New Article /
Helena is so pleased that her Afterwards tapestry is featured in issue 2023-3 of VÄVmagasinet. Helena completed Afterwards in 2022, and it is based on a low-light photograph she took at a wedding in Tuscany in 2007. Printed alongside Afterwards is a letter Helena wrote to her friend, Mary Abbe, describing the story behind this tapestry. To learn more and order this issue, click here.
Helena Hernmarck, Afterwards, 2022. Wool, linen, cotton, punchinella, 57 x 60 in. Collection of the artist.
Exhibition Announcement /
Helena is pleased to have a portion of her colorful wool wall on view in A Dark, a Light, a Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum through February 4, 2024. Helena’s wool wall sets the stage for the bright red loom that textile designer Dorothy Liebes (1897-1972) acquired around 1920 and kept throughout her lifetime for sample weaving. To the right is a photo of Liebes in front of her own wool wall, quite variegated compared to Helena’s rainbow-like display. Helena recalls visiting Liebes’ New York studio in the mid-1960s and remembers how much her own mentor, Swedish textile designer Astrid Sampe, admired Liebes’ innovative approach to both the design and business of textiles. More information can be found on the exhibition homepage.
Photo: Isometric Studio
Exhibition Announcement /
Helena’s tapestry, Steel I, will be on view through October 2, 2022 in A Calumet Tapestry: Artistic Views of the Region, hosted by PoCo Muse in Valparaiso, Indiana in partnership with Chicago’s Field Museum. Helena’s Steel I was one of three tapestries Helena completed for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation headquarters in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the 1970s. It is on loan to the exhibition from the Northwest Indiana Steel Heritage Project. More information can be found on the museum homepage.
Exhibition view of Steel I, 1973. Wool, linen, cotton, 92 x 112 in. Collection of the Northwest Indiana Steel Heritage Project.
Exhibition Announcement /
Helena is pleased that her tapestry, Folded Paper Once, will be on view this summer in Threading the Needle at The Church Sag Harbor. Curated by Sara Cochran and Eric Fischl, this exhibition features 46 works by 50 artists who use fabric and fiber in their practices. Helena’s tapestry will be in good company with work by El Anatsui, Louise Bourgeois, Judy Chicago, Faith Ringgold, Etel Adnan, and others. The exhibition runs July 1 to September 18, 2022. More information can be found on the exhibition homepage.
Helena Hernmarck, Folded Paper Once, 1988. Wool, linen, cotton, 51.5 x 59 in. Collection of the artist.
Exhibition Announcement /
Helena’s Euclid’s Elements tapestry is now on view in Parallel Threads: New Textile Masterworks Inspired by Geometry at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The exhibition is organized by textile curator Nicole LaBouff and comprises newly-acquired artworks that celebrate the intrinsic geometry of woven textiles. The exhibition runs through August 28, 2022. More information can be found on the exhibition homepage.
Helena Hernmarck, Euclid’s Elements, 1995. Wool, linen, cotton, 50 x 120 in. Collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Artist's Talk Announcement /
Join Helena for an online presentation to the Textile Arts Council of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) on Saturday, January 22, 2022, 10am PT. Titled Helena Hernmarck: Wool and Color, the presentation will cover the early evolution of Helena’s signature technique from her early days at art school to the present, highlighting important commissions along the way. It also marks the addition of Helena’s 1983 tapestry, On the Bay, to the FAMSF collection. For more information, visit the event homepage.
Helena Hernmarck, On the Bay, 1983. Wool, linen, cotton, 132 x 201 in. Collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California.
Exhibition Announcement /
Helena is pleased to be part of the traveling exhibition, Scandinavian Design in the United States 1890-1980. The exhibition is co-organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum. It opened at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden in September 2021, and will open at the Nasjonalmuseet in Oslo, Norway in March 2022; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in August 2022; and the Milwaukee Art Museum in March 2023. More information about the exhibition at the Nationalmuseum can be found here. A link to the English catalogue can be found here, and the Swedish catalogue can be found here.
Helena Hernmarck, Bay Street in Toronto, 1970. Wool, linen, cotton, synthetic fiber, 49 x 72 in. Collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California.
New Article /
The Swedish design magazine, Antik & Auktion, featured an article about Helena in their June 2021 issue. Written by Elsebeth Welander-Berggren, the article celebrates Helena’s Hudson Yards commission and career creating monumental tapestries for architectural settings. To link to the article, click here.
Exhibition Announcement /
Helena is pleased to have her tapestry, Front Pages (1981-2), included in Fit to Print, an online exhibition organized by The Print Center in Philadelphia, PA. The exhibition explores the use of newspapers in art from the post-war era to the present day. It is on view from May 1 to June 30, 2021, after which it will be archived on The Print Center’s website. To link to the exhibition, click here.
Helena Hernmarck, Front Pages, 1981-2. Wool, linen, cotton, 94 x 118.5 in. Collection of The Museum of Arts and Design. Photo: Eva Heyd
New Article /
Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, the magazine of the Handweavers Guild of America, featured an article about Helena’s archive in their Spring 2021 print issue. Written by Mae Colburn and titled “A Weaver’s Logic: Inside the Archive of Helena Hernmarck,” the article discusses Helena’s weaving technique as reflected in the structure and contents of her archive. To link to the article, click here.
Hernmarck lays out her 44-foot long timeline alongside the wool wall. It extends the length of the entire wool wall and continues around the corner.
Exhibition Announcement /
Helena is pleased to be an invited artist in ARTAPESTRY6, a juried exhibition organized by the European Tapestry Forum (ETF) showcasing tapestries woven by a group of 40 artists from 16 countries throughout Europe. This is the ETF’s sixth such exhibition, and will travel to venues in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden between 2021 and 2022. A full list of artists and works can be found on the exhibition homepage, and additional information about venues and dates can be found in the online exhibition catalogue.
Helena Hernmarck, Up & Down Triptych, 1990. Wool, linen, cotton, 67 x 67 in. (each). Collection of the artist. Photo: Norman McGrath
New Article /
Helena’s Flowers and Maple Tree tapestries were featured in an online article in Architectural Digest. Written by Madeleine Luckel and headlined “This Innovative Tapestry Commission Took Four Years and Over 8,000 Hours to Complete,” the article describes Helena’s Hudson Yards commission and the renewed popularity of textiles as an art form. To link to the article, click here.
The monumental tapestry, which lives near an elevator bank. Helena Hernmarck recalled one individual saying of its seemingly humble setting, “You don’t put the Mona Lisa in a closet!” However, its location is part of the reason why the work is so structurally complex. Photo: Norman McGrath
New Interview /
The Italian textile arts magazine, ArteMorbida, featured an interview with Helena about her tapestry commission at Hudson Yards. Conducted by Maria Rosaria Roseo, the interview takes an in-depth look at how this commission came to be and the challenges involved in installing tapestries in the ceiling. To link to the article, click here.
The ceiling portion of Maple Tree installed at 35 Hudson Yards, seen from below looking up. In Helena’s words, ‘Having never done such a thing before, or even contemplated it, I immediately followed my own advice: ‘always say yes.’ I had no idea how to do the ceiling installation, but I figured we would work it out.’ Photo: Norman McGrath
Maple Tree Installed at 35 Hudson Yards /
Helena Hernmarck’s new Maple Tree tapestry has been installed at 35 Hudson Yards in New York. Like Flowers, installed in March 2019, the tapestry extends up the wall and across the ceiling in the elevator lobby of the building’s residential entrance. To seasonally refresh the lobby, the two tapestries will be exchanged every six months.
Preview of Maple Tree /
Join Alice Lund Textilier for a preview of Helena Hernmarck’s Maple Tree tapestry at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, Sweden, August 29-30, 2020, before the tapestry is shipped to 35 Hudson Yards in New York for installation. Weavers Ebba Bergström and Tova Wibrandt have woven two sets of tapestries for 35 Hudson Yards, each spanning approximately 225 square feet and executed in Hernmarck’s signature tromp l’oeil technique. Maple Tree is the final installation and culminates nearly four years of dedicated work. For more information, visit the event homepage.
Photo: Karin Björkquist
In the News /
The Shelter Island Reporter featured Helena’s tapestry, 1652 - Traces of Care, in their online and print editions. Read Susan Dempsey's article here to learn more about Helena’s gift to the Shelter Island History Center and collaboration with architect Bill Pedersen.
Helena Hernmarck and her apprentice Mae Colburn mark the ‘cartoon’ for the History Center’s tapestry, at her studio in Ridgefield, Conn. A cartoon is a full-scale version of a design the artist uses to guide her weaving. Photo: Ross Mantle
Exhibition Announcement /
Helena is pleased to be an invited artist in FIBER 2020 at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan, CT, April 4 - June 13, 2020. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the exhibition has been moved online. Helena’s tapestry, Wool Illusion (2016), can be viewed on the exhibition homepage.
Helena Hernmarck, Wool Illusion, 2016. Wool, linen, cotton, plastic, 35.5 x 35 in. Collection of the artist. Photo: Ross Mantle
Exhibition Announcement /
Cloth Paper Scissors: Helena Hernmarck Weaves the Everyday opens at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) on February 15, 2020. The exhibition features works of art and archival material from Helena’s own collection alongside four of her “paper illusion” tapestries in the Mia collection. For more information, visit the exhibition homepage.
Helena Hernmarck, Envelope from Sweden, 1992. Wool, linen, cotton, 59 x 76.5 in. Collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN.
Installation Views /
Installation views from Helena Hernmarck: Shadow and Light at the Shelter Island Historical Society in Shelter Island, NY, November 23, 2019 - June 27, 2020. Photos: Michael Moran
