This autumn, the Palais des Beaux-Arts is giving carte blanche to Sheila Hicks, an American artist who lives and works in Paris and is renowned for her pioneering use of textile fibers. This distinctive feature naturally situates her work within the continuity of the cultural heritage of the North. She is the first female artist to exhibit in the museum’s atrium.

“Textiles are a universal language. In every culture around the world, textiles play an essential and crucial role.” – Sheila Hicks

Fascinated by ancestral textile cultures, particularly the weaving techniques of pre-Columbian civilizations, Sheila Hicks draws inspiration from their forms, materials, and sensuality to create works that defy categorization. The artist enjoys blurring the lines between visual arts, crafts, and design; for her, the language of thread is universal and forms a link between people and cultures. She always considers the specific characteristics of the exhibition space, which makes her creations unique.  

“I create environments, I make objects from thread, I construct flexible sculptures, bas-reliefs, and I design and make functional objects from thread. I often express what I feel using them as my language.” Sheila Hicks

Made from threads of every color, Sheila Hicks’s works play with the form and materiality of the fiber. Oscillating between weightlessness and sensuality, they blur spatial references and embody a value dear to the artist, who claims the word “Freedom” as her middle name.

Designed specifically for the atrium space, a site-specific artwork establishes a dialogue with the volumes, light, and architecture of the Palais des Beaux-Arts, as well as with the history of Lille and northern France. A trading city since its origins and a manufacturing center since the 16th century, Lille developed in the 19th century thanks to the textile and mechanical industries. Even today, textiles hold a special place in this region.

BIOGRAPHY

Sheila Hicks was born in 1934 in Hastings, Nebraska (USA). A graduate of the Yale School of Art, where she studied painting, photography, and sculpture, she chose pre-Columbian textiles as the subject of her thesis. After living in Guerrero, Mexico, from 1960 to 1964, she settled in Paris, where she has lived and worked ever since. Her work is now recognized worldwide. 

EXHIBITION CURATORS

Juliette Singer, Director of the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille and the Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse;
Julia Garimorth, Chief Curator at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

Free access installation in the atrium • Continuation of the exhibition upstairs, included in the permanent exhibition (€7 / €4)

OPENING WEEKEND

Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th October 

Quick visit

30 minutes to discover the American textile artist Sheila Hicks and the works presented in the atrium.

Departures at 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm. Free, no reservation required.

Plastic arts workshop

Ongoing workshops to discover the work of textile artist Sheila Hicks through hands-on experimentation.

Duration: approximately 15 minutes. Continuous throughout the afternoon. Free.

The exhibition is organized by the Palais des Beaux-Arts / City of Lille. It is supported by SG Crédit du Nord, Dickson Constant – Sunbrella, the Nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder gallery, and the Frank Elbaz gallery. Our sincere thanks to Géraldine and Léopold Meyer, whose generosity has made this exhibition possible. In partnership with SNCF TER HDF, SNCF Voyageurs TGV Inoui, and Ilévia.