installation view of "Sheila Hicks: Seize, Weave Space" The Nasher Sculpture Center, Texas, 2019
Biography
Sheila Hicks is one of the most significant late-modern artists in the Western hemisphere, a pioneer in textile-based and weaving modern art, and a major presence in contemporary art since the 1960s. Her production sparked at the end of the 1950s, soon after she finished her studies at Yale under the guidance of artists Josef and Anni Albers, the latter, a master in textile techniques within the Bauhaus school. A Global artist avant la lettre, Hicks has travelled extensively, studying each place’s culture and local practices, and focusing especially on those related with weaving and textiles in countries such as Mexico, Morocco, Japan, Peru, Israel, Sweden or Colombia.
Her work is characterized by an investigation around scale, ranging from the minute to the monumental, and often occupying a liminal space between art, design, crafts and architecture. Within the multi-faceted nature of her work, Sheila Hicks always gives color the center stage, evoking her beginnings as a painter. The artist is also known for using a wide range of materials, going from pieces of slate and thread to military or nurses uniforms. Most recently, she has begun to experiment with biodegradable materials – though they may physically disintegrate, they do not disappear, as the artist seeks to trigger, or construct memorable, long-lasting, auratic experiences.
Sheila Hicks was born in 1934 in Hastings, USA. She currently lives and works in Paris, France.
Selected solo exhibitions and projects include: Sheila Hicks, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2026); Sheila Hicks, West Bund Museum, Shanghai, China (2026); New Work: Sheila Hicks, SFMOMA, San Francisco, United States (2025); Hatano and Bill, Linked Destinies, Shibunkaku, Tokyo, Japan (2025); Sheila Hicks, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (2024); A Little Bit of a Lot of Things, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland (2023); Woven Wonders, Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, London, United Kingdom (2022); Reencuentro, Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Santiago, Chile (2019); Sheila Hicks: Lignes de Vie, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (2018); and Sheila Hicks: Hilos libres. El textil y sus raíces prehispánicas, 1954–2017, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico (2017).
Her work has been featured in the following selected group exhibitions: Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, United States, and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada (2025); 13th Liverpool Biennial, Tate Liverpool and RIBA North, Liverpool, United Kingdom (2025); Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States (2024); HARD/SOFT: Textiles and Ceramics in Contemporary Art, MAK, Vienna, Austria (2023); Women in Abstraction, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, and Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain (2021); 57th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (2017); 20th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (2016); 77th Whitney Biennial, New York, United States (2014); 30th Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2012); Douze Ans d’Art Contemporain en France, Grand Palais, Paris, France (1972); and Wall Hangings, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, United States (1969).
Her works are included in major public and private collections worldwide, including: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; National Museum of Art (formerly Museum of Decorative Arts and Design), Oslo, Norway; The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, United States; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Tate, London, United Kingdom.
