THREADS
Material – Myths – Symbols
MAIN SPACE | October 15, 2023, to February 25, 2024

Draiflessen Collection
Georgstraße 18 | 49497 Mettingen
info@draiflessen.com | www.draiflessen.com

An Exhibition Focusing on the Importance of Thread
Who does not know it, the thread of life, the common thread? Who is not interwoven with others? We encounter threads in myths, in the use of language, and also in art, where they are often used as metaphor, model, or medium. This exhibition is dedicated to the symbolic meanings of thread for human beings and human life. To this end, it combines works by contemporary women artists with the historical tools of spinning, as well as classical representations of selected Greco-Roman myths.
These works, deliberately gathered from different epochs, contexts, and categories, are “woven” together in such a way that (to stay with the metaphor) they offer visitors numerous “connecting threads” to consider the use and meaning of thread as a symbol, both for themselves personally and in social terms.

Thread as a Symbol
Thread is a fascinating and versatile object that has always captured our imagination—from its formal description as yarn with a beginning and an end, to its stability, flexibility, and mobility, to its metaphorical meaning and use in mythological narratives and the visual arts. Thread has inspired us and is found there as a motif of the thread of life, the common or silken thread. But thread can also be lost or become part of a larger whole in connection with other threads. One picks up the thread, but can just as easily lose it again. And when things go well, you hold the threads in your hand.

Spaces for Thought and Association
So thread is more than just a simple material. It stands for connections and fate, but also for the power of the individual to shape their own life. The exhibition THREADS builds bridges from antiquity to the present and a possible tomorrow, creating spaces for thought and association between the poles of fate and responsibility, trust and skepticism, power and powerlessness, and individuality and collectivity. Visitors are encouraged to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of threads, to be inspired by the artworks and the stories they tell, and to gain new insights.

Participating Artists
Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930–2017), Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), Jeongmoon Choi (b. 1966), Alphonse–Victor Colas (1818–1887), Vincenz Grüner (1771–1832), Eva Hesse (1936–1970), Maria Lai (1919–2013), Rosa Loy (b. 1958), Cesare Nebbia (1536–1614), Vanessa Oppenhoff (b. 1971), Crispijn van de Passe the Elder (1564–1637), Antonio Tempesta (1555–1630), Rosemarie Trockel (b. 1952), Heike Weber (b. 1962)