

W1 Curates say that masterpieces should be for everyone, not just the privileged few. Too often, wonderful art can feel exclusive, secluded within dusty galleries or intimidating exhibitions. It can appear inaccessible, upper class or even old fashioned. Instead of being ignited with powerful art, people on the street are bombarded with urban advertising. Mark Dale, Founder, says

“For me, when shoppers rest their bags down and stare at the incredible art, it’s the best feeling in the world. Giving everyone the opportunity to experience art, to access it right on the high street - amid all the noise of city life, it provides this little oasis. Shoppers and workers are left feeling ignited and inspired. That’s why I do it. We bring art to the people, we open those doors, and who knows where that could take them?”

We’re proud to be showcasing works from some of the most innovative artist from around the world.

All #LightItBlue venues are using existing LED technology to illuminate their  structures, facades and screens to ensure the campaign adheres to the critical instructions for people to stay at home. All those involved in the campaign are acting on a pro bono basis.

Ian Berry is proud to collaborate with all of these important initiatives of the last year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ian Berry (@ianberry.art)

Ian Berry | Splendid Isolation | The Book

Museum Rijswijk | Jap Sam Publishing 

£23.00

Ian Berry’s new book, SPLENDID ISOLATION is out now and available to order online on ianberry.art - The book is a collaboration with publisher Jap Sam Books in The Netherlands with the Museum Rijswijk to coincide with the Solo Museum show of the same name.

It includes

· a forward by both Museum Rijswijk curator Diana Wind and Director Arnoud van Aalst

· 160 page paperback book

· Over 150 images in full colour (well, full of blue)

· Looks over some of his 15 years of making his artwork using only denim jeans

· Many images show detail shots of his work that have to be seen to be believed.

· Includes work from 2020 fully updated with Hotel California, the #iclapfor project and Stay Behind Closed Doors photo project as well as all the installations from around the world.

A page from the Splendid Isolation book showing Hotel California

The book was launched at the 2020 Virtual Art Book Fair (VABF) organized by Tokyo Art Book Fair (TABF) with Jap Sam. The fair was originally scheduled for Fall 2020 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. It then debuted at the Museum shop at Museum Rijswijk and was popular with visitors. You can now get it here, online.

The book comes signed by the artist Ian Berry and you can also request a message to be sent. We can post around the world with the postages below, including a special launch offer.

Postage

· £2.50 to the UK (Free pre Christmas with FREESHIPPING code at check out)

· £8 within Europe (Half price with EUSHIPPING code) and to the rest of the world and £10.00 to the rest of the world (half price with HALFWORLD at check out) pre Christmas

About

Ian Berry has emerged as an exciting young British artist over the last decade. He has been making virtuous figurative paintings and installations of denim for over 15 years. He uses discarded jeans, cuts them up into pieces and sorts according to hue like a painter places his colour nuances to his palette. At first glance the work seems two-dimensional, but when you zoom in, you can see how different layers of denim are placed on top and over each other. The ‘paintings’ are in fact denim collages so perfectly put together. They are almost impossible to distinguish from a realistic painting. Ian Berry also makes three-dimensional denim installations, which have been on display on multiple continents and at museums.

Ian Berry is a socially committed artist. With his work he responds to topical developments in society. His work is made of denim not only because he likes the material, it is as well because the textile industry is one of the most polluting industries. In his work he asks attention for this. In 2019, Ian Berry was proclaimed one of the 50 most influential people in the denim industry in the world and had been named a top artist un 30 in the world in 2013.

This eponymous publication accompanies the first solo-exhibition of Berry in the Netherlands. Ian Berry | Splendid Isolation, Museum Rijswijk, November 29, 2020 – April 5, 2021.

Illustrated with numerous images that aim to convey the depth and texture of Berry’s work, which explores our urban environment and examines community issues, or the lack thereof. With this everyday material he portrays contemporary life, and for him there is no better medium to depict it than the material of our time, denim jeans.

Ian Berry (1984, Huddersfield UK) is based in East London. He is internationally known for his works made out of only pairs of jeans.

A spread from the book, Ian Berry, Splendid Isolation.

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ISBN

978-94-92852-30-4

Graphic designer

Tim Ho @duotone.hk

Number of pages

160

Book size

24 x 24 cm

Binding

Paperback

Date of Release

29 November 2020

Language

English and Dutch

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Ian and Elliott Berry’s #iclapfor is feature in the new book Splendid Isolation

With Thanks

Along with Museum Rijswijk and Jap Sam Books the book was made possible by the museum show principle sponsor Pepe Jeans London, along with Tencel, Famore Cutlery, Cone Denim and Tonello.

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ABOUT Jap Sam Books, headed by Eleonoor Jap Sam, is an independent international publishing house based in the south of the Netherlands. Our publishing house publishes titles that explore developments in architecture, art, philosophy, design, photography and theory as well as the fields that touch them, such as urbanism, landscape, sociology and history. Jap Sam Books has been established to reflect, connect and respond to developments in these fields, by bringing out a range of critical and reflective books for an international audience. We believe in a multidisciplinary approach and cross-border thinking.The books that we publish are not only educational and inspirational, but also very beautifully designed, and all produced in close collaboration with our contributors.

Ian Berry's installation in San Francisco

From the birthplace of Levi Strauss in Germany to the place he made his name

A new permanent installation in San Francisco. 

Where

San Francisco Flower Mart

https://www.newsfflowermart.com

Kilroy Innovation Center (temporary location) 

660 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States

Credit: Lawrence Anderson Productions

 Intertwining a past to a future

20 meters x 80cm made in Recycled Denim

photos by Lawrence Anderson

A hanging trellis with flowers, leaves, vines, wisteria and chrysanthemums welcomes visitors, but it is no ordinary flora but a dense structure that blooms in blue, indigo blue. Each piece cut from jeans and denim. 

Cascading high across the wide-paned windows as a floral curtain, this piece is a solemn and bold reminder of the industrial history of the United States. The denim from this piece was sourced from the last denim mill in the United States, Cone Denim’s, White Oak in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

This piece was commissioned for the Kilroy Realty for the Kilroy Innovation Center to pay homage to the blue-collar jobs being preserved by the new San Francisco Flower Mart as well as portray the sustainable credentials and support Kilroy’s commitment to sustainability and art within its developments.

Credit: Lawrence Anderson Productions

click here to see a gallery of images from the San Francisco Flower Mart

Denim has been Ian Berry’s medium for over 15 years and one thing he loves the most about it, is the history though time and its symbolism but also its origins. Representing the Flower Mart in the material famed in the city dating back to the 1870s and the official fabric of California will show that the great new building respects and embraces the city’s heritage.

Of course, it was the immigrant to America, Leob Strauss who emigrated from Buttenheim in Germany to become Levi Strauss and make the garment what it is today. Ian Berry is currently exhibiting in the birth home of Levi in Bavaria starting a tour of his work that takes in many cities across the world. 

Credit: Steelblue, LLC

The democratic nature of this famed material is also a mark of this project’s preservation of blue-collared jobs and a bridge between the old and the new in this innovation. And of course, denim transcends all boundaries all over the world and ever since the 1800’s the Flower Mart has been ethnically diverse, and this history should be celebrated. 

While the city was built on gold and ‘white gold’ turned to jeans, now San Francisco is a world leader in technological innovation as a key industry as other industries waned. The true leaders know that we have to lead a sustainable future, and Kilroy is at the forefront of this and put simply the up cycled nature of this installation of worn and scraps of denim that pays tribute to its past and builds for a greener future.

Tonello 

Blue is also green with Ian’s friend’s at Tonello in Italy, an international leader in the production of garment treatment technologies, developing innovative equipment for the apparel industry. Ian has been working with Tonello for four years now since the Secret Garden in the CMA in New York and their relationship has flourished to make numerous other installations. In Ian’s work normally everything is just worn jeans and scissors, whereas the large-scale installations he turns to Tonello. 

With the installation for the new San Francisco Flower Mart, Tonello helped was (with ozone) dozens upon dozens of yards of the Cone denim and laser cut the vines to make the Trellis. Ian travelled to Italy to work with the specialist team in the region also famed for its denim industry 

Ian working with the Lazer Blade at Tonello

 Alice Tonello, head of marketing and R&D said

"Having the opportunity to work with Ian Berry is always amazing. We are using denim in a different and inspiring way, and it's something that in the industry usually doesn't happen.

When he asked us about this new project, we were so happy and so proud to be part of it. The installation in the San Francisco Flower Mart is an example of how collaborations and friendships can lead to unexpected and surprising results as well as portraying a message in a beautiful way."

Ian Berry saw the San Francisco links to the denim history at the Levi Strauss archive with Tracey Panek.

Credit: Lawrence Anderson Productions

 Tracey Panek, Levi Strauss & Co. Historian said

“Since the birth of blue jeans by Levi Strauss & Co.in 1873, denim and Levi’s® have been a foundational part of San Francisco’s history, culture, and political landscape. Denim constituted the working clothes for the builders who erected the city and the engineers who raised its bridges; it was the canvas of self-expression for hippies, the uniform for gay activists, and the business attire of today’s entrepreneurs. Denim will continue to be the common thread in San Francisco’s future fabric and that's why it is great to see it acknowledged in this amazing installation by Ian Berry.”

Kilroy Realty Corporation

Kilroy Realty Corporation

San Francisco Flower Mart

The origins of the San Francisco Flower Mart go back to the late 1800s when flower growers brought their product to Lotta’s Fountain in downtown San Francisco to sell to local flower shops. The need for a centrally-located space to bring together the ethnically-diverse groups of flower growers led to the opening of a market at 5th and Howard Streets in 1924.

In September 1956, the grand opening of the current San Francisco Terminal marked the establishment of an industry icon. As it has for more than a century, the San Francisco Flower Mart continues to witness the evolution of one of America’s greatest cities. Today, there are over 60 wholesalers and purveyors of cut flowers, potted plants, and floral supplies that service the floral industry of the Bay Area and beyond. 

Credit: Lawrence Anderson Productions

As the city evolves, the San Francisco Flower Mart Project will keep these timeless businesses in operation.  After almost 65 years at 6th and Brannan without any major renovations or updates, Kilroy Realty Corporation is planning to build the Flower Market a brand new, efficient, and environmentally sustainable wholesale marketplace at 901 16th Street in San Francisco’s historic Potrero Hill neighborhood.

 As Central SoMa prepares for major growth and reshaping into a vibrant, transit-oriented neighborhood, Kilroy will lead the historic San Francisco Flower Mart site at 6th and Brannan into its new role as the focal point of a dynamic, mixed-use space that offers a unique take on the urban lifestyle.

Kilroy Realty Corporation

Once the development is complete, the installation will move in from the Kilroy Innovation Center. More information about San Francisco Flower Mart may be found online at www.newsfflowermart.com. 

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation. Museum Rijswijk, The Netherlands

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation

Paintings and installations made of denim

December 2, 2020 - April 4, 2021

British artist Ian Berry (Huddersfield, 1984) has been creating virtuoso figurative paintings and installations from denim for over 15 years. He uses old and discarded jeans, which he cuts into pieces and sorts them according to colour, in the same way that a painter juxtaposes the successive shades of a colour. At first glance the work seems two-dimensional, but up close, you can see how the different layers of denim are placed on top of and over each other. The paintings are collages of denim that are so perfectly put together that it is almost indistinguishable from a realistic painting.Ian Berry also makes three-dimensional installations of denim such as the work Secret Garden (2018) and Record Store (2017), which have already been shown at museums on different continents.

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation is the artist's first solo exhibition in the Netherlands. There is a generous choice to see from the different series he has made over the past 15 years, such as Behind Closed Doors, Hotel California and The American Jean. Record Store, a complete record store made of denim, will also be on display but displayed within a home scene reflecting the year.

Ian Berry is a socially engaged artist. His work responds to recent developments in society. His work is not only made of denim because he likes the material, but can be linked to jeans being one of the most polluting as part of textile industry and his recycling draws attention. Ian Berry was named one of the 50 most influential people in the denim industry in 2019 and a top 30 artist under 30 by Art Business News. 

The Corona pandemic is an important topic in his most recent work. His clapping project is an animated denim projection of clapping hands to thank the medical sector for their commitment to Covid-19 and to all people for coping with the lockdown. This project has been projected onto buildings throughout Great Britain, Ireland and over a dozen other countries including the United States. The animation is also part of the exhibition in Museum Rijswijk where you can see a small documentary of the journey and story.

Following the lockdown in Great Britain, Ian Berry started the Behind Closed Doors photo project through his website. He has called on professionals and amateursphotographers to make a photo about what the lockdown means to them personally. A selection of the photos will be included in print or projected in the exhibition.

A catalogue will accompany the exhibition, which is available in the Museum Shop.

For more information, please contact Diana Wind, curator of contemporary art, dianawind(at)museumrijswijk.nl, telephone +31(0)630388366.

Museum Rijswijk Herenstraat 67, 2282 BR Rijswijk, Netherlands

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation

Schilderijen en installaties gemaakt van denim

29 november 2020 – 4 april 2021

De Britse kunstenaar Ian Berry (Huddersfield, 1984) maakt al ruim 15 jaar virtuoze figuratieve schilderijen en installaties van denim. Hij gebruikt oude en afgedankte spijkerbroeken die hij in stukjes knipt en op kleurschakering sorteert zoals een schilder de opeenvolgende tinten van een kleur verf naast elkaar plaatst. In eerste instantie lijkt het werk tweedimensionaal, maar wanneer je er dicht bij staat, is te zien hoe de verschillende lagen denim op en over elkaar heen zijn geplaatst. De schilderijen zijn collages van denim die zo perfect in elkaar gezet zijn dat het bijna niet te onderscheiden is van een realistisch schilderij. 

Ian Berry maakt ook driedimensionale installaties van denim zoals het werk Secret Garden (2018) en Record Store(2017) die al op verschillende continenten bij musea te zien zijn geweest. 

Ian Berry. Splendid Isolation is de eerste solotentoonstelling van de kunstenaar in Nederland. Er is een royale keuze te zien uit de verschillende series die hij in de afgelopen 15 jaar heeft gemaakt zoals, Behind Closed Doors, Hotel California en The American Jean. Ook zullen verschillende installaties te zien zijn. 

Ian Berry is een maatschappelijk geëngageerd kunstenaar. Hij speelt met zijn werk in op recente ontwikkelingen in de maatschappij. Zijn werk is niet alleen van denim gemaakt omdat het materiaal hem aan staat, maar ook omdat de textielindustrie een van de meest vervuilende industrieën is. Met zijn werk vraagt hij daar aandacht voor. Ian Berry is in 2019 uitgeroepen tot een van de 50 meest invloedrijke mensen op het gebied van de denimindustrie. 

De Corona pandemie is een belangrijk onderwerp in zijn meest recente werk. Het project clapping is een geanimeerde denimprojectie van klappende handen om de medische sector te bedanken voor hun inzet tegen Covid-19. Dit project is door heel Groot-Brittannië en in de Verenigde Staten geprojecteerd op gebouwen. De animatie maakt ook deel uit van de tentoonstelling in Museum Rijswijk. 

Naar aanleiding van de lockdown in Groot-Brittannië is Ian Berry het internationale fotoproject Behind Closed Doorsgestart via zijn website. Hij heeft professionals en amateurs opgeroepen een foto in te sturen die laat zien wat de lockdown voor hen betekent. Een selectie van de foto’s zal in print of geprojecteerd opgenomen worden in de tentoonstelling. 

Bij de tentoonstelling verschijnt een catalogus die in de Museumwinkel is te verkrijgen. 

Voor meer informatie kunt u contact opnemen met Diana Wind, curator hedendaagse kunst, dianawind (at) museumrijswijk.nl, telefoon 0630388366. 

Ian Berry to show a the “Birth House of Levi Strauss Jeans Museum”

On September 13th Ian Berry will open an exhibition at the birthplace of the inventor of the modern jean, Levi Strauss. In a museum that looks back over the life of one of the world's most iconic names, it will also examine the years of Ian Berry's work who of course makes all of his work out of the material so synonymous with the man who emigrated from Germany to make his fortune: Denim jeans 

Details

13 Sept - 8 November 2020

Levi Strauss Museum

Marktstr. 31-33 96155 Buttenheim 

Phone: +49 95 45 - 44 26 02

email: levi-strauss-museum(at)buttenheim.de

For the last 15 years Ian has been crafting his work out of the indigo dyed textile and this will commence two years of museum shows for the Yorkshire born artist. Many works will be on display including from the Behind Closed Doors and Hotel California collections and the exhibition will help mark the special 20th Anniversary of the museum.

'When Dr Tanja Roppelt the curator got in touch with me a couple of years ago it made sense - the old romantic in me loved the idea of the work showing in the birthplace (of Levi Strauss)  

‘Together with other the museum shows we managed to loan works back from clients who have collected over the years to show a range of the work, as well as showing the development. With many of the other locations having a textile or denim history past, it is so fitting to show here at the birthplace of the man who made denim what it is today as well as for myself to step back and reflect on my career with the material.' Said Ian Berry

It will be Berry's first showing of his work in Germany and he will be there to meet the guests at the opening that will of course be under social distancing rules. 

An exhibit at the Levi Strauss museum in Buttenheim and Levi Strauss.

About the Museum 

In the spring of 1983 a lady from Milwaukee, was trying to organize a “German Fest” and wrote to the former Mayor of Buttenheim, asking for information about the birth of Levi Strauss. This started intensive research to be conducted in the register of births and deaths of the Jewish community of Buttenheim and the emigration documents of the Bamberg state archives and finally it proved that Levi Strauss was born in Buttenheim, a town in the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg. He was born with the name Loeb in 1829 and in 1847 he would emigrate to the USA and by 1850 took on the Americanized name Levi - and what would become one of the most famous names in the world. 

This discovery initiated the founding of a museum. 

Further research found that the original birth house of Levi Strauss was still standing. It is one of only a few preserved objects from his life and one of the oldest houses in Buttenheim. The district council decided to buy the house in 1987, which was built approximately in 1687 and today is classified as a historical monument. An elaborate renovation of the dilapidated half-timbered house began, during which the house of birth of Levi Strauss was reconstructed as true to the original as possible. The idea to donate a museum to the history of indigo and denim took shape.

The museum opened in September 2000 and revolves around the world’s most famous pair of pants. With the biography of Levi Strauss, visitors can gain an insight into the lives of rural Franconian Jewish Community, the world of the immigrants, the beginnings of the textile industry and of course, all about the phenomenon of jeans. Short films, audio guides (in many languages), moving graphics and a collection of different pieces made from the legendary blue cotton cloth show the development of the jeans that serves as a meeting point for the curious, collectors, specialists and jean-wearers of every age.  The museum also shows the struggles of a Franconian Jew in the 19th century, the hardships of a German immigrant in America, the boom of the textile industry and the history of jeans, all while honouring the tremendous accomplishments of Levi Strauss the man.

Sleeping Alone I, denim on denim, 2016

After over a decade of success, the Museum planned to begin its next chapter by adding on an extension to the Levi Strauss birth house. With the help of Levi’s great-grandnephew, Dr. Douglas Goldman in California, the Museum was ceremoniously opened on May 21st, 2011, marking the beginning of a new phase in the Museum’s history. 

When the Museum opened back in 2000, hardly anyone anticipated its rapid success. Nevertheless, both Museum guests and professionals has seen the Levi Strauss Museum become a popular success and going strong in its 20th year. Every year, thousands of people visit Buttenheim from all over the world in order to experience the Museum and see where the idea of Jeans all began. Due to the high number of visitors and the many projects and events, the 130 square meters of the original birth house was almost always filled to its maximum capacity. Therefore, the Museum decided to extend to a neighbouring house, which would give the Museum over 500 square meters of available display space after renovations. The new extension allowed the Museum to continue to develop the Levi Strauss experience with a new archive to store the Museum’s historical collection and help preserve their historical pieces.  

#iclapfor project by Ian Berry

About the Artist: Ian Berry

Ian Berry has been working with denim for the last 15 years, but he is more than the material he works with. During the Covid period his work took on a new life, having spent years portraying isolation. His Behind Closed Doors body of work became life for most of us, he had painstakingly crafted beautiful homes out of only denim but with a haunting scene of loneliness. Even his bar scenes or the work from Hotel California depicted a perception of solitude.

He works from photoshoots he either takes, or directs, and all of them were cancelled in the first week of lockdown. Many people sent him photos of their home isolation. Then, along with his son Elliott, 6, he made two applauding hands. Clapping for the health heroes had been a big part of British life for the first ten weeks of the Covid period. Ian’s son was particularly captivated and it enabled Ian to explain more what was going on while he was engaged. What started as a personal project between father and son, ended up been beamed all over the world via projections. It covers the whole of the UK and Ireland and was seen as far as Australia, Colombia and Brazil amongst many others. It became a big campaign called #iclapfor and a film will be shown at the museum - as well as a special projection at the opening.

Ian Berry shows the making of one of the pieces in the show in Germany.

Ian, original from Huddersfield lives and works in East London amongst thousands of pairs of jeans that he recycles to create almost photorealistic pieces and installations. He has been named a top 30 artist under 30 in the world as well as a top 50 name in denim worldwide in 2019 and now he will show at a historical home of one of the materials of our time.

This will start a series of museum shows. On November 28th Ian Berry will open Splendid Isolation at the Museum Rijswijk in Holland. The show at his home town of Huddersfield (in the center of the industrial revolution) is under doubt regarding Covid but in the fall of 2021 a large solo show will open at the National Museum of Textiles (Textiel Museet) in Boras, Sweden. Further shows are TBA due to covid issues. 

Levi Strauss historian Tracey Panek, mayor Michael Karmann and museum manager Tanja Roppelt with a 19th century jeans in front of Levi Strauss's birthplace

In 2018 Ian Berry visited the Levi Strauss archives in San Francisco - Tracey Panek selected some special jeans to show him as well as Albert Einstein’s leather jacket.

*Due to the current situation, the planned two-day anniversary celebrations cannot take place within the planned framework and will be postponed to a later date.

Ian Berry at London Art Fair 2020

From 22-26th January Ian will be exhibiting new works made in his trademark all denim at the London Art Fair, Stand G38, Business Design Centre, Islington. Carrying on with his successful Solo show at the Catto Gallery in the summer there is three original pieces building on Hotel California.

ONSITE INSIGHTS

Ian Berry will host an onsite talk at 4pm on Sunday January 26 at the stand and you can reserve your place here

OPENING TIMES

PREVIEW EVENING

Tuesday 21 January | 6pm – 9pm

PUBLIC FAIR HOURS

Wednesday 22 January | 11am – 9pm
Thursday 23 January | 11am – 9pm
Friday 24 January | 11am – 7pm
Saturday 25 January | 11am – 7:30pm
Sunday 26 January | 11am – 5pm

TICKET TYPES

Preview

Join us on Tuesday 21 January from 6 – 9pm for our Preview Evening – London Art Fair’s 2020 opening celebrations and be one of the first to explore and discover the exceptional art on display.
These tickets are limited.

Day Ticket
Pick your day to attend between 22-26 January. Whether you’re an art connoisseur or just culturally curious – come with an open mind and prepare to have it broadened.

Thursday Late
Visit the Fair after work for an inspiring late night of art. Enjoy the extended opening hours and experience live music, insightful talks, film screenings and more.

Premier Pass
Never miss a beat with the London Art Fair Premier Pass. Attend every day plus the exclusive Preview. This six-day ticket provides access during the exclusive Preview Evening and five public days of the Fair.

A La Carte + Art
Enjoy a sumptuous two course meal and a complimentary glass of wine at Radici, our 2020 Restaurant Partner
Includes 1 Day Ticket to London Art Fair.

Fair Guide
Make the most of your visit to London Art Fair by purchasing the official Fair Guide for £4, the guide can be purchased in advanced or at the Fair

GETTING THERE

VENUE

Business Design Centre
52 Upper Street
London N1 0QH
View map

There is full disabled access to the Business Design Centre, please call 020 7288 6475 for further details. businessdesigncentre.co.uk

Large bags and rucksacks will not be permitted inside the Fair. A cloakroom is available at the venue at a cost of £1 per item.

TRAVEL

 For Public Transport to the Business Design Centre:

• Angel tube station (Northern Line) – 5 minute walk

• King’s Cross St Pancras – 15 minute walk

• Highbury & Islington stations – 15 minute walk

• A wide range of busses also reach the venue. More information