Linsey Woolsey c. 1938

Editor: This is "Linsey Woolsey," a mixed-media drawing on paper from around 1938 by Raymond Manupelli. It strikes me as a sort of fabric swatch, or a textile sample. It's quite simple, really. What do you see in this piece? Curator: What I find interesting is the elevation of a common textile sample to the level of art. Manupelli invites us to consider the labour, the materials, and the social context embedded within something as seemingly ordinary as striped cloth. Was this linsey-woolsey actually used in something bigger, maybe some type of uniform for industrial laborers, perhaps? Editor: Interesting! I hadn't considered its broader societal role. Does the title, "Linsey Woolsey," give us any clue as to what sort of purposes it may have been destined for? Curator: Linsey-woolsey historically was a coarse, sturdy fabric associated with work clothes, particularly in rural communities. Manupelli, by rendering this cloth in drawing and mixed media, challenges the boundaries between craft and fine art, making us consider where labour and artistic creation meet. What's intriguing to me is to contemplate how this piece exists not merely as a representation of linsey-woolsey, but as a sort of preservation or examination of the material itself. The drawing is almost secondary to the material it presents. What do you make of the fact that this "artwork" consists, quite visibly, of *two* pieces of fabric? Is the artwork actually *about* the act of division, severance, rupture? Editor: That's a fascinating perspective. Thinking about its materials and the potential story embedded within each fiber does change how I see the work. The placement and physical separation suddenly become so important, don't they? Curator: Precisely. The artwork serves as a visual testament to Manupelli’s profound connection to material culture and his investigation into art as an agent of revealing society. Editor: I definitely appreciate how a focus on the material and the processes behind it unlocks so many layers of interpretation!