Textiles Unearth Histories of Inequality at NADA New York

At the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) New York fair (until 17 May), multiple artists use textiles to excavate personal and collective histories. Griselda Rosas (Luis De Jesus Los Angeles) returned to sewing during the pandemic, embroidering over painted paper with imagery from Mexican codices depicting colonial first contact (works $5,000–$20,000). Polina Osipova (JO-HS) prints family photos onto fabric from the Chuvash region to explore pre-Russianised culture. Keith Lafuente (SoMad) uses Oscar de la Renta scraps in patchwork referencing Filipino rags, featured in his kinetic sculpture Waiter (Kain Na!) (2025, $16,000), commenting on labour inequalities. Ruth Owens (Voltz Clarke Gallery) presents paintings in lightboxes made of patterned textiles ($4,500–$6,500), including Kidnapped on a Sunny Day (2024), which depicts her abduction by her German grandmother. Owens’s stand features Nigerian batik and William Morris-inspired motifs, chosen for fabric's softness and affective materiality.