Weltmuseum Wien : Who's Wearing the Pants?

From March 25 2025 to 1 February 2026

In its major special exhibition 2025, the Weltmuseum Wien takes a journey through 3,000 years of trouser history from around the world and uses this symbolic item of clothing to pose the question: ‘Who wears the trousers?’

The exhibits tell a tale of perfected functionality as well as craftsmanship and design. They bear witness to the conditions of human existence – in luxury or poverty, during daily routines, and in finery. British artist Ian Berry’s piece ‘the Morning After’ is included in the show with his work all made of denim pants.

sokoto Maker unknown, Nigeria, c.1980, Jacquard fabric made of cotton, synthetic fibres, and lurex with machine stitching, Weltmuseum Wien, Barbara Plankensteiner Collection © KHM-Museumsverband

Skinny, baggy, formal, PJ-style: they are a deeply familiar global phenomenon that comes in all shapes and sizes. To many of us, they form a part of a personal identity, they trigger gender and generational conflicts, they are a marker of cultural and social belonging. Trousers. The Weltmuseum Wien takes one on a journey through 3,000 years of global legwear history, from the oldest types of pants from the Bronze Age to the present day!

Trousers are everywhere – yet they hold much more meaning than meets the eye. From ancient riding trousers to modern jeans, Who’s Wearing the Pants? explores cultural norms, social change, and personal identity. Treasures and quite a few oddities from the collections of the Weltmuseum Wien, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and the Theatermuseum meet loans from Austrian and international institutions. Historical originals, presented alongside selected contemporary artworks, create a multifaceted picture of this symbol-laden garment.

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The narrative spans from the Bronze Age and the oldest kinds of trousers to rebellious women and their striving for social and political equality. It addresses the religious roots of laws against cross-dressing as well as the transgressions against the resulting rigid gender norms in theatre, carnival and dance. Representing the evolution of trousers in European menswear, iconic sports and military legwear and trousers are shown. More and less known trousers from the Habsburg wardrobe are contrasted with fascinating legwear shapes from Latin America that blend colonial orders and indigenous tradition. Last but not least, we turn to undergarments and conclude our journey of by casting a look at current challenges in legwear production.

Ian Berry, THE MORNING AFTER U.K., 2014 Assemblage of denim fragments AWWG Collection, Pepe Jeans®, Madrid Courtesy of Pepe Jeans® © Bildrecht, Wien 2025

The large annual exhibition shows treasures and many a bizarre finds from the collections from around the world. In the show, historical objects enter into dialogue with contemporary art. Ian Berry’s 2014 piece is loaned from the collection of the AWWG Collection and is displayed next to a selection of denim garments.

The entrance of Who’s Wearing the Pant’s? at Weltmuseum Wien

Maker unknown Haiti, before 1947, Cotton twill with leg buttons and machine stitching, Weltmuseum Wien, Kurt Fisher Collection © KHM-Museumsverband

pantalón de charro Joseph Kowarz, Mexico, 1864–1867, Goatskin, gold and silver embroidery on leather, silver buckle, gold-plated decorative buttons, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Department of Court Uniforms, © KHM-Museumsverband

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Who's Wearing the Pants? Exhibition view, © KHM-Museumsverband, Photo: Daniel Sostaric

Videos, films, and interactive media and hands-on stations invite you to explore a wide variety of

fabrics and functional details, try on virtual pants, and reflect on the downsides of textile

production, AI-supported production on demand, or even greenwashing and upcycling.

Young visitors can discover Who’s wearing the pants through special child-friendly exhibition texts.

Curators: Barbara Pönighaus-Matuella, Julia Zeindl, Bettina Zorn, and Hanin Hannouch

Exhibition designer: büro wien. Inszenierte Kommunikation Marketing GmbH

The Morning After Ian Berry, U.K., 2014, Assemblage of denim fragments, AWWG Collection

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Weltmuseum Wien

Neue Hofburg, Heldenplatz
1010 Vienna, Austria

+43 1 534 30-5052
info@weltmuseumwien.at

Opening Hours

Daily (except Monday)
10 am to 6 pm
Tuesday
10 am to 9 pm

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press release in German and in English

Exhibition website

Written Tour

Ian Berry's Secret Garden at Garden Museum London

A magical urban secret garden crafted from denim to delight kids and adults alike. Walk through the denim garden path and find roses, cacti, wisteria and dangling vines made with layers of recycled denim jeans and discover a brand new pond with koi and waterlilies all hand cut from shades of jeans.

Ian Berry’s Secret Garden has been show around the world in Musuems and galleries and this is the first time a site specific, stand alone installation has shown in the UK and will be exhibited in the Garden Museum’s central Nave space which is open and free to the public.

Ian Berry in the Secret Garden at the Garden Museum by Sam Hockley

Transforming denim which comes from cotton, a material made from plants, back into a new vegetal form, the installation will explore themes of sustainability in the textile industries and the importance of access to green spaces in the city for young minds.

As you wander through you will begin to discover some of the artwork from the young children that Ian Berry worked with in Kirklees in West Yorkshire with Shape North and find their drawings of their hopes and dreams for the future intertwined into the installation.

a part of the all denim pond by Ian Berry at Garden Museum

The Secret Garden will be viewable 13 July – 8 September, as well as during a number of family and community events at the Garden Museum throughout the summer. This will include the museum’s free community open day Neighbours Day on 14 July and the Festival of Fairytales on 11 August. An accompanying programme of activities and workshops for all ages inspired by the installation will be offered free of charge, including textile flower collage, denim rag rug, clay and felt cacti making and cyanotype printing.

Ian Berry: The Secret Garden and accompanying events are made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England.

Garden Museum - 5 Lambeth Palace Road - London SE1 7LB

16 July - 8 Sept 2024

Free Entry

About the Garden Museum

The Garden Museum explores and celebrates the art, history and design of British gardens and their place in our lives today.

Visitors will discover the stories of great gardeners through a permanent collection of artefacts and tools from gardening throughout history alongside botanical art, photography, and paintings exploring how and why we garden. Exhibitions, events, and community projects delve into art, architecture, plant science, food, sustainability, well-being and more, all through the lens of gardening.

Housed in the deconsecrated church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, the Garden Museum contains the burial place of John Tradescant, an early gardener and plant hunter. To preserve his tomb, the Garden Museum was founded by Rosemary Nicholson, an admirer of Tradescant, in 1977. At the heart of the Museum is a sheltered courtyard garden designed by Dan Pearson as an ‘Eden’ of rare plants.

ART MATERIAL-ISM on the BBC and named TOP 5 show in London

BBC presenter Micheal McKenzie Interviews curator and artist Ian Berry along with artists Matt Small and Justin Ruby in London before the opening of the debut show of the art movement that is Art Materialism.

Ian Berry (denim) is joined by the British trio of Matt Small (reclaimed metal), David Wightman (textured wallpaper) and Australian based Benjamin Shine (tulle). There is also Swede Lill O. Sjöberg who makes wood from reclaimed denim (TWOOD) and Dutchman Max Zorn (packing Tape) and the US based trio of Justin Ruby (sneakers), Christian Faur (crayons) and Canadian born Peter Combe (paint Swatches) make up the first nine who will show in the debut exhibition in London.

exhibition open now til Nov 6th

The show was also named a TOP 5 in London for October by Art Critic Tabish Khan for FAD Magazine.

CATTO GALLERY

100 Heath Street, London, NW3 1DP

Monday - Saturday 10 - 5.30pm
Sunday 12 - 5pm

T +44 (0) 20 7435 6660

art@cattogallery.co.uk

ART MATERIALISM | The Artists

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The 9 Artists that make up the debut showing of Art Materialism at Catto Gallery, London.

Denim

Huddersfield-born Ian Berry has enjoyed a stratospheric rise since his first Catto Gallery show in 2012. The artist, who fashions unwanted denim into compelling portraits, scenes as well as installations, is now one of the UK's bona fide art world stars. Since his last Catto show in 2019, Hotel California, he was one of the busiest artists in the world during covid, with the Catto supported museum tour around Europe being planned, and all going ahead, with restrictions.

But not content with that he ended up embarking on a charity project for the NHS with his son, Elliott. #iclapfor saw a pair of denim blue hands clapping projected on buildings around the UK and other countries around the world and saw him join the likes of Ringo, Keira Knightly and Joe Lycett with Pin Your Thanks and collaborated with triple Oscar winning costume designer, Jenny Beavan on a special denim jacket that raised thousands for Volunteering Matters.

Covid wasn’t to stop the determined artist, and the Museum Tour took in Basel, Buttenheim in Germany (the home of Levi Strauss), Museum Rijswijk, the Netherlands, Textil Museet – The National Textile Museum in Sweden and MuseumQuartier Osnabruek, Germany and all proved to be a success with record visitor numbers to the venues and glowing reviews. Covid had stopped the artists plans for what to show, and he ended up looking closer to home, new works include pieces based on his living room.    

Who else would Levi’s choose to commemorate their 150th anniversary of the 501 jean? Ian exhibited a giant 10x4m fresco shown in iconic locations in Paris, Milan and Madrid. Not content with Europe he completed the portraits of three prominent Chilean musicians that are now displayed in the Santiago Metro.WeAR magazine named him as a top 100 influential person in the Denim Industry earlier this year.

Already with high-profile commissions from the likes Georgio Armani, Ayrton Senna’s family, Debbie Harry, Giselle Bundchen and more this year Berry added set designer to his CV after created one for Ja Rule in New York. 

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Paint Swatch

Peter Combe has been experimenting with cut and paste collage works since the mid-nineties when he was Artist in Residence at Xerox Canada. Back then he would use the company's colour-copier equipment to assemble his portraits. Today, his favoured medium is the household paint swatch. Peter selects from the full spectrum of 1,100 colours and hand-punches the chosen swatches into small disks. He then fits these disks into bevel-cut grooves on a specially prepared archival material. He describes the effect as akin a to Pissaro-esque pointillist finish.


He says; "There is a magic that occurs, a trick of the eye where colour seems to occupy space – a void – at once ethereal, yet seen from another angle the whole appears as if a ghostly image, veiled in gossamer. It is these characteristics that propel me forward and to continue experimenting with the interplay of colour, light and movement."


Peter was born in Canada but has been based in San Francisco since 2008. His work has been featured in more than 100 shows and art fairs across North America, Europe and the Middle East.

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Crayons

During Christmas 2005, Christian Faur’s daughter opened a box of 120 Crayola crayons. Nice gift for a young girl. But the biggest impact was on Christian. The Ohio-based artists had been experimenting with painting using wax, but he didn’t feel the results were satisfactory. Then he saw the crayons. Chistian’s revelation was to use the crayons not as a medium but in the work itself. Soon after, he started assembling thousands of individual crayons to produce single, pixelated artworks.

Then he would pack the finished pieces into wooden frames. Galleries and collectors loved his unique approach. Later, Christian created a ‘crayon alphabet’, assigning a letter to a different colour, which led him to hide messages in his paintings.

He says he is inspired by nature: “There are hidden layers of complexity present in even the simplest objects...in my work, I try to mimic these elegant structures by developing systems with which to express my thoughts and ideas, so that the medium and the message appear as one. I think of them as complex visual “poems,” which can redefine the way we think about the meaning of communication.”

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Sneakers/Car upholstery

Art made from training shoes? Really? Yes, really. Although he would call them sneakers. This is the speciality of US artist Justin Ruby and it's taking the world by storm. Pennsylvania-born Justin began his experiments while at school in the early 2000s, turning his pair of Air Jordan 7 French Blues into a self portrait. It was for a college application, but it turned into much more. Justin stuck with the technique, later adding used materials ranging from Louis Vuitton bags to Tootsie Pop Wrappers, to his 'palette', as well as disused car upholstery.


Justin's novel approach won him several college offers, but he decided instead to pass up the opportunity and start his professional career right away. In 2019, he landed his first solo exhibition at the gallery in the G-Shock store in Soho, New York. Eventually he garnered national attention. Among his customers were hip hop culture giants such as Rusell Wilson, Lil Durk, J Prince, and Drake. 


This has been especially gratifying for Justin, who grew up much more interested in sport and music than in art. But with his chosen method he successfully blended all of his passions. More recently, Justin completed a three-story mural that was shown at York College of Pennsylvania. He also participated in the boom of NFTs with his sold-out “100 Acre Wood” drop on OpenSea. 

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Tulle

British born Benjamin Shine is best known for his pioneering work in tulle, the 'floaty' fabric made from nylon, rayon or silk. He developed his unique technique while studying fashion at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, and later at Central St. Martins. He says he became obsessed with creating clothing from a single length of fabric. But eventually he saw even more potential in using fabric as a medium through which to create ideas away from the body. He settled on tulle when he happened to notice a crumpled ball of it on the studio floor. Benjamin then developed a method of pressing a single length of tulle fabric under glass to create unique and striking portraits.


For the last two decades, Benjamin's work has been exhibited and purchased by private collectors and arts institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Arts and Design New York and The London Design Museum. Clients and collaborators include Beyonce, Givenchy, Maison Margiela, Bergdorf Goodman, Barclays Wealth, British Telecom, Refinery 29, Google, Barnes and Noble and MTV.


He says: "I actually think of myself as a creative explorer and inventor. I’m an ideas person, and while my work often gets classed as art, painting, sculpture or design, it’s all a form of invention and creative thinking. If the end results provoke the reaction “How?” or “Wow!”, then I’m satisfied it has connected and made a positive impact."

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Scrap Metal

If we live in a disposable society, then London-based Matt Small makes art from the least valued of all waste materials: old baked bean cans, abandoned car bonnets, discarded street signs. He re-purposes these unloved bits of scrap into something new and magical – striking art work of great skill and immense heart. His subjects are often people Matt describes as "young, dispossessed people, individuals who feel undervalued, who don’t have a voice, who get looked over." And, of course, there's a connection between his raw material and his subjects.


Matt says: “That oven door, that shelving unit – they might be a piece of trash to someone, but I don’t see them like that. I see that they can be something beautiful and worthwhile. That’s how I see our young people too. Let’s look at their potential, at the hope that’s in all of them."


Matt was born in 1975, and graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2000. He has shown at the Saatchi gallery and Black Rat Projects in the UK, but he has also found acclaim internationally. In Oregon, US, he created a mosaic of the athlete Jesse Owens from scrap metal for the 2021 World Athletics Championships. He’s now working on a similar public piece of Jamal Edwards for the entrepreneur’s London neighbourhood of Acton.

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Textured Wallpaper

It might be an insult to compare a work of art to wallpaper. But not to David Wightman. His work is literal wallpaper. The Stockport-born artist creates beautiful paintings and prints of fictional landscapes entirely from rolls of the material. David's conversion to the technique came when he was studying at the Royal College of Art in London and found a forgotten roll of wallpaper in a store cupboard. It transported him back to his childhood home, whose walls were all wallpapered. He began experimenting, assembling layers of textured paper and then painting over sections to create imaginary vistas inspired by his beloved walks in the Peak District. 


David says: "Wallpaper for me evokes nostalgia and aspiration. So I want to take a material that is not beautiful in itself and see if I can make something beautiful from it.” He obviously succeeded. Over the last 20 years, David has exhibited in a succession of solo exhibitions across the UK and also in Canada, US, Sweden, Singapore and Greece. In 2010, he was awarded the Berwick Gymnasium Arts Fellowship – a six month residency funded by Arts Council England and English Heritage. And in 2013, he was selected by the curator of House Arts Festival, Mariele Neudecker, to make a site-specific painting for a disused pavilion on Brighton’s seafront.

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Packing Tape

In this age of online shopping, architects are designing apartment blocks with space for postal deliveries. Yes, parcels are everywhere. And so, inevitably, is packing tape. Maybe Dutch artist Max Zorn anticipated this huge cultural change when he fixed his first translucent tape artwork to a lamp post in Amsterdam in 2011. Max had been developing his audacious method for a while – using nothing but brown packing tape and a scalpel to create vivid urban nightscapes. When he attached his work to streetlamps, the bulbs acted as lightboxes and lit up his images for all to see.


He says: "I was always a big fan of using the city as the backdrop for art. But I felt one aspect was underrepresented: street art that appears at night, when a city changes its face. So, I came up with the idea to use thousands of city lights as an urban gallery. My first artwork was stolen a long time ago, and I’ve forgotten the bruises I got while climbing that lamp post. But it was the first tape, and a lot followed."


What exactly followed was that Max's street art went viral. Soon after, the artist started selling his work. Max recreated scenes from movies and made portraits of icons of popular culture. More recently he expanded his range still further, introducing more colour and taking on large and ambitious crowd scenes. Max's work has been on display constantly since 2011 across hundreds of shows. Recent exhibition venues include the Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art in Munich and the Scope Miami Beach Art Fair during Art Basel Miami Week.

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ART MATERIALISM AT

CATTO GALLERY

100 Heath Street, London, NW3 1DP

Monday - Saturday 10 - 5.30pm
Sunday 12 - 5pm

T +44 (0) 20 7435 6660

art@cattogallery.co.uk

ART MATERIALISM | Foreward by Ian Berry, curator

Foreword by Ian Berry, curator. 

Ian Berry. Textile Artist. Installation Artist. I even recently added Set Designer to the list and now, Curator. It’s perhaps an over used and abused word but here goes.

I have always struggled to feel at home within any title. Textile Artist, but I don’t stitch, quilt or sew. Collage or mixed media, but it’s just one medium. Denim. And, no, don’t call me a Denim Artist. I’m an Artist. But I have sometimes felt like an island, without a natural home.

However, over the past two decades my work has taken me from this island and around the world. I discovered, often at Art Fairs (and of course thanks now to the internet), that I gravitated towards art that showed a great deal of craftsmanship. And often, art that was made out of unusual items. Artists who had first discovered an untapped material, and then pushed past that to develop it into a technique from which to make amazingly detailed works.

But I wasn’t alone. Most of the artists I’m soon to introduce had got themselves noticed and started to gain success around the world. Often we became staples on ‘This Artist Paints out of XYX’ or ‘can you believe this is made from…’ viral posts as well as countless media. But we are much more than a gimmick. Indeed, this has become quite a significant criteria for involvement.  

Then over the years I met these artists, and we became friends. I have known Max Zorn for over a decade with his stunning works created just from layers of packing tape. We’ve often talked about doing a show together as our work has many similarities, the one material, the layering and more often than not, the one colour. 

One by one I became friends with some of the others and realised that although we were working independently and often in isolation, we had nonetheless found one another. It’s not for me to call it a movement but we are a collective of artists that are grouping together. We’ve frequently met around the globe and now we’re here displaying our work together. We see this as a first step towards something that will grow and evolve. 

Tulle, sneakers, reclaimed car upholstery, paint swatch cards, reclaimed metal, packing tape and more denim with Lill O.Sjöberg who makes TWOOD, wood out of old jeans. This is just the beginning and there are more of us out there. My friend Mark Evans who etches out of leather, Mark Wagner’s incredible images made using just dollar bills, Nick Gentry’s works from discarded technology, and Vic Muniz, who uses numerous materials and who could be said to be the trailblazer. 

There’s even talk of us making a manifesto. 

We introduce here at the Catto Gallery these first nine, a place I have seen much success with for over a decade. That introduction  came from another gallery artist, Colin Fraser, who saw my work in Sweden in 2011 and introduced me to the Directors here. Ever since, I have had a great belief that as artists we should support one another. Anything good in my career has come from an artist’s word. I am happy and honoured to be showing with each and every artist you are about to see in this catalogue, and glad to call them friends. I’d like to thank them all for their commitment and energy towards putting this exhibition together and to the team at the Catto Gallery for believing in this. 

Here we introduce, Art Materialism. 

CATTO GALLERY

100 Heath Street, London, NW3 1DP

Monday - Saturday 10 - 5.30pm
Sunday 12 - 5pm

T +44 (0) 20 7435 6660

art@cattogallery.co.uk

Ian Berry to have another mural to be made of his work

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Kentucky based Tanya Neitzke prepares to reproduce denim work by renowned British artist Ian Berry for Quilt City USA® Murals

Paducah, KY, September 28, 2023—Paducah Quilt Murals Inc (PQMI) is pleased to announce that painting will soon commence on a third mural in the Quilt City USA® Murals series. Tanya Neitzke, one of six juried local artists selected to paint photo-realistic representations of notable quilts, will recreate “Cheyenne has Gone,” a denim on denim textile creation by British artist Ian Berry. Brothers Tom and Jim DeCillis from Paducah are the sponsors of the upcoming mural, which is anticipated to be completed and installed in April 2024 during AQS QuiltWeek.

Quilt City USA Murals, located on the floodwall adjacent to the Carroll Convention Center at 415 Park Street,  currently showcases two contemporary quilts. The premier panel painted by Lead Artist Char Downs, featuring “Corona II, Solar Eclipse” by Carol Bryer Fallert-Gentry, was unveiled on September 13, 2017. The second mural by Paducah artist Stefanie Graves is a painted replica of “…and Our Flag was Still There!” by Melinda Bula of California. The mural was unveiled on Veterans Day, November 11, 2020, at 11 am.

A Quilt Selection Committee headed by American Quilter’s Society (AQS) Show Director Bonnie Browning has established guidelines for existing and upcoming mural images. Approved quilts must reflect historic, educational, humanitarian, or environmental relevance, or have an iconic provenance to their time in history and showcase a broad spectrum of techniques (pieced, appliqued, etc.) and diverse color schemes. After reviewing the available approved options, Berry’s “The Cheyenne has Gone,” which features a former soda fountain bar in London, was the one that resonated with the DeCillis brothers. The DeCillis’ are avid collectors of family and 50s era memorabilia and reproduced a vintage soda fountain bar in Jim’s historic home in Lower Town. They became interested in the project after attending an event hosted by PQMI in April 2023 and learning the history and process of creating and installing the Murals.

Many layers and shades of denim are the color palette of choice for British textile artist Ian Berry in his London studio.

About Ian Berry, Textile Artist
A resident of London, Berry was born in Huddersfield, a woolen textile community in West Yorkshire, England. He studied graphic design and advertising at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College before launching an illustrious creative career that dubbed him a “Jeanius” by the UK’s Daily Mail and named him one of the 2013 “Top 30 Artists Under 30 in the World” by Art Business News, the magazine of today’s forward-thinking art professionals. He was recently named one of the 100 most influential people in the denim industry by WeAr, a global magazine celebrating interesting work involving denim, sustainability, and innovations in fabric.

Berry uses ordinary denim to create extraordinary art. At first glance, his work appears to be blue-toned photographs or indigo-colored oil paintings. In reality, they are made of many layers and shades of denim jeans. Berry’s work has been seen across the globe, with a number of sell-out solo shows in London and Sweden, museums and galleries in the United States, and American art fairs, including Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida, which showcases masters of modern and contemporary art.

Berry is no stranger to Paducah. In April 2018, AQS and Paducah Arts Alliance (PAA) teamed up for a creative collaboration as Berry participated in the PAA’s artist in residence program, presenting talks and demonstrations to students and arts organizations, and later creating an impressive multi-room denim art installation for AQS QuiltWeek. While working with students at Paducah Tilghman High School, Berry took their concerns for dull scissors to heart and coordinated an effort with AQS vendors to donate new scissors to the art department.

Preservation, creative reuse, and the changing urban landscape are objectives that Berry strives to portray in his artwork as he recycles denim for his photographic-style eco-art. “I enjoy learning about how art regenerates places that industry has changed. Paducah is known for that. To have a presence of my work there for all to see is very humbling,” said Berry. He appreciates the feeling of Paducah as a real American town. “I made lots of friends and have kept in touch with so many people I met there. It will be amazing to see it all come together. In a turn of events it was fantastic to find out I already knew the artist who will paint it.”

A mural made of Ian Berry’s #iclapfor project in Walthamstow, London by ATMA and Wood Street Walls

About Tanya Neitzke, Muralist
Tanya Neitzke, originally from Watertown, NY, is an artist and the Assistant Professor of Painting and FYE at the West Kentucky Community & Technical College’s Paducah School of Art & Design. She received her M.F.A. degree at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Her work has been included in various solo, two-person, and group national and international exhibitions.

Neitzke is especially excited to replicate one of Berry’s art pieces with paint. “I first meant Ian Berry and his beautiful in-depth work when he came to Paducah for AQS QuiltWeek in 2018,” said Neitzke. “I am honored to use my love for paint to render Ian’s work and live in the world of Indigo that he lives in.” Neitzke will be using studio space at PSAD to paint the mural.

About Paducah Quilt Murals Inc
Paducah Quilt Murals Inc is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization created for the Quilt City USA® Murals Project. The mission of Quilt City USA Murals is to educate both locals and visitors on the relevance and rich history of quiltmaking! From the early settlers to the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, the Bicentennial Celebration of 1976 and beyond, the history of America can be seen in the history of quilts. This visionary public art project marries two ancient and modern artforms–quilting and mural painting–and showcases the talent and skill of local artists.

Lead Artist Char Downs, Muralist Tanya Neitzke, and PQMI Chair Gayle Kaler (L-R) sign the artist agreement for the upcoming Quilt City USA Mural.

For more information about the project, visit paducahquiltmurals.org. To set up an interview with the sponsors or muralist, contact Rosemarie Steele 270.331.5588 or Cindy Butterbaugh 270.994.8091.

Contact:
Rosemarie Steele: 270.331.5588 or rosemarie.steele@comcast.net
Cindy Butterbaugh: 270.994.8091or 2promark@comcast.net

The LoveCrafts Show | Ian Berry | Art, Denim and Documentaries [S04E02]

Merion Willis and Jamie Charmers meet Ian Berry on their podcast The LoveCrafts Show. Speaking earlier in the year Ian Berry talks to them about his world in denim.

They say he’s ‘an incredibly talented chap, talking about his medium, denim; his artistic process and how he became an internationally renowned artist from humble beginnings in the north of England.’ 

Berry talks more openly than ever and the relaxed nature of the pair, as well as their research, opened Ian Berry to discus topics not mentioned before.

Ian has known Jamie for several years. Jamie Chalmers is also known as MrXstitch and founder of XStitch Magazine. Along with Yarn crafter Merion the pair have set up their podcast and Ian Berry becomes the second interviewee of the season after Olympian and now knitter, Tom Daley.

So ‘Welcome to the LoveCrafts show, the video and audio podcast everyone is talking about! The LoveCrafts Show is your monthly craft juice - where we chat everything crafts related, share news from the making community, and discuss the joy of making.’

You can listen to Ian Berry | Art, Denim and Documentaries [S04E02] below

Spotify

Apple podcasts

Buzzsprout

Ian Berry on Stridewise on Youtube

It was great to have Nick English of Stridewise come and visit Ian Berry in his London studio.

They spoke of all kinds of things connected to Ian Berry’s work and especially his medium, denim. Nick ends the interview by saying ‘It’s my favourite thing I’ve done in England,’ so have a watch at the enjoyable conversation.

The Manhattan-based journalist with reporting experience on four continents, published in Vice, Men's Health, Popular Science, and a bunch of other places visited London from his Brooklyn base. He’s a ravenous consumer of anything and everything related to high end men's boots.

Stridewise with its large YouTube following is where he nurtured a maniacal obsession especially with footwear but also what goes with it, like raw denim! He shares his findings on his numerous channels and you should have a look.

While in London he also visited @blackhorselane and @denimhistory and you can see all on the YouTube channel Stridewise

Ian Berry collaborates with Ja Rule and Musiq Soulchild in New York

In a whirlwind few weeks earlier in the year Ian Berry ended up on many flights around the world, within very short notice he ended up in New York and working with Ja Rule!

Ja’s ICONN Live app presenting the legend Musiq Soulchild on Wednesday, May 31 at Sony Music Hall in New York City, and Berry was commissioned to design the set in the Big Apple. 

Known for his soulful melodies and smooth vocals, Musiq Soulchild performed his iconic album, Aijuswanaseing, in its entirety, including hits like "Just Friends (Sunny)," "Love," and "Girl Next Door," among others.

 Musiq Soulchild was ‘the first-ever R&B artist in the series’ said Ja Rule. "He’s a talent for the ages, who continues to influence R&B.”

Musiq Soulchild is an American neo-soul singer. He has also been closely associated with the love of denim, as demonstrated in most of his photos, appearances and album covers – the link with Ian Berry was perfect to celebrate his career.

The VIBES concert series in NYC are executive produced by JaRule and gives musicians a platform to honour their legacies by hosting a dinner & providing a complimenting-themed atmosphere and sets as a live band accompanies them in a transformative rendition of the music their fans have grown to love. This is the way of thanking these artists for their contribution for their ICONNic contributions to this industry.

Ja Rule and Musiq Soulchild at the Vibes night at Sony Music Hall in New York

Ja Rule’s ICONN Live App is the revolutionary live-streaming entertainment marketplace that brings fans closer to their favourite celebrities, artists, athletes and influencers.

Ja Rule said that he was inspired by fellow hip-hop artist D-Nice’s Club Quarantine. Club Quarantine was a popular virtual dance party on Instagram Live that had viewers worldwide listening to new, old, underground and mainstream music.

“I saw a need for what I’ve currently built during the pandemic. I was looking at a lotta artists and we were doing virtual concerts and DJs were spinning virtually. I saw D-Nice doing his DJ sh*t and it gave people fulfillment and that good energy that we needed at that moment,” said Ja Rule. “The topic became ‘How can we tip D-Nice?’ — but we couldn’t do that through Instagram, so he put his CashApp up there. But we gotta go through a third party for that. If there was a way to do that instantly he would have made a lotta f-cking money right there!”

Currently on ICONN Live on Apple TV,and PAID catch all of previous VIBES Concert Series including Ja Rule’s PAIN IS LOVE LIVE FROM SONY HALL in celebration of the 20 anniversary of his acclaimed album; ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX, aka The Purple Tape by Raekwon and Ghostface Killah of The Wu-Tang Clan, which was named one of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” LONG LIVE THE KANE featuring the iconic Big Daddy Kane and PAID IN FULL featuring Rakim, which was named “The Greatest Hip-Hop Album of All Time” by MTV in 2006. Ja Rule is continuing to add legendary artists to the VIBES 2023 lineup and ICONN Live has exciting plans for other upcoming events that will be announced in the near future.  

Ian Berry in New York

The installing in New York

“I want to take this series and invite other artists to perform and tell their personal journeys along with their hits,” Ja said of his plan for the concert series.

The Vibes series was to take place nationwide with a diverse roster of artist friends, such as Raekwon/Ghostface of The Wu-Tang Clan.

Ian Berry added. “It was an honour to be apart of the night and design the set and connect both our love of denim. More so I love the idea Ja has created as in today’s world of social media stars with little talent I think it is important to remember though who have it and remember those trailblazers that make life easier for others now.”

A Big Thanks to AGI Denim

A big thank you to collaborator AGI Denim (Artistic Garment Industries) who have helped Ian Berry on some of his latest installations and works.

AGI Denim is a leading vertical premium denim manufacturer in Pakistan with a long-standing history dating back to 1949.

The company is at the forefront of the industry, committed to minimizing its environmental impact while maximizing social and economic benefits. AGI Denim's innovative culture and commitment to sustainability and social responsibility are reflected in its best-in-class infrastructure, end-to-end LEED Gold certification, and B Corp certification.

AGI Denim helped Ian Berry with the canvas of the giant Levi’s fresco

AGI Denim supported Ian Berry with some of the latest Secret Garden installations

The company strongly emphasizes responsible fiber sourcing and traceability, ensuring that its products are produced ethically and sustainably. Water stewardship is also a key focus, with a high percentage of recycling and responsible use of this precious resource. AGI Denim's commitment to renewable energy is demonstrated through its use of modern plants and machinery that are energy-saving, efficient, and increasingly powered by solar energy.

Ian Berry would like to offer a personal thank you to Vice President of Product Development and Marketing, Henry Wong and his team in Pakistan that have worked so hard on working on his requests and desires under quite big time constraints.

Ian Berry meeting with Henry Wong in New York in 2017

Henry Wong added “Working with Ian Berry has been a personal and professional dream for over a decade. As a young product developer, I could not easily believe the hyper-realistic portraits and landscapes were composed of jeans. The denim was not bleached or tinted or altered in any way. I immediately knew he was a genius with an eye and hand that allowed for new ways to look at the indigo I was obsessed with.”

He continued “With AGI Denim, I can fulfill the dream of being Ian's fine arts material supplier. Picasso had Sennelier. Ian Berry has AGI Denim. The word Artistic is in our coporate name!”

AGI Denim is proud of its employee recognition and gender equality programs, such as Gap Inc.'s P.A.C.E program and Kontoor Brands' Her Essentials training, which empowers women in the workplace. The company is committed to strong corporate governance and CSR practices, which have earned it the patronage of some of the world's top retail and designer brands.

Ian Berry named a Top 100 influential person in the denim industry.

Ian Berry has been named on a list that honours the 100 most influential people in the denim industry by WeAr Magazine.

Together with an advisory panel, the editorial team of WeAr has researched and selected denim movers, shakers and influencers.

Along with a combination of outstanding denim brands, wash experts, fabric and yarn producers, as well as the best retailers, shows and showrooms. Ian joins the list alongside the likes of Giorgio Armani, Ellen MacArthur, Paige Adams, Levi’s Chip Bergh, and Berry’s friends Tommy Hilfiger and it’s CEO Martijn Hagman, Adriano Goldschmied and Diesel’s Renzo Rosso.

The magazine said, they were chosen based on their achievements and each one of them has made a significant contribution to improving the industry.

Ian Berry said about his inclusion.

‘It’s always nice to get an accolade and to be on the list with many iconic names that for sure deserve their place on the list, and in a great magazine too. Over the years I have got to know many people in denim and like the garments it’s filled with much duality. I never consider myself in the ‘denim industry’ yet have one foot in, and one out. Seeing the list with so many friends on it, it reminds me of the quality that is in denim and the good people. Not just their talents, but as people.’

The WeAr Top 100 List including Artist Ian Berry

After a spell of museum shows around Europe in the last couple of years Ian was chosen to work with Levi’s to help celebrate their 150th Anniversary of the 501. His giant fresco launched in Paris will now tour to Milan and Madrid.

Other friends and former collaborators on the list include the strong Italian showing of Alberto Candiani of Candiani Denim, Maurizio Donadi of Transnomadica, laundry legend Giovanni Petrin of Martelli Lavorazion, Flavio & Alice Tonello of Tonello, Officina +39’s Andrea Venier and Stefano Aldighieri.

There’s a British presence with Son of a Stag’s Rudy Budhdeo and fellow London store Rivet & Hide’s Junior Arraes & Danny Hodgson along with Rag & Bone’s Marcus Wainwright.

Steve Maggard, President of Cone Mills who have supplied Ian often with denim is also on the list alongside Kingpin’s Andrew Olah. Menno van Meurs of Tenue de Nîmes and Bert van Son of MUD Jeans also make Ian happy to see on the list.

Ian often called in the press’ a ‘Jeanious’, the ‘Master of Denim’ and ‘Material Boy’ has previously had accolades like Art Business News, 30 under 30, celebrating the world’s top Artists under 30 and in the Rivet 50 voted for by people in the denim industry.