ALKE SCHMIDT
Visual artist
Justice, Freedom & Bread
In 2021 Alke had a major solo exhibition entitled "Justice, Freedom & Bread" at Rydals Museum, located in Sweden's most important historic textile mill. The exhibition explored the politics and morality of the textile industry through time, and how this industry affects and connects people across continents. It situated the textile heritage of Rydal and the surrounding region in a global context, linking its industrial heritage with the present and where our clothes are made now. Using both narrative and more abstract approaches, "Justice, Freedom & Bread" invites us to consider the contradictions and ambiguities of an industry that spans centuries and every part of the globe.
The exhibition represents the culmination of Alke's long-standing interest in the textile industry and builds on earlier Arts Council England supported commissions "Wonder & Dread" at Bradford Industrial Museum and Salts Mill, Saltaire (2018), and "Tangled Yarns" at the William Morris Gallery (2015/15) which subsequently toured to Cromford Mills and the People's History Museum, Manchester.
Oil and acrylic on cotton, 280 x 135 x 2.5 cm Commission for Salts Mill, Saltaire
Acrylic on wax cloth for high-vis protective workwear, 132 x 180 cm
Oil and Indian block-printed cotton fabrics on canvas 104 x 167 cm
Oil, acrylic & transfer print on 1930s patterned cotton print 70 x 100 cm
Oil and acrylic on organic cotton, 70 x 100 cm
Oil, transfer print & khadi paper on 18th century style cotton print 70 x 100 x 4 cm
Oil & acrylic on fabric for healthcare staff uniforms
Oil & appliqué embroidery on patterned cotton fabric sourced in Vietnam 80 x 80 cm
Shop Mannequin, H&M polyester dress, plastic bags, acrylic, 62 x 62 x 180 cm
Polyester & sequin baby party dress, polyester fabric, plastic bags, lightbox, 61.5 x 63 x 12 cm
Oil on patterned cotton fabric, 100 x 40 cm
Oil, T-Shirts & buttons on patterned cotton fabric, 80 x 100 cm
il on Liberty fabric with 1930s flower pattern, 80 x 100 cm Private collection
Sewing pins & transfer print on cotton 32 x 145 x 12 cm
Sewing pins, muslin, transfer print on cotton 55 x 119 cm Detail
Clothes, fabrics, acrylic & sawdust on canvas 80 x 100 x 12 cm
Wool, found clothes and fabrics, bobbins, threads, acrylic and sawdust on linen 85 x 100 x 12cm
Oil on canvas with burned fabrics 90 x 180 cm
Oil on canvas with burnt fabrics, 90 X 130 cm (canvas size, with trailing fabrics 90 x 180 cm)
Oil and embroidered beads on patterned cotton fabric, 50 x 35 cm
Oil and acrylic on table cloth with traditional woven star pattern, 85 x 100 cm
Oil & embroidery on 1840s-style cotton print 70 x 90 cm
Oil on patterned cotton fabric 70 x 90 cm Museum 12/17 to 11/18
Oil, metal powder & mica on 18th century style toile de Jouy 80 x 100 cm Collection of the Arkwright Society Part of the Tangled Yarns exhibition at Cromford Mills, Sep/Oct 2015